Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. In 2016, Indiana had a four-year, non-waiver high school graduation rate of 82.4%, and an adjusted graduation rate of 89.1%. This means that more than 10% of students – or a total of 8,626 students in 2016 – did not complete high school in four years. While some of these students may eventually graduate in five or more years, some portion has simply dropped out of high school. Given that most jobs in the 21st century economy require – at minimum – a high school diploma plus some form of post-secondary education or training, dropping out of […]

Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) recently released its latest study on academic performance in Indianapolis schools. The study aims to answer an important question: How do charter schools and Innovation Network Schools (which are part of the school district but have full autonomy when it comes to curriculum, hiring, etc.) compare to traditional public schools in their effectiveness at raising student achievement? The results provide strong evidence that Indianapolis charters substantially raise performance—leading to more than 60 additional days of learning in English/language arts and more than 90 additional days of learning […]