Education Next

Q&A: Rebecca Friedrichs

Reflections on the Janus v. AFSCME ruling, from the plaintiff in a similar case

College Accreditation, Explained

An EdNext guide to how it works, who’s responsible for it, and more

EVENT: Are State Proficiency Standards Falling?

A new analysis using the latest NAEP data

Three Hoover Fellows on NAEP, A Nation at Risk, and the Future of Education Reform

On April 10, the U.S. Department of Education will release the latest results of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), which will tell us how fourth- and eighth-grade students are faring nationally, in every state, and in most big cities in math and reading. That week also marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of A Nation at Risk.

The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2017

Every December, Education Next releases a list of the most popular articles we published over the course of the year based on readership.

Q&A: Hanna Skandera

New Mexico’s former state chief talks ed reform

Event: The 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform

What does the public think about school choice, Common Core, and other key issues?

A $20 Billion Federal School Choice Tax Credit Program: Yes, no, maybe, how so

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Education Next, and the Hoover Institution have teamed up to bring forth two pointed discussions, each centered around a critical question.

The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2016

Here are the most popular articles we published over the course of the last year.

The Top 10 Education Next Blog Entries of 2016

This year’s runaway hit was How We Make Teaching Too Hard for Mere Mortals by Robert Pondiscio.

How Do Parental Perceptions of Schools Vary Across Sectors?

Evidence from two national surveys comparing charter, district, and private schools

Education Reform’s Race Debate

An Education Next Forum

American Public Opinion on K-12 Education Policy: Lessons from a decade of polling

Sponsors Sept. 16, 2016, 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM Hoover Institution in Washington, D.C., The Johnson Center 1399 New York Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005 This year Education Next celebrates the tenth anniversary of its annual survey of public opinion on K-12 education policy. This year’s results from the 2016 survey are discussed […]

Graphic: Results from the 2016 Education Next Poll

An interactive graphic displaying results from this year’s survey.

Graphic: Trends in the EdNext Poll Over Time

An interactive look at the EdNext poll through the past decade

The EdNext Podcast

The EdNext Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher and here every Wednesday.

Equality of Educational Opportunity Today: Reconsidering the Coleman Report on its 50th Anniversary

An Education Next Event

Revisiting the Coleman Report

“Equality of Educational Opportunity” on its 50th Anniversary

The Top 10 Education Next Blog Entries of 2015

Each year we publish a list of the most popular entries on the Education Next blog. There’s usually a surprise or two and the 2015 list is no exception.

The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2015

Which topics were most popular with Education Next readers in 2015?

Single-Parent Families: Revisiting the Moynihan Report 50 Years Later

An event will take place on March 5 in Washington, D.C.

Revisiting the Moynihan Report on its 50th Anniversary

Education Next is running a series of articles on the state of the American family.

The Top Education Next Articles of 2014

Just the facts, please!

Jeb Bush Speaks Out

Talking education policy with Florida’s former governor

Top 20 Blog Entries of 2011!

A rundown of the top posts on the Education Next blog in 2011

Top Education Next Articles of 2011!

A rundown of the most read Education Next articles of the past year

Behind the Headline: States Fail to Raise Bar in Reading, Math Tests

On Top of the News States Fail to Raise Bar in Reading, Math Tests Wall Street Journal | 8/11/11 Behind the Headline Few States Set World-Class Standards Education Next | Summer 2008 A new NCES report finds that, while some states have raised their standards for proficiency in math and reading, most states still fall […]

Behind the Headline: Charter School Forges Ahead with Expansion

On Top of the News Charter School Forges Ahead with Expansion Wall Street Journal | 7/14/11 Behind the Headline Future Schools Education Next | Summer 2011 Rocketship Education hopes to open 20 additional hybrid schools in California by 2017, a plan opposed by the local union and school district. The charter organization, which already runs […]

Behind the Headline: Don’t Ditch Testing After Atlanta Cheating, Boost Test Security

On Top of the News Don’t Ditch Testing After Atlanta Cheating, Boost Test Security CNN.com | 07/13/11 Behind the Headline Cheating to the Test Education Next | Spring 2001 Cheating should not lead us to abandon assessments, writes Chester Finn on CNN.com. Instead, listen to testing expert Greg Cizek, who participated in the investigation of […]

Behind the Headline: D.C. School Ratings Up Among System Parents, But Doubts Remain

On Top of the News D. C. School Ratings Up Among System Parents, but Doubts Remain Washington Post | 06/22/11 Behind the Headline Mismatch Education Next | Fall 2011 According to a new survey by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation, former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee is viewed more favorably now than […]

EdNext Book Club

In-depth interviews by Mike Petrilli with authors of new and classic books about education.

Taking Stock of a Decade of Reform

School reformers have made forward strides in the last ten years, and public debate has acquired a bipartisan cast. But just how successful have reform efforts been?

Poll: Predictions for 2011

What will 2011 bring to the world of education reform? Vote now for the two developments you think are most and least likely

Poll: Best and Worst Developments for K-12 Education

New Ed Next Readers Poll: Vote now on the best and worst events in 2010 for education.

Ed Next Poll: Top Books of the Decade

Please vote for the top three books of the decade.

Audio Book Excerpts

Authors reading short excerpts from their recent books

The Education Exchange: Is This Discrimination?

When a school district’s discipline policy has a disparate impact on African American students, is that racial discrimination? How about when an elite university uses affirmative action to increase the diversity of its student body? Adam White, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, and director of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the legal issues involved.

In the News: What’s the Right Amount of Homework? Many Students Get Too Little, Brief Argues

A new EdNext article looks at whether American students are getting too much homework or too little.

What We’re Listening To: Who Goes to Private School?

The Harvard EdCast takes a close look at declining enrollment in private schools, particularly among the middle class. Sean Reardon, the author of “Who Goes to Private School?” an article in the fall issue of Education Next, is the guest.

EdNext Podcast: Thinking Clearly About the Goals of Education

Should data drive decision-making in education policy or should data be used in the service of our values? Harry Brighouse and Susanna Loeb join Marty West to discuss how the tools of philosophy and social science can help policymakers make better decisions.

Education Exchange: Alberto Carvalho and Miami-Dade County Schools

Under the leadership of Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has won numerous awards for student performance. Carvalho sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss his strategy of empowering school leaders and reforming teacher compensation.

EdNext Podcast: Health Benefits for Retired Teachers Strain State Budgets

In many school districts, teachers receive generous health care benefits even after they retire, but states and school districts have not been putting aside sufficient funds to pay for those promises. Chad Aldeman visits the podcast to discuss his article, “Health Care for Life: Will teachers’ post-retirement benefits break the bank?”

The Education Exchange: High School Grade Inflation on the Rise

A new study based on data from North Carolina finds that grade inflation increased over the last decade and that grade inflation was more severe in schools attended by affluent students than in those attended by lower-income pupils. Seth Gershenson, the author of “Grade Inflation in High Schools (2005-2016),” joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the study.

EdNext Podcast: Getting Inclusion Right

Including students with disabilities in regular classsrooms is a worthy goal, but it may not always be the best way of serving children with disabilities. It can also sometimes have negative consequences for teachers and for students without disabilities. Allison Gilmour, an assistant professor of special education at Temple University, joins EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss her article, “Has Inclusion Gone Too Far?”

In the News: Let Teenagers Sleep In

In the New York Times, Henry Nicholls argues that school start times should be changed so teenagers can get more sleep.

The Education Exchange: Hanna Skandera on Overcoming Divisions in Education Reform

The world of education policy has been filled with some nasty battles in the recent years. Hanna Skandera, who formerly served as education secretary in New Mexico, hopes to change that by promoting civil discourse around education.

What We’re Watching: AEI Event on Bush-Obama School Reform

On Wednesday, September 26 at 4:15, AEI will host a panel discussion on Frederick M. Hess and Michael Q. McShane’s new edited volume, Bush-Obama School Reform: Lessons Learned.

In the News: What’s Next for the Laurene Powell Jobs-Funded Effort to Rethink American High Schools

The XQ institute is hoping to influence local policy, not just seed innovative new high schools.

EdNext Podcast: What It Was Like to Go On Strike

In Oklahoma, teachers walked out for nine days this April to demand better pay and more spending on schools. Eleanor Goetzinger, a special ed teacher and behavior specialist in the Oklahoma City Public Schools, talks with Marty West about what the strike meant for her, for her students, and for schools in Oklahoma.

The Education Exchange: The EdNext Poll vs. the PDK Poll

Education Next and PDK both released the results of major surveys of public opinion about education in recent weeks. Joshua Starr, the president of PDK, joins Paul E Peterson to discuss the results of the two surveys.

In the News: College Students Predicted to Fall by More Than 15% After the Year 2025

The Northeast is expected to be the hardest hit, but demand for spots in elite institutions is not expected to decline.

In the News: Does Teacher Diversity Matter in Student Learning?

According to a significant body of research, students tend to benefit from having teachers who look like them, especially nonwhite students, yet the teacher work force is overwhelmingly white and female.

EdNext Podcast: The Role of the Inspector General in Education Policy

The Office of the Inspector General from the U.S. Department of Education is widely respected for its efforts to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse, but what happens when the OIG starts making policy recommendations? Jason Delisle, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss the involvement of the OIG in policymaking.

The Education Exchange: How Do Hot Days Affect Student Learning?

School is back in session after one of the hottest summers in recorded history, and many students are now in classrooms without air conditioning. A new study looks at how hotter school days impact. student learning. Josh Goodman of the Kennedy School at Harvard sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss his recent working paper, “Heat and Learning.”

The Fall 2018 Issue of Education Next is here!

The cover story of the Fall 2018 issue examines what’s ahead for teachers unions after this June’s landmark Supreme Court decision banning agency fees for non-members.

EdNext Podcast: Does Teacher Coaching Work?

Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University, sits down with EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his article, “Taking Teacher Coaching To Scale,” co-written with David Blazar.

The Education Exchange: Behind the Scenes of the EdNext Poll

Michael Henderson, assistant professor at Louisiana State University and survey director for the EdNext poll, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the nuts and bolts of EdNext’s annual survey of public opinion.

EdStat: 68% of Americans support annual testing in reading and math, according to the 2018 EdNext survey

A large majority of Americans continue to support the federal requirement that all students be tested in math and reading each year in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school.

EdStat: The 2018 EdNext poll finds that support for the Common Core State Standards has stabilized at 45 percent

After falling in previous years, public support for the Common Core State Standards has now stabilized at 45%, the 2018 EdNext survey finds, compared to 41% a year ago.

EdStat: 57% of respondents favor tax-credit scholarship programs, according to the 2018 EdNext poll

The 2018 EdNext poll finds a clear majority—57%—in favor of “a tax credit for individual and corporate donations that pay for scholarships to help low-income parents send their children to private schools.”

EdNext Podcast: Are Private Colleges At Risk?

Private colleges currently enroll 30 percent of students attending four-year colleges, but they face declining enrollment and mounting deficits. Is a crisis on the horizon? Stephen Eide, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins Education Next editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his article “Private Colleges in Peril.”

EdStat: 51 percent of Americans rate their local public schools with a grade of A or B on the 2018 EdNext poll

On the 2018 EdNext poll, approximately half of the public (51%) rates their local public schools with a grade of A or B, consistent with the last three years of polling.

EdStat: 18 percent of respondents support affirmative action in K-12 school assignments, according to the 2018 EdNext poll

The 2018 EdNext poll finds that the public is overwhelmingly opposed to considering race in K–12 school assignment decisions as part of efforts to increase school diversity, though the difference between support and opposition has narrowed somewhat since the question was last asked in 2008.

The Education Exchange: Changes in Support for School Choice

Last year’s EdNext poll revealed a sharp drop in support for charter schools. On today’s podcast, Paul E. Peterson and Marty West look at the biggest changes in public opinion revealed by the 2018 EdNext Poll, some of which relate to charter schools and vouchers.

EdStat: On the 2018 EdNext poll, public backing for charter schools has increased by 5 percentage points

After a substantial drop in support for charter schools last year, the 2018 EdNext poll finds that public backing for charter schools has increased by 5 percentage points this past year, to 44%, with 35% opposed.

In the News: New Education Research? A Good Chance it’s from North Carolina

Why does so much high-quality education policy research come from North Carolina? Because the state has tracked important data since the ‘90s, and has made that information more accessible to researchers than anywhere else.

In the News: Teachers Are Winning Public Support for Pay Raises

In states where teachers walked out of their classrooms this spring to protest low salaries and cuts to school spending, public support for raising salaries has grown significantly.

EdStat: 47 percent of Americans say school spending should increase, according to the 2018 EdNext poll

Among those provided information about current spending levels in their local school districts, 47% say that spending should increase, a rise of 7 percentage points over the prior year.

In the News: Alexa, What’s the Deal With You, Anyway?

Several universities are putting free Amazon Echo Dot devices in student dorm rooms to help students more easily access information about their schools.

EdStat: 56 percent of nonunion teachers say in the 2018 EdNext poll that unions have a positive impact on schools

New in the 2018 EdNext poll is a breakdown of teacher respondents that shows sharp differences between union and nonunion members on certain issues.

EdNext Podcast: Results from the 2018 EdNext Poll

What does the public think about teacher strikes, teacher salaries, agency fees, and more? And what do teachers think? The EdNext Podcast returns from vacation this week so editor-in-chief Marty West and senior editor Paul E. Peterson can discuss the results of the 2018 Education Next poll.

In the News: Support for School Choice Growing Among Republicans

Support for charter schools and private school voucher programs has gone up over the past year according to the new EdNext poll.

EdStat: 54 percent majority of the public supports school vouchers for all students, according to the 2018 EdNext poll

The 2018 EdNext survey finds that a 54% majority of the public supports school vouchers for all students, a 9-percentage-point increase over a year ago.

EdStat: On the 2018 EdNext poll, public support for increasing teacher pay jumps by 13 percentage points

On the 2018 EdNext survey, among respondents provided with information on average teacher salaries prevailing in their state, 49% of the public say that teacher pay should increase—a 13-percentage-point jump over the share who said so last year.

The Education Exchange: Boston Public Schools in Transition

The Boston Public Schools will be led by an interim superintendent this fall, since former superintendent Tommy Chang was asked by the mayor of Boston to step down last June. Steve Poftak talks with Paul E. Peterson about some of the challenges that have faced, and will continue to face, the school district, including debates over school start times, diversity levels at exam schools, whether the student assignment system is causing segregation, transportation costs, and what happens next for BPS.

EdStat: By 2017, Religious Staff Represented Less than 3 Percent of the Staff at Catholic Schools

Lay staff now constitute nearly all staff in Catholic schools.

EdStat: To Date, 75 Percent of Charter Schools in New Orleans Have Adopted High-Quality Curricula

Kunjan Narechania discusses on the EdNext blog.

EdStat: Charter Schools Have Gained a Substantial Following in Louisiana, Where 148 Charters Now Serve more than 80,000 Students

But charters have also attracted opposition from many school districts and teachers.

EdStat: 38 States had Statewide Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for Preschools by February 2017

Many systems include differential funding reimbursement for programs with higher quality ratings.

EdStat: State Spending on Preschool More Than Doubled between 2002 and 2016, from $3.3 to $7.4 Billion

However, a range of research also shows that many early childhood programs do not have positive long-term effects.

In the News: New England’s Smallest Colleges Are Struggling

A review of financial conditions at New England’s small private colleges finds that tuition revenue is failing to keep up with expenses at more than half the schools.

The Education Exchange: Effectiveness of Teaching Practices Depends on Classroom Composition

A new study investigates whether teaching practices differ in effectiveness depending on the students in the class. It finds that the impact of good classroom management and student-centered instruction vary depending on whether the students in the classroom are of high ability or of mixed ability. Jane Cooley Fruehwirth, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of North Carolina, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss the study,”Teacher Effectiveness and Classroom Composition,” which she co-authored with Esteban Aucejo, Patrick Coate and Zachary Mozenter.

EdStat: Between 1968 and 2013, the Percentage of Middle-Income Families Enrolled in Private Schools Fell from 12 Percent to 7 Percent

Enrollment in private schools is falling among middle-income students, while high-income and low-income student enrollment in private schools is holding steady.

EdStat: During the Last School Year, the Number of Charter Schools in California Grew by 1.6 Percent

This is even lower than last year’s rate of 1.9 percent.

EdStat: In 2011, Private K–8 School Tuition Averaged $10,940

Has expanding income inequality fueled a broader increase in segregation at both public and private schools?

In the News: After Quarter Century of Rapid Expansion, Charter School Growth Slowing in California

During the last school year, the number of charter schools in California grew by a mere 1.6 percent, even lower than last year’s rate of 1.9 percent.

EdStat: A New Version of the HEA Would Cut the “90/10” Rule, which Requires Colleges to Raise a Minimum of 10 Percent of their Revenues from Sources Other than Federal Financial Aid

As part of our Fall 2018 forum, Kevin Carey discusses rethinking the rules on higher-ed spending.

EdStat: Every Year, the Federal Government Spends More than $100 Billion on Higher Education, Mainly in the Form of Grants and Subsidized Loans to Students

As part of our Fall 2018 forum, Michael B. Horn and Alana Dunagan discuss rethinking the rules on higher-ed spending.

The Education Exchange: A Survey of Teachers by Teachers

How do teachers feel about the changes taking place in American education? Evan Stone, the co-founder and CEO of Educators for Excellence, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his organization’s new survey, “Voices from the Classroom: A Survey of America’s Educators.”

EdStat: All Else Being Equal, Teachers with Classes in which 20 Percent of Students had an Emotional/ Behavioral Disorder were 2.15 Percentage Points More Likely to Leave Their School or Teaching

Teachers are likely a key element in the successful inclusion of students with disabilities (SWDs), but few studies have investigated how general-education teachers are impacted.

EdStat: 89 Percent of American Children who Attended a Private Elementary School were Enrolled in a Catholic School in 1965

In 2013, the comparable figure was 42 percent.

In the News: Instructional Coaching Works, Says a New Analysis. But There’s a Catch

When teachers receive instructional coaching, the quality of their instruction improves, but larger coaching programs are less effective than smaller ones.

In the News: Hey, Alexa, Should We Bring Virtual Assistants to Campus?

Three universities partnered with Amazon last year to provide some students with free voice-activated devices (Echo Dots) programmed to answer questions from students.

Looking for Innovative Policy Solutions from Voices Not Always Heard

Hanna Skandera talks with Martin West about Pathway 2 Tomorrow: Local Visions for America’s Future

EdStat: Twenty-Seven Percent of Public K‒12 Schools had a Reading Coach on Staff by the 2015‒16 School Year, According to the National Teacher and Principal Survey

Does one-to-one coaching actually help teachers get better?

EdStat: A Recent Scan Covering the Past 40 Years Found 80 Cases Alleging Education Malpractice

Only one of those cases was successful.

EdStat: Twenty-Four Percent of Public K‒12 Schools had a General Instructional Coach by the 2015‒16 School Year, According to the National Teacher and Principal Survey

Historically, professional development for teachers has been dominated by daylong seminars that took teachers out of the classroom and delivered the same tips and tricks to an entire department, grade level, or school.

The Education Exchange: What Happened to Black Teachers When Southern Schools Were Desegregated?

Before schools in the southern U.S. were racially integrated, schools for African American students were staffed almost exclusively by African American teachers. After the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, southern schools began to be desegregated, and this had a big effect on black teacher employment.

EdStat: Students Without Disabilities who had a Classmate With an Emotional/ Behavioral Disorder were 1.42 Times More Likely to be Chronically Absent

Early studies that addressed peer effects in inclusive classrooms did not identify any negative academic consequences for students without disabilities.

EdStat: 10 States Will Have at Least 20 Percent Fewer High-School Graduates in the Pipeline by 2030

Raw population numbers are what matter most in predicting future demand for postsecondary education.

In the News: Private Schools Are Becoming More Elite

There has been a decline in the share of middle-class students attending private schools.

EdStat: Between 2005 and 2012, the Number of Special-Education Teachers Declined More Than 17 Percent

The student-to-teacher ratio in special education is now greater than the overall student-to-teacher ratio, suggesting that students with disabilities spend more time with general educators than with special educators.

EdStat: The Private Nonprofit Sector Enrolls About 30 Percent of All Students Attending Four-Year Colleges

How will the fiscal crisis impact this sector? And what kind of higher-education system do we want?

What We’re Watching: Can Charter Schools Survive Polarization and Populism?

On Thursday, July 26, 2018, the Fordham Institute hosted a panel discussion on changing support for charter schools featuring Charles Barone, Carlos Marquez, Nina Rees, and Mike Petrilli.

EdStat: 60 Percent of All Students with Disabilities Spend 80 Percent or More of Their School Day in Regular Classrooms

How does mainstreaming benefit students with disabilities? A new article explores what we know and what we don’t.

The Education Exchange: Brett Kavanaugh’s Possible Impact on the Supreme Court

Michael McConnell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a former Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

EdStat: Private-School Enrollment Has Decreased Dramatically for Hispanic Students, Dropping from 13 Percent Enrolled in 1959 to 3 Percent Enrolled in 2013

The decline was steepest among middle-class Hispanic families.

EdStat: In 2010, the Average Catholic Elementary School Tuition was $5,858 (in 2015 Dollars)

Changes in private school enrollment may have to do with the widespread closures of Catholic schools, which had relatively low tuitions.

EdStat: At Best, Increasing Pre-K Enrollment by 10 Percent Would Raise a State’s Standard Adjusted NAEP Score by a Little Less Than 1 Point Five Years Later

According to new analyses, the positive associations between NAEP scores and earlier pre-K enrollment are small and typically not statistically significant.

EdStat: For the Past 50 Years, Roughly One in 10 U.S. Families Has Chosen to Enroll Their Children in Private School

Has expanding income inequality led to an increased concentration of affluent families at private schools?

EdStat: From 2002 to 2017, the Percentage of Four-Year-Olds Enrolled in State Pre-K Rose from 14 Percent to 33 Percent

But is government-funded pre-K the surest way to provide the opportunity for all children to succeed in school and life?

The Education Exchange: A Teacher-Centric Approach to School Reform

Students in Washington, D.C. have been making large gains on NAEP, and many credit the transformation of the teaching profession that has taken place in DCPS over the past decade. Thomas Toch of FutureEd joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his new report, which takes a close look those changes.

EdStat: Of the 30 Percent of Undergraduate Students Who Did Not Apply for Federal Student Aid in 2011-12, Roughly a Third were Likely Eligible for Pell Grants

For the purpose of awarding need-based aid, what matters most is increasing financial aid applications among those most likely to be eligible for financial aid.

EdStat: School Districts with Higher Child Poverty Levels Have Lower FAFSA Completion Rates—About 3 Percentage Points for Every 10-Percentage-Point Difference in the Child Poverty Rate

Students in relatively affluent districts are more likely to have access to the one-on-one assistance that helps students submit the FAFSA, enroll in college, and receive more financial aid.

In the News: Once Known For English Immersion, Charter Network Remakes Itself

The UNO Charter School Network, now Acero Schools, has made the transition away from the English immersion approach to educating its mostly Latino student body.

EdStat: 124 Four-Year Private Nonprofit Colleges have Closed in the Past 25 Years, According to Data from the National Center for Education Statistics

Many higher-education experts are concerned that more closures may be looming.

EdStat: Around the World, There are Approximately 264 Million Children Not in School

Another 330 million are in school but not learning.

EdStat: In 2003-04, the Percentage of Black and Hispanic Students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Dropped to 3.5 Percent

In 1997-98, the percentage of black and Hispanic students at TJ was at a high of 9.4 percent schoolwide.

In the News: In Reversal, PBC Schools Chief Says to Exclude Charters in Tax Push

In Palm Beach County, Florida, the school board is hoping to raise over $150 million a year in additional property tax revenues while preventing local charter schools from receiving any of the funds.

The Education Exchange: LAUSD at the Edge of a Fiscal Cliff

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) faces a debt of between $11-15 billion. How did the school district get itself into such a financial hole and what might it do to get out of it?

EdStat: According to American Teacher Panel Data, More than 90 Percent of Teachers Reported Using Google to Find Lessons

More than 70% reported using TeachersPayTeachers and Pinterest to find lessons.

In the News: Lessons Learned by Taking in Refugee School Children in Florida

On the John Batchelor show, Paul E. Peterson talks about research on what happens when a school enrolls refugee students, and in particular, how this affects the non-refugee children who had already been attending the school.

EdStat: Before a 2004 Change in the Admissions Process, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Applicants were Sorted First by Test Scores and Grades, with Scores Weighted at 80 Percent

In an attempt to close the excellence gap, the admissions guidelines were revised in 2004 to include a sliding scale.

In the News: ‘Access to Literacy’ Is Not a Constitutional Right, Judge in Detroit Rules

On Friday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Detroit students who argued that they had been denied access to literacy because of the condition of their schools.

EdStat: Up to 80 Percent of Teachers Use Instructional Materials Developed by Colleagues or Themselves at Least Once a Week

There is increasing momentum behind the idea that curriculum materials, including textbooks, represent a powerful lever for education reform.

The Education Exchange: Why Did the Supreme Court Change Course on Agency Fees?

On the last day of its 2017-2018 term, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus vs. AFSCME that public employee unions can no longer collect agency fees from non-members. Clint Bolick, an associate justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss why the U.S. Supreme Court felt it was necessary to overrule a decision from the 1970s allowing agency fees.

EdStat: At Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Asian Students Made Up 68 Percent of the Student Body by 2017–18

Asian students made up only 20 percent of overall school district enrollment.

EdStat: One Percent of Students Offered Admission to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Next Fall are from Low-Income Families

Some 29 percent of the students in Fairfax County Public Schools, where “TJ” is located, are from low-income families.

EdStat: 54% of Public School Teachers are Opposed to Agency Fees

Only 25% of the public favor collecting union dues from non-members.

In the News: Is This Supreme Court Decision The End Of Teachers Unions?

NPR’s Anya Kamenetz and Cory Turner consider what the Janus ruling will mean for teachers uions in an article that draws on research by Bradley D. Marianno and Katharine O. Strunk that was published recently in Education Next.

EdStat: Following the Janus Supreme Court Decision, Unions in 22 States Can No Longer Collect Agency Fees

Six states had already passed right-to-work legislation removing unions’ rights to assess agency fees.

In the News: Teacher’s Aide or Surveillance Nightmare? Alexa Hits the Classroom

Teachers are starting to use voice-powered devices like Alexa in the classroom, though privacy advocates have raised some concerns. Michael Horn considers some of the larger ways that voice assistants might disrupt the classroom.

EdStat: This Spring, the Acceptance Rate at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was 15 Percent

The acceptance rate at “TJ” was slightly lower than the acceptance rate at nearby Georgetown University.

The Education Exchange: Congress Checks In On Charter Schools

Charter schools have been in the news lately, as supporters and opponents have debated whether they are expanding opportunities for students most in need or whether they are increasing segregation. Earlier this month, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on charter schools and EdNext’s Marty West was invited to testify.

EdStat: In 2017, the Annual Budget for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General was Approximately $60 Million

An independent watchdog agency, OIG is funded by Congress and recovers $2 for every $1 spent on its efforts.

EdStat: The Office of Inspector General Completes Up to 300 Investigations Each Year

What is the mission of the OIG? Do all of its investigations lead to criminal charges?

EdStat: Seven Regional Accreditors were Responsible for Accrediting More Than 80% of the Public and Private Nonprofit Colleges in the United States as of 2012–2013

Higher-education institutions have to stay accredited for their students to be able to use federal subsidies to pay for college.

EdStat: On the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment’s Math Tests for 15-Year-Olds, the United States Ranked 39th

Continuing “business as usual” puts the U.S. below the average math-skill level in developed countries, faring only slightly better than Croatia and Greece.

In the News: California’s CORE Districts Joined Forces to Bolster Social-Emotional Development, But a Study Reveals Gaps in Learning

Researchers find that growth-mindset increased but that social awareness, self-efficacy, and self-management decreased as students progressed through school.

EdStat: Between 2010 and 2016, NACIQI Identified Compliance Issues with 80% of the Accreditors Requesting a Status Renewal

Critics have observed that NACIQI and the U.S. Department of Education rarely hold accreditors accountable for their outcomes.

The Education Exchange: Impact of Magnet Schools in San Diego

In San Diego, one in ten students attends a magnet school, and because admission is sometimes determined by lottery, researchers have been able to study the impact of attending a magnet school on long-term outcomes.

Julian Betts of the University of California, San Diego joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his research on magnet schools in San Diego.

EdStat: In the Five Years After Right-to-Work Reform, Union-Dues Revenue per Teacher Decreased by $316 in Wisconsin

These figures suggest that, in right-to-work states, teachers unions lost power not only in numbers, but also in terms of dollar resources.

EdStat: Colleges Have Estimated that an Accreditation Review Costs Over $1 Million

A higher-education institution has to participate in an accreditation review every five to ten years to stay accredited.

EdStat: In the Five Years Following Right-to-Work Reform in Wisconsin, the National Education Association (NEA) Affiliate Lost Approximately 52 Percent of its Members

During the same period of time, trends in agency-shop states remained stable.

What We’re Watching: Hearing on The Power of Charter Schools

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on June 13, 2018 on The Power of Charter Schools: Promoting Opportunity for America’s Students. Testifying were Nina Rees, Greg Richmond, Jonathan Clarke, and Marty West.

EdStat: As of 2012-2013, Seven Regional Accreditors Collectively Oversaw the Colleges that Enrolled Over 90% of All U.S. College Students

Over the course of 200 years, accreditors transformed from voluntary college associations into the gatekeepers for billions of dollars of public aid.

EdStat: $18 Billion a Year is Spent on Professional Development for U.S. Teachers

But teachers usually don’t get to pick their own programs.

The Education Exchange: Private School Attendance and Civic Involvement

Are graduates of private schools as active in the public sphere as graduates of public schools? David Sikkink, an associate professor of sociology at Notre Dame, finds that when it comes to volunteering and charitable giving, graduates of private religious schools are more likely to be engaged. He joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his research.

EdStat: The National Education Association is Currently Estimating Membership Losses at 300,000 Nationwide

Membership losses will result in a steep decline in revenue.

EdStat: Six States have Passed Right-to-Work Legislation in the Past Eight Years

An upcoming Supreme Court decision might end the controversial practice of allowing public-sector unions to collect agency fees.

EdStat: For Teachers Who Report that Covering Housing Costs is Very Difficult, the Chronic Absenteeism Rate is Nine Percentage Points Higher

Long commutes combine with rising rents to create economic anxiety.

EdStat: In 2016, Raising Blended Learners Chose Five “Demonstration Sites” to Receive Grants of up to $500,000 Over Three Years

These sites had mixed to modest gains in student achievement, though educators report greater student ownership of learning and fewer disciplinary problems.

EdNext Podcast: Rebecca Friedrichs on Janus v. AFSCME

Later this month, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in Janus v. AFSCME on whether public sector unions should be allowed to collect agency fees from employees who choose not to join the union. The Court heard a similar case two years ago, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Marty West talks with Rebecca Friedrichs, the lead plaintiff in that case, about agency fees, unions, and what to expect after Janus.

EdStat: According to the 2017 EdNext Poll, Only 46 Percent of Less-Educated White Respondents Favor Higher School Spending

Fifty-five percent of more-educated white respondents share that view.

The Summer 2018 Issue of Education Next Is Here!

The cover story is on an innovative online master’s degree program that is expanding access and increasing educational attainment for students who would not otherwise enroll in a graduate program.

In the News: New York City Mayor Alters Exam-School Admissions

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city’s eight most selective schools will now set aside 20% of seats for low-income students. The mayor hopes to eliminate the admissions test altogether, but doing this will require the approval of the state legislature.

The Education Exchange: Tennessee Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen on High State Standards

A new analysis by Education Next finds that the state that has raised its proficiency standards the most over the past 10 years is Tennessee. Tennessee Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how her state has raised its standards and made other changes to advance student learning.

EdStat: The Next Generation Learning Challenges Have Allocated More than $25 Million across Seven Regional Funds

But has NGLC funding expanded the adoption of personalized learning in those regions?

EdStat: Four of the 5 States with F Grades in 2009 Achieved a C+ or Higher for Their Proficiency Standards in 2017

Researchers at Education Next have graded state proficiency standards on an A–F scale since 2005.

EdStat: Students Attending Schools Backed by Silicon Schools Score 15 Points Above Proficiency on California State Assessments, on Average

Critically, more than two-thirds of students attending schools backed by Silicon Schools are from low-income families.

EdStat: 69 Percent of Americans Support Laws Allowing States to Take Control of Local Districts Where Academic Performance Has Been Low for Several Years

Teachers are less favorable toward these laws but nevertheless lean toward support.

EdNext Podcast: Tenure Reform and Test Scores in Florida

In 2011, a Florida law eliminated tenure for teachers hired on or after July 1, 2011. A new study looks at the impact of that change on student achievement in the state. Celeste Carruthers joins Marty West to discuss the new study, which she co-authored with David Figlio and Tim Sass.

The Education Exchange: How Have States Changed Their Standards?

Dan Hamlin, a postdoctoral fellow at the Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) at the Harvard Kennedy School, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss their new article, “Have States Maintained High Expectations for Student Performance? An analysis of 2017 state proficiency standards.”

EdStat: In 2017, Only 9 Percentage Points Separated the Proficiency Results on the Average State Test from the NAEP Results for That State

In 2005, 35 percentage points separated these two results.

EdStat: When the Public is Told How Much Teachers Currently Earn, Only 36 Percent Support Raising Teacher Salaries

According to the EdNext poll, support is down 5 percentage points from 2016.

EdStat: Nine of 24 States with D- to D+ Grades in 2009 Received A Grades for Their Proficiency Standards in 2017

The relatively close alignment between state and national assessments represents a major improvement from 2009 when the Common Core initiative began.

EdStat: There are Over 500 Medium- and High-Poverty Census Tracts across the Country without Nearby Charter Elementary Schools

The Opportunity Zone program might help make these “charter school deserts” fewer and farther between.

EdNext Podcast: Motivating American Students to Work Harder

In the United States, we don’t expect most kids to work very hard, and they don’t. So write Mike Petrilli and Adam Tyner of the Fordham Institute in a new EdNext article about student motivation. Should we try to make schools more engaging? Use external exams to hold students accountable for their learning? Adam Tyner sits down with Marty West to discuss some options that he and Mike Petrilli explore in their article, “The Case for Holding Students Accountable.”

What We’re Watching: Are State Proficiency Standards Falling?

On Tuesday, May 22, Education Next presented the results of its latest evaluation of the rigor of state proficiency standards at an event hosted by the Hoover Institution.

EdStat: 16 States and the District of Columbia Received a Grade of A or A- for Their Proficiency Standards in 2017

Since 2005, researchers at Education Next have graded state proficiency standards on an A–F scale.

The Education Exchange: Understanding the Social Aspect of Truancy

Schools are paying increasing attention to the problem of truancy, and many states are including an indicator measuring chronic absenteeism in their accountability plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act. In this episode, Paul E. Peterson talks with Peter Bergman about the phenomenon of joint absences, when students have a peer with whom they systematically skip class.

EdStat: The Differences between Teacher-Preparation Programs are Negligible When It Comes to Teacher Quality, Amounting to No More Than 3 Percent of the Average Test-Score Gap between Students from Low-Income Families and their More Affluent Peers

If policymakers want to hold preparation programs accountable for the quality of their graduates, there may be better ways to do it.

EdStat: According to the 2017 EdNext Poll, 51 Percent of Republicans Oppose the Common Core

For the general public, opposition to the Common Core has more than tripled, from 13% in 2013 to 42% in 2016.

What We’re Watching: School Funding – Stories from the States

On Wednesday, May 30, 2018, the Urban Institute will host a panel discussion on how states can make changes to their school funding systems.

EdStat: Only 46 Percent of Families Have a Charter School Within 5 Miles from Their Home

The Opportunity Zone program, part of the 2017 tax reform package, might be able to help.

EdStat: The College Readiness Program of the National Math and Science Initiative Increases College Attendance by 4.2 Percentage Points

Holding students accountable for their performance might get them to work harder and learn more.

EdNext Podcast: The Trouble with Ranking Teacher-Prep Programs

For a brief period, states were required to rank their teacher education programs based in part on how much their graduates were boosting student test scores. But when Paul von Hippel and Laura Bellows took a close look at the evaluations of teacher education programs in six states, they found that the differences between the programs in their graduates’ impact on student learning were negligible.

EdStat: Last Year, 21 States and the District of Columbia Opted to Rank Teacher-Preparation Programs by Measures of Their Graduates’ Effectiveness in the Classroom

Paul von Hippel and Laura Bellows find that if programs are ranked on value-added scores, then the differences between the programs are typically too small to matter.

The Education Exchange: When For-Profit Colleges Lose Access to Federal Aid

The Trump administration may undo regulations that punish for-profit colleges if their graduates are unable to earn enough money to repay their student loans. The authors of a new study discuss the impact on student enrollment in for-profit colleges and community colleges when the federal government cracks down on for-profit colleges with high rates of students defaulting on their loans.

EdStat: The Annual Rate of Charter School Growth has Reached an All-Time Low: a 1 Percent Increase in Charter Schools between 2017 and 2018

Our EdNext authors propose a few ways to regain momentum.

EdStat: Total State and Local Spending on Higher Education Increased by 13.5 Percent (in Inflation-Adjusted Terms) from 1987 to 2015 Nationwide

The student population increased far more rapidly than state spending during the same period of time.

In the News: One Ohio School’s Quest to Rethink Bad Behavior

In the Atlantic, Katherine Reynolds Lewis takes a step back from the current debate over school discipline to profile a school that is trying something new: use whatever methods will meet children’s needs.

EdStat: According to the 2017 EdNext Poll, 69 Percent of Respondents Support the Idea of Schools Providing Students with Laptops for Classroom Use

Approval is higher among parents and still higher among teachers.

In the News: Maryland Community Colleges to Offer Free Tuition in 2019

In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan has signed a bill that will make community college free. The state will join California, Kentucky, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee in offering statewide tuition-free programs,

EdStat: State and Local Funding for Higher Education has Declined to $7,152 per Student Enrolled in a Public Two- or Four-Year School

Even though states are spending more overall on higher education, these increases have not kept pace with enrollment growth.

EdNext Podcast: When Benefit Costs Rise, Teacher Salaries Bear the Brunt

In many states, teacher pay has stagnated or even declined in recent years. The rising cost of maintaining teacher retirement systems is part of the problem. Chad Aldeman joins Marty West to discuss the increasing cost of teacher benefits, how this affects teacher take-home pay, and what teachers gain and lose under the current system.

In the News: Purdue President Eyes Expansion into High School

Last year Purdue University helped launch a charter school aimed at boosting the number of high school students in Indiana’s urban areas who can meet Purdue’s admissions criteria. Now it wants to expand the model.

EdStat: The Average Increase in the African American Concentration Experienced by an African American Transfer Student was 3.8 Percent

Charters don’t seem to be solving the problem of school segregation and, in some cases, are making it a little worse.

The Education Exchange: Phonics Makes a Comeback in England

A little over a decade ago, a new government in the United Kingdom issued a report recommending that early reading instruction include phonics. What has been the impact of that change in approach to teaching reading?
Martina Viarengo, the author of a study on this topic, joins Paul Peterson to discuss her research.

EdStat: K–12 Education Spending per State Resident has Increased by 41 Percent from 1987 to 2015

But there is no evidence that state K–12 spending has displaced spending on higher education.

EdStat: Medicaid Has Increased More Than $1,000 Per Capita Since 1987

The increase in Medicaid spending is the single biggest contributor to the decline in higher-education support at the state and local level.

In the News: What Should it Take to Graduate? Inside the Growing Divide Over Whether to Require New York’s Vaunted Regents Exams

In Chalkbeat, Monica Disare looks at how one state has tried to uphold rigorous standards for high school graduation when not all students are going to be able to meet those standards.

What We’re Watching: Learning from the Long-Term Effects of School Choice in America

The Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard hosted a conference last month on the long-term effects of choice.

EdStat: 53 Percent of the Higher-Education Spending Decline is Explained by Public-Welfare Spending

Doug Webber looks at state spending decisions to determine the relationship between higher-education funding declines and increases in other categories.

EdStat: Taxpayers Have Filed for Over Thirty Billion Dollars in Credits and Deductions for College Expenses They Paid in 2017

What impact do these tax benefits have on education?

EdNext Podcast: Changes in State Spending on Higher Ed

The cost of college is rising, in part because of declines in state support for higher education. But what explains those declines?

Douglas Webber, associate professor in the Temple University Department of Economics, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his article, “Higher Ed, Lower Spending: As States Cut Back, Where Has the Money Gone?”

EdStat: When Informed About Teachers’ Current Salaries, 36% of the Public Favor a Pay Raise for Teachers

Recent polls show that most Americans agree that teachers deserve a pay raise, but the annual EdNext survey has shown that the public’s views on teacher salaries change when respondents are given more information.

The Education Exchange: Effects of Refugee Students on Non-Refugee Students

After a devastating earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010, thousands of Haitians moved to the U.S. and enrolled their children in school here. David Figlio, Dean of the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his research on the impact these Haitian refugee students had on the non-refugee students who were already attending those schools.

EdStat: Parents Pay a Median Price of $8,320 a Year for Eight Hours a Week of Center-Based Care for a Child Under Five Who Does Not Have a Disability

Parents spend more in the Northeast and West and less in the South and Midwest.

In the News: Most Americans Support Teachers’ Right To Strike

A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds that just 1 in 4 Americans believe teachers in this country are paid fairly, but other surveys have found that when respondents are told what teachers currently earn, support for raising salaries drops.

EdStat: According to the 2017 EdNext Poll, 61 Percent of Respondents Support the General Concept of Standards that are the Same Across the States

Far fewer support “Common Core.”

EdStat: The Art of Problem Solving Online Community has 300,000 Members

Art of Problem Solving founder Richard Rusczyk talks to Rick Hess.

What We’re Watching: Beyond the Classroom

The Education Without Walls program run by the National Center for Outdoor and Adventure Education gives chronically homeless students in North Carolina the chance to learn from outdoor experiences like camping trips.

EdStat: The U.S. Federal Government Spends Roughly $26 Billion Annually on Programs and Tax Expenditures to Support the Care and Education of Young Children

But how much are individual households spending to send a child to a center-based program when no one is helping them pay?

EdNext Podcast: A More Diverse Charter Sector

As the charter school sector grows, there is more emphasis on replicating school models with a track record of success and less emphasis on single-site schools that increase the variety of schooling options. So argues Derrell Bradford in a new article for Education Next, “Strengthening the Roots of the Charter-School Movement.”

This week, Derrell Bradford joins EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his article, what can be done to support single-site schools, and why it matters.

EdStat: Over 1,000,000 Students Drop Out of College Each Year

Students who drop out rack up debt without getting the benefits that come with having earned a degree.

The Education Exchange: Gov. Chris Sununu and Education Reform in New Hampshire

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss efforts to bring education savings accounts and full-day kindergarten to his state.

EdStat: 16 Percent of Charter School Principals are Black or Hispanic

Charter school principals are more diverse than principals of district schools, but far less diverse than the students they serve.

EdStat: Only Five of the Country’s 13,600 Districts Have Applied to the Weighted Student Funding Pilot, Part of the Every Student Succeeds Act

Why have only five of the country’s 13,600 districts applied to the weighted student funding pilot, part of the Every Student Succeeds Act?

EdStat: On Average, over the Past 10 Years, Teacher Compensation has Increased by 7.8 Percent for Retirement Benefits

During the same period of time, salaries increased by 1.4 percent a year, on average.

EdStat: A Study of 639 Charter School Applications in Four States Found That Applications That Included Plans to Hire a Management Organization Were 10 Percentage Points More Likely to Be Approved

Increasingly, single-site charter schools appear to suffer a higher burden of proof to justify their existence, relative to CMOs.

EdNext Podcast: Teacher Education Reboot – An Expert Proposal

Do teachers know enough about how students think and what motivates them? Daniel Willingham thinks that ed schools are not giving teachers enough useful information about how children learn. He laid out his argument in an Education Next article, “Unlocking the Science of How Kids Think.”

EdStat: One District, Chicago, Narrowed Its Test-Score Gap between White Students and Black Students in 4th-grade Math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2017

Chicago also narrowed its test-score gap between white students and Hispanic students in 4th-grade math and 4th-grade reading. No other participating district saw its achievement gaps narrow.

The Education Exchange: New Research on the Impact of Teachers

Instead of just looking at the effect teachers have on the test scores of their students, researchers have expanded their focus to include the impact of teachers on student attendance and the long-run outcomes of their students. Seth Gershenson joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the latest findings on the impact teachers have on their students.

EdStat: 23 States Said Their Education Agency “Had a Heavier Workload under ESSA than under NCLB”

New research challenges the notion that ESSA has fewer federal regulations than previous iterations of the federal K–12 law.

EdStat: Rescinding DACA Could Cause Roughly 9,000 K–12 Teachers to Face Legal Action or Deportation

As part of our Summer 2018 forum, Shavar Jeffries shares his view of how Trump’s policies in his first year as president have affected American education.

EdStat: The Average Scale Score in 8th-Grade Reading on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress was 267 on a 500-Point Scale

There was no significant score change in 2017 compared to 2015 in 4th-grade math, 4th-grade reading, and 8th-grade math.

What We’re Watching: NAEP, A Nation at Risk, and the Future of Education Reform

On April 25, 2018, the Hoover Institution, the Fordham Institute, and Education Next hosted a panel discussion on the progress ed reform has made since the 1980s and what the latest NAEP scores suggest about America’s future.

EdStat: On Average, Federal Money Pays for 41 Percent of the Salary Expenditures at State Education Departments in 34 States

Public-school student enrollment in these states accounts for 71 percent of student enrollment in the U.S.

EdNext Podcast: A Lost Decade for U.S. Education?

The results of the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress have just been released and the news is not good. National trends are mostly flat, and as Mike Petrilli notes, it’s now been almost a decade since we’ve seen strong growth in either reading or math, with the slight exception of eighth grade reading. Mike Petrilli joins Marty West to take a close look at the results and to consider what lessons we can draw from them.

Interpreting the 2017 NAEP Reading and Math Results

Education Next has released a series of posts analyzing the 2017 results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

EdStat: On the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress, 48 States/Jurisdictions Had No Significant Change in Their 8th-Grade Math Scores Compared to 2015

Two states/jurisdictions had score increases from 2015 to 2017, while three had score decreases.

The Education Exchange: Studying a Large-Scale Voucher Program in Colombia

In Colombia, a voucher program has awarded over 125,000 poor children scholarships to help them attend private high schools. Eric Bettinger of Stanford University talks with Paul Peterson about the program, which has been found to have positive long-term impacts on participating students, including better labor market outcomes.

EdStat: Between 2011 and 2015, Reading Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress Improved in 4 Trial Urban Districts

Which urban school districts have been moving in the right direction on NAEP?

What We’re Watching: NewSchools Venture Fund Summit 2018

The New Schools Venture Fund (NSVF) live-streamed sessions of its annual summit on Wednesday, February 9, 2018 starting at 11 am Eastern time.

EdStat: Under the New Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Savers in 529 Plans Can Withdraw up to $10,000 Per Year Free of Federal Taxes to Pay Tuition Expenses at an Elementary or Secondary Private School

In our current forum, Lindsey M. Burke argues that the Trump administration has already made some positive strides for the nation’s schools.

EdStat: According to the Understanding America Study, 47 Percent of U.S. Adults Support Charter Schools

Our 2017 EdNext poll reported a sharp drop in support for new charter schools, but is public opinion bouncing back?

In the News: Wanted – Big-City School Superintendents

About a dozen big cities are at this moment trying to hire new school superintendents.

EdStat: Between 2011 and 2015, Reading Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress Improved in 19 States

Which states are on a hot streak coming into the 2017 NAEP release on April 10?

EdNext Podcast: One University Enters Innovative New Territory in Online Learning

Georgia Tech already offered a highly regarded master’s degree in computer science. In 2014, the school added a fully online version of the degree. In this episode, Josh Goodman joins Marty West to discuss the impact of the program.

EdStat: Georgia Tech’s Online Master’s Degree Program in Computer Science Costs About $7,000

The online degree costs less than one-sixth of the $45,000 that out-of-state students pay to enroll in the same program in person.

The Education Exchange: Checking In on Support for Charter Schools

Results from a survey released last week showed that support for charter schools has come back up after a sharp drop last year. In this week’s episdode, Nina Rees of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss what might have caused support for charters to dip and then rise and to consider the results of some recent studies on charter schools.

35 Years Ago This Month, the National Commission on Excellence in Education Released “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform”

Reflecting on the “35 pages that shook the US education world [and became] one of the most significant documents in the history of American public education.”

EdStat: 1,700 Students Begin a Computer-Science Master’s Degree Through Georgia Tech’s Online Program Each Year

Georgia Tech’s online program is the largest computer-science master’s degree program in the United States—and possibly the world.

In the News: Apple Tries to Regain Education Market Share With iPad Changes

One day before the Apple announcement, Google announced the release of a new tablet for schools that will cost the same amount as Apple’s new iPad, $329

EdStat: Between 2011 and 2015, Math Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress Declined in 20 States

What changes will be revealed on April 10 when the 2017 NAEP results are released?

EdNext Podcast: Charter Schools and Teacher Retirement Benefits

In some states, charter schools can design their own retirement plans for teachers. In this episode, Michael Podgursky, professor of economics at the University of Missouri–Columbia, joins Marty West to discuss what we can learn from charter innovation in this area.

EdStat: Only 54 Percent of School Principals Rate Their Teachers’ Understanding of How Children Learn as “Moderately” or “Very” Good

Though teachers are required to learn some basic principles of psychology as part of their training, many report that their education is too theoretical.

What We’re Watching: Charter Schools – Expanding Opportunity or Reinforcing Divides?

On Thursday, March 29 at 5:30 pm, the Harvard Graduate School of Education hosted an Askwith Debate on whether charter schools enahnce or undermine equity.

In 2015, 14 Percent of U.S. College Students Were Enrolled in Online-Only Programs

Who takes online classes? Does online education simply substitute for in-person education or does it serve students who would not otherwise enroll in an educational program?

The Education Exchange: Looking Beyond Test Scores

School choice researchers are finding that vouchers may impact student test scores and later attainment outcomes in different ways. In this episode, Patrick Wolf joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss why researchers should consider other outcomes besides test scores when evaluating school choice programs.

EdStat: West Virginia Teachers Secured a 5 Percent Pay Raise by Striking

Maybe we need to rethink how teachers’ pay schedules are structured.

EdStat: Only 36 Percent of the Public Think the Federal Government Should Play the Largest Role in Setting Educational Standards

Opinion has shifted modestly away from federal control toward local control over the past two years.

In the News: Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys

A new study led by researchers from Stanford, Harvard, and the Census Bureau, finds that white boys who grow up rich are likely to remain that way. Black boys raised at the top, however, are more likely to become poor than to stay wealthy in their own adult households.

EdStat: The West Virginia Teachers’ Strike Lasted 9 Days

Could labor activism mean that unions are getting weaker?

In the News: I’d Be an ‘A’ Student if I Could Just Read My Notes

When college professors ban laptops, students complain about hand cramps and an inability to read their own handwritten notes.

EdStat: Children Whose Parents Receive Public Assistance Hear Less Than One Third of the Words Encountered by Higher-Income Peers by Age 3

The children of highly educated parents are capable of more complex speech and have more extensive vocabularies before they even start school.

EdNext Podcast: Could Voice-Activated Technology Transform the Classroom?

As the use of smart speakers like Google Home and Amazon Echo becomes widespread in homes, some wonder whether voice-activated technology technology could prove useful in the classroom. Michael Horn joins Marty West to discuss how this might work and what the challenges might be.

In the News: A Better Way to Increase Teachers’ Pay

The 5 percent increase in pay secured by striking teachers in West Virginia might seem reasonable; the problem is that no effort has been made to transform the way teacher salary schedules work, Reihan Salam argues.

School Choice Conference at Harvard, April 19, 2018

Learning from the long-term effects of school choice

EdStat: By 2016, 44 States Had Passed Legislation Mandating Major Teacher Evaluation Reforms

Have these new evaluation systems had a net positive or negative effect on our nation’s schools?

What We’re Watching: How Far Do Students Travel to Get to School?

Researchers from the Urban Institute have released a study looking at how long it takes students to travel from home to school in five different cities where families have a significant amount of educational choice.

The Education Exchange: Latino Views on Politics and Education

In this episode, David L. Leal, professor at the University of Texas, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss how Latinos vote, what Latinos think of their kids’ schools, and whether the views of Latinos differ significantly from the views of other Americans.

EdStat: 6,440 New Mexico Students Passed Advanced Placement Exams in 2016

In New Mexico, the number of AP test-takers grew from 7,636 in 2010 to 10,756 in 2016, and the number of students passing the tests increased from 5,266 in 2010 to 6,440 in 2016.

EdStat: Being Exposed to a Duty-to-Bargain Law for All 12 Years of Schooling Reduces Male Earnings by Almost $1,500 Per Year

“Duty-to-bargain” laws require school districts to negotiate with teachers unions in good faith.

EdStat: 61 Percent of Respondents Liked the New California School Dashboard Accountability Site

According to a recent Pace and USC Rossier poll, 61 percent of respondents had a positive impression of the California School Dashboard.

In the News: Colorado’s High Court – There’s No Such Thing as Teacher Tenure

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled in a case brought by teachers who were unhappy with a new law that makes it possible for experienced teachers to be put on unpaid leave if no schools want to give them a job.

EdStat: Charter Schools Received $3,509 Less on Average in Annual Funding per Student Than District Schools in 2011

Even though charter schools and district schools receive equal funding from the state, charters generally receive less funding per student.

EdNext Podcast: A Reformer’s Legacy in New Mexico

“As public education secretary of New Mexico, Hanna Skandera dug in fast, set an ambitious agenda, and broke a lot of china.” So writes Michael McShane in a new article for Education Next about Skandera’s seven years of leadership. Michael McShane joins Marty West to discuss the lessons education reformers can learn from Skandera’s successes and challenges.

EdStat: 71 Percent of New Mexico’s Teachers Rated Effective or Better

The state’s new evaluation system has been especially effective at differentiating teachers by the skillfulness of their work.

In the News: Are iPhones Bad for Kids?

In the New York Times, Pamela Druckerman reviews two books on parenting and screen time. Mike Petrilli reviewed the same two books, by Anya Kamenetz and Naomi Schaefer Riley, for Ed Next last month.

The Education Exchange: The Long-term Effects of Voucher Programs

Three new studies released by the Urban Institute look at how private school choice has affected nearly 13,000 students in three different states.

Matt Chingos of the Urban Institute joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss what we’re learning about how school choice participants do when it comes to college enrollment and graduation.

EdStat: 58% of Less-Educated White Respondents Think the Number of Skilled Immigrant Visas Should be Decreased

In our 2017 EdNext poll, we asked respondents if the number of visas for skilled workers should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same

EdStat: The Suspension Rate for Children Living with Just One Parent or Guardian is 10.2%

Children ages 12 to 17 who live with just one parent or guardian are at a higher risk of school suspension than their peers living in a two-parent household.

EdStat: 46 Percent of the General Public Support Merit Pay for Teachers

According to the 2017 EdNext poll, support for merit pay for teachers among the general public has dropped from 67 percent in 2010 to 46 percent in 2017.

What We’re Watching: No One Way to School – Educational Pluralism and Why it Matters

In this TEDx talk, Ashley Berner makes the case for educational pluralism in the U.S., rather than a school system built around the idea of uniformity.

EdStat: 2.3 Percent of U.S. Children Have a Parent in Federal or State Prison

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 2.3 percent of U.S. children have a parent in federal or state prison.

EdNext Podcast: 50 Year Old Curriculum Still Works

A new meta-analysis documents a half-century of “strong positive results” for Direct Instruction. Robert Pondiscio of the Fordham Institute joins Marty West to talk about Direct Instruction, which he calls “the Rodney Dangerfield of education. It gets no respect.”

EdStat: 93 Percent of Charters Opting Out of State Pension Plans Offer an Alternative

When charter schools opt out of state retirement plans, they usually offer their teachers an alternative.

In the News: Will Better Civics Classes Lead to a Better America? Don’t Count on It

In a column for the Washington Post, Jay Mathews challenges the view that the renewed interest in governing caused by the election might lead to better teaching and greater civic virtue.

The Education Exchange: The ABCs of School Choice

Paul DiPerna, the vice president of research and innovation for EdChoice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss “The ABC’s of School Choice,” a comprehensive guide to school choice programs in the U.S.

EdStat: 51 Percent of Parents Support Homeschooling

According to the 2017 EdNext Poll, 51 percent of parents support homeschooling, while just 29 percent oppose it.

EdStat: 76 Percent of Indiana’s Private Schools Participate in the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program

Roughly 76 percent of Indiana’s private schools take part in the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program, including almost 100 percent of Indiana’s Catholic schools.

EdStat: States’ Teacher Pension Plans Are Now Underfunded by $500 Billion

States’ teacher pension plans have been managed so poorly that they’re now underfunded by $500 billion.

The Spring 2018 Issue of Education Next is here!

In the Spring 2018 issue cover story, we present evidence on the spillover effects of charter schools on nearby district-school students.

EdStat: 19 Percent of Arizona Public-School Students Were Enrolled in Charter Schools in 2014

With 19 percent of its public-school students enrolled in charter schools, Arizona was the state with the highest percentage of charter-school students in 2014.

EdStat: 19 States Permit Charter Schools to Opt Out of State Retirement Plans

In 19 states, charter schools can offer their teachers an alternative to state retirement plans.

EdNext Podcast: Oral Arguments Heard by Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME

Josh Dunn, an associate professor of political science at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.

The Education Exchange: Will School Choice Continue to Grow in 2018?

The number of states with school choice programs and the number of students who are able to take advantage of these programs have roughly doubled since 2010. What will happen on the school choice front in 2018? Paul E. Peterson talks with John Schilling of the American Federation for Children, which promotes school choice by promoting legislation and trying to help elect candidates who support choice.

EdStat: 44% of the Public Oppose Agency Fees

Forty-four percent of the public oppose the practice of requiring teachers to pay fees to unions they choose not to join, while just 37% support the practice.

In the News: Supreme Court to Hear Case on Unions, Non-Member Financial Requirements

On Monday, February 26, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Janus vs. AFSCME, a case that could deal a potentially crippling blow to public sector unions.

EdStat: 48 Percent of Parents Support Testing Preschool Students

Even though controversy has sprung up around the new International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study, our 2017 EdNext poll found that 48 percent of parents support requiring students in publicly funded preschool programs to take state tests.

EdStat: $1,220 per Pupil Was Spent by School Districts on Teachers’ Pension Benefits in 2017

Pension costs, excluding Social Security and retiree health insurance, have grown from $520 per student in 2004 to $1,220 today.

EdStat: 34,299 Students Receive Vouchers Through the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program

Launched in 2011, the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program is the nation’s largest voucher program, accounting for nearly 20 percent of all voucher students nationwide.

EdNext Podcast: Charter School Growth was Booming. What Happened?

There’s been a decline in the number of new charter schools opening and a slowing of growth in overall enrollment in charter schools. Robin Lake joins Marty West to discuss her research into some possible reasons for the decline, focusing on the San Francisco area.

Education Exchange: Helping Teens Develop a Sense of Purpose

Do teens need a sense of purpose? William Damon of the Stanford Center on Adolescence says that developing a sense of purpose is one of the most important but overlooked aspects of adolescent development. He talks with Paul Peterson about his his work on how we develop a sense of purpose and what schools can do to help.

In the News: Douglas County Schools Must Pay the Private Education Costs of Student Who Has Autism, Judge Rules

In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District that public school students with disabilities are entitled to greater benefits than some lower courts had determined.

EdNext Podcast: Getting Tough on Screen Time

We don’t yet know what the long-term effects are of kids spending so many hours in front of screens. Many parents struggle to set reasonable boundaries around screen time, and some seem to have given up the fight. Marty West talks with Naomi Schaefer Riley about the challenges of limiting screen time for our kids and why parents might want to try harder.

What We’re Watching: Is Education Worth It?

On February 15, AEI hosted a debate over the value of education. Bryan Caplan, author of The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money, took on Eric Hanushek.

In the News: The Majority of California Parents Like New State Report Card

A new poll released by USC and PACE finds that voters in California have a positive view of the state’s dashboard approach to accountability.

The Education Exchange: Racial Diversity in a Boston Charter School

Boston Collegiate Charter School is the most diverse school in Boston. Paul E. Peterson talks with Richard Whitmire about what makes the school so special and how the school has managed to attract such a diverse population.

EdNext Podcast: Charter Schools in the Real Wild West

In many western states, charter schools operate with little regulation or oversight. Matt Ladner joins Marty West on the podcast to defend this approach to charter school policy.

In the News: Inside the $28,000-a-year private school where children of tech workers learn to become the next Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk

BASIS runs a small handful of private schools in addition to its 25 public charter schools.

The Education Exchange: Can District-Charter Collaborations Succeed?

Conflict between school districts and charter schools is not inevitable, argues Ashley Jochim. Paul Peterson talks with Jochim about the factors that allow some school districts to collaborate with charter schools.

In the News: How One High-Poverty District Is Adding Virtual Reality to its Classrooms

In the Hechinger Report, Eleanor Chute visits a school district in western Pennsylvania that is using virtual reality as a learning tool.

EdNext Podcast: Spillover Effects of Charter Schools

The political debate over charter schools often turns on their impact on students in traditional district schools. Marty West talks with Sarah Cordes about her new research on this topic.

The Education Exchange: School District Turnaround in Massachusetts

State interventions to improve struggling local school districts have a mixed record, but in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a state takeover seems to be turning things around.

Paul E. Peterson talks with Beth Schueler about her new report, “School District Turnaround: Learning from Leadership in Lawrence, Massachusetts.”

What We’re Watching: Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act – Access and Innovation

At a Senate HELP committee hearing on innovation and improving access to higher ed, Mike Larsson testified about Match Beyond, a program which helps students from low-income households earn college degrees at affordable prices.

EdNext Podcast: Local Funds for Charter Schools

Charter schools have long fought to get their fair share of per pupil funding. Parker Baxter joins Marty West to discuss how two states have passed breakthrough laws mandating that charters have equitable access to local funds.

In the News: Online Courses Are Harming the Students Who Need the Most Help

Online courses offer many benefits to high achievers who are extremely motivated, but high schools across the country are increasingly steering struggling students into online courses.

What We’re Watching: Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act – Financial Aid Simplification and Transparency

At a hearing on student debt held last week by the Senate HELP Committee, Matt Chingos suggested some changes to the way student loans work.

The Education Exchange: Is America More Divided than Ever?

Morris Fiorina joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his new book, which aims to correct the widespread assumption that Americans today are more polarized than ever.

What We’re Watching: School Discipline Reform – Hard Lessons from the Front Lines

On January 25 at 4 pm, the Fordham Institute will host a debate on school discipline reform. The focus will be on the impact of policies aimed at reducing suspensions.

In the News: A Very Bad Bargain

Does collective bargaining by teachers help or hurt students? An editorial in the Wall Street Journal refers readers to a recent study that tries to answer this question.

EdNext Podcast: How School Buildings Impact Teacher Collaboration

James Spillane joins EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss how school administrators can use classroom assignments to promote teacher interaction, which is the subject of his new article, “The Schoolhouse Network.”

The Education Exchange: A Dream of Equality

Gerard Robinson joins Paul Peterson to reflect on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King and the work of improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged children.

In the News: BPS Plan Would Eliminate Middle Schools

Superintendent Tommy Chang presented a plan to the Boston School Committee that would eliminate middle schools and change the grade configuration of other schools in Boston so that students only have to change schools once during their education.

What We’re Watching: Bush-Obama School Reform — Lessons Learned

On Tuesday, January 16, 2018, AEI hosted a conference on the past two decades of school reform. Panels discussed what we have learned about accountability, policy instruments, and Washington’s role.

In the News: iPhones and Children Are a Toxic Pair, Say Two Big Apple Investors

Two large investors are asking Apple to do more to address the overuse of cell phones by kids.

In the News: Trump Taps Stanford Researcher for NCES Commissioner

James (Lynn) Woodworth has been named the new commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics.

In the News: Schools Closed, Roads Clogged, Trains Delayed: Snowstorm Lashes New York City

A study by Josh Goodman challenges the conventional wisdom that the number of school days cancelled due to snow has a significant impact on student learning.

In the News: The Biggest Education Stories Of 2017 And 2018

Anya Kamenetz looks back at the top education moments in 2017 and she includes in her list the big, bipartisan plunge in support for charter schools which was revealed by the 2017 Education Next poll.

In the News: The Only Way to Keep Your Resolutions

A widely-shared New York Times piece about sticking with New Years resolutions suggests that some in the social emotional learning camp who have been busying themselves with trying to foster “grit” by teaching self-control may have been focusing on the wrong thing.

EdNext Podcast: Top EdNext Stories of 2017

EdNext editor in chief Marty West and senior editor Paul E. Peterson discuss the top Education Next articles of 2017.

In the News: What Really Happened At The School Where Every Graduate Got Into College

Half of the graduates missed more than three months of school last year, unexcused.

The Education Exchange: School Choice, Test Scores, and Non-Cognitive Skills

Some recent studies of the impact of school choice have found only a limited impact on academic achievement but larger positive effects on long-term outcomes like attainment and earnings. What could account for this? In this episode of the podcast, Paul talks with Marty West about his new working paper on the impact of school choice on non-cognitive skills.

In the News: The Charter-School Crusader

Eva Moskowitz, Success Academy, and the growth of charter school networks more generally are the subject of a thoughtful essay by Elizabeth Green in the Atlantic.

EdNext Podcast: Later School Start Times for Teens in Boston

Earlier this month, the Boston School Committee announced that it would start high schools later and elementary schools earlier so that teenagers can get the sleep they need. Marty West talks with Finley Edwards, the author of “Do Schools Begin Too Early?” about his findings that later school start times increase student achievement in math and reading and have many other benefits.

The Top 10 Education Next Blog Entries of 2017

Every year we publish a list of the most popular entries on the Education Next blog as determined by readership.

The Education Exchange: Dispelling Myths about CTE

What kind of students choose career and technical education? In this episode, Paul E. Peterson talks with Albert Cheng, the author of a new paper that finds that the students who choose CTE may not be as engaged in their academic courses but have strong non-cognitive skills. Other studies find that CTE may boost attainment and improve labor market outcomes for students.

In the News: Boston School Committee Approves New Start Times, Then Changes Mind

High school students in Boston will get to sleep later next year, the Boston Globe reports. Most high schools will start at or after 8:00 am.

In the News: Teacher Professional Development – Many Choices, Few Quality Checks

Teachers in most states need to earn a certain number of professional development credits in order to renew their licenses, but as Stephen Sawchuk explains in Ed Week’s Teacher magazine, what we have today is “a bewildering array of providers offering education credits” and nobody in charge of ensuring quality.

EdNext Podcast: Why This Mom Sent Her Son to a Chinese School

Lenora Chu, an American journalist, decided to send her son to a local public school when she and her family relocated to Shanghai. In this episode of the podcast, she talks with Marty West about what she learned about the Chinese education system, which is also the topic of her new book, Little Soldiers: An American Boy, A Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve.

In the News: How Effective Is Your School District? A New Measure Shows Where Students Learn the Most

New data from researchers at Stanford allows us to see where students are making the largest gains from year to year. And an interactive graphic created by the New York Times lets readers click on individual school districts to see how they are doing.

The Education Exchange: Chris Cerf on a New Chapter for School Reform in Newark

The state of New Jersey is returning to the city of Newark the power to run its school system. Chris Cerf, who served as state superintendent of New Jersey and then district superintendent of Newark, joins Paul Peterson to talk about the changes that have taken place in the Newark school district and what lies ahead.

Last year, EdNext published “Continuing Change in Newark: To Protect Reform, Chris Cerf Builds Collaborative Relationships,” by Richard Lee Colvin.

What We’re Watching: How Did Massachusetts Pull Off Its Educational Miracle?

On December 7, 2017, Fordham hosted a discussion with David Driscoll, the man behind many of the reforms that led to the Massachusetts Miracle, and the author of a new book, Commitment and Common Sense: Leading Education Reform in Massachusetts.

What We’re Watching: Rural Education in America – Challenges and Promise

On Thursday, December 7, 2017, starting at 9 am, AEI hosts a day-long research conference on rural education.

What We’re Watching: A Little Help Goes a Long Way in Doubling the Community College Grad Rates

Soledad O’Brien reports on the ASAP program, an innovative program of wrap-around support services launched at CUNY.

In the News: A Bright Spot in School Diversity

Three charter schools in Washington, D.C. that are “diverse by design,” aiming to attract students of all races, are the subject of an article in US News.

In the News: Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting.

The research is unequivocal: Laptops distract from learning, both for users and for those around them.

EdNext Podcast: How Teacher Expectations Directly Impact Students

The expectations teachers have for how far students will go with their education have an impact on how much education those students actually complete. And white teachers have lower expectations for black students than for similarly situated white students.

To better understand these dynamics, Marty West talks with Seth Gershenson about his new study, “The Power of Teacher Expectations: How racial bias hinders student attainment,” co-authored with Nicholas Papageorge.

The Winter 2018 Issue of EdNext Is Here!

The cover of the Winter 2018 issue features the 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform.

What We’re Watching: Examining the State Role in Financing Public Schools

On Wednesday, November 29, 2017, the Urban Institute hosted a panel discussion on school finance policies and inequality.

The Education Exchange: How Safe Do Students Feel in School?

Daniel Hamlin talks with Paul E. Peterson about his research on whether there’s any difference in student perception of safety between district and charter schools in Detroit.

In the News: How to Get Your Mind to Read

Americans are not good readers, but the cause is not smartphones; it’s how schools teach reading.

In the News: Is DeVos Near Ending School Discipline Reform After Talks on Race, Safety?

Last week, officials from the U.S. Department of Education met with critics of school discipline policies that were put in place under the Obama administration.

In the News: ‘Teacher of the Year’ Voted New Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools

Jason Kamras, the 2005 National Teacher of the Year, will be the next superintendent of Richmond Public Schools.

What We’re Watching: Better Buses — Three Ways to Improve School Transportation

Bellwether Education Partners believes we need to think differently about school transportation. In this 3-minute video they explain what needs to change.

The Education Exchange: Should Unions Sell Health Care?

Michael Podgursky joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the role of public sector unions in negotiating and sometimes even selling health care and other benefits to their members.

In the News: Can These New Colleges Help Solve Higher Education’s Equity Problem?

Sometimes called hybrid colleges, these programs aim to help low-income students earn college degrees.

In the News: Who’s Ready to Put Their Kid on a Self-Driving School Bus?

A driverless taxi service will soon be up and running in a suburb of Phoenix. Will self-driving school buses be next?

EdNext Podcast: Local Election, National Setback for School Choice

On election day last week, voters in Douglas County, Colorado elected a slate of school board members who want to undo the reforms embraced by the last board.

Max Eden joins Marty West to discuss the results of the election, and in particular, what they mean for school choice efforts nationwide.

In the News: Common Core Tests Were Supposed to Usher in a New Era of Comparing America’s Schools. What Happened?

Seven years after the Common Core standards were introduced, not much progress has been made in pulling together data from Common Core-aligned tests in different states that would allow researchers to make comparisons across states, Matt Barnum notes in an article for Chalkbeat.

What We’re Watching: Improving Career and Technical Education by Reforming High Schools and Community Colleges

On Wednesday, November 15, 2017 AEI hosted two panel discussions on new ways to prepare students for the world of work.

The Education Exchange: A Master’s Degree from a Top University at a Fraction of the Cost

Josh Goodman of the Harvard Kennedy School sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new master’s degree in computer science offered by Georgia Tech. The computer science department, one of the top 10 programs in the country, has set up a flexible, online program for working adults that charges only 1/6 of what an in-person master’s degree costs.

In the News: The Charter School Breakthrough Doesn’t Work for Boys

While researching what happens to graduates of top charter schools when they go to college, Richard Whitmire noticed a gender gap in the performance of the students.

What We’re Watching: Millennials in Ed Reform

As millennials grow up and become parents, find schools for their kids, and move into positions of leadership, what’s apt to change on the education reform front? The Fordham Institute and the Walton Family Foundation are convening a panel to discuss this on November 14 at 4 pm.

What We’re Watching: Outcomes and Challenges in US Cities with Public School Choice

On November 14, the Brown Center at Brookings and CRPE will host two panels on the current state of public school choice in our nation’s cities.

EdNext Podcast: Changing How We Study Summer Learning Loss

David Quinn joins Marty West to discuss how researchers analyze summer learning loss and how it varies by student background.

In the News: Why Do Some New York City Schools Get to Choose Their Students?

In New York City, roughly a quarter of the city’s middle schools and a third of high schools screen applicants based on their grades, test scores, artistic talents and other criteria.

In the News: Anti-Reform Candidates Sweep the Slate in the Douglas County School Board Election

The anti-voucher candidates were victors in the Douglas County School Board election last night,, effectively killing the district’s voucher program.

In the News: AltSchool to Close Elementary School in Manhattan’s East Village

AltSchool will close three of their seven private “micro-schools” and focus on developing their software platform.

The Education Exchange: The Impact of School Choice on School District Resources

Martin Lueken of EdChoice and Benjamin Scafidi of Kennesaw State University sit down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss their reasearch on the effect of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program on school district resources.

In the News: How Silicon Valley Plans to Conquer the Classroom

The New York Times looks at the ways tech companies woo superintendents to get them to buy hardware and software.

In the News: ‘Hamilton’ Education Program Brings New Energy to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hit Musical

“EduHam” is now in Los Angeles, where over 7,800 high school students will get the opportunity to see the touring production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit.

What We’re Watching: Dan Willingham on Reading Comprehension

Dan Willingham explains why reading comprehension tests don’t actually test reading comprehension.

EdNext Podcast: The Education of Eva Moskowitz

Eva Moskowitz, the founder of Success Academy Charter Network, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss her new memoir, The Education of Eva Moskowitz, and the role of charter schools in New York City.

In the News: A Student Loan Nightmare — The Teacher in the Wrong Payment Plan

Welcome to the world of student loans and debt forgiveness for teachers, a patchwork of overlapping programs, contradictory regulations, and expensive subsidies.

The Education Exchange: Why is Opposition to Charter Schools Growing?

Demand for seats in charter schools remains high among families but public enthusiasm for continued growth of the charter sector seems to be slipping.

Jason Riley, Wall Street Journal columnist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss where the opposition to charter schools is coming from.

What We’re Watching: Over a Million Teachers Aren’t Covered by Social Security

Why are so many teachers not covered by social security? The answers are in this explainer created by TeacherPensions.org

In the News: Gates Foundation Announces New $1.7B for K-12

Last week, Bill Gates delivered a speech in which he described some new priorities for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

EdNext Podcast: Innovative University Gets Yellow Light from DOE

Western Governors University has earned praise for its innovative model of competency-based learning. But the U.S. Department of Education’s Inspector General has called for the government to bar WGU students from federal student aid programs.

In this episode, Michael Horn of the Christensen Institute joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss the WGU model and why a government audit found it wanting.

The Education Exchange: Which Voucher Models Should Be Expanded?

Dennis Epple, Professor of Economics at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how states can expand their school choice programs, and whether those programs have been effective.

In the News: Expert Advice on Schools Is a New Kind of Employee Perk

In New Orleans, a nonprofit called EdNavigator helps low-income parents support and advocate for their children at school. EdNavigator’s services are paid for by employers who then offer them to their employees as a free benefit.

In the News: How Teach for America Lost Its Way

In Commentary, Sohrab Ahmari makes the case that Teach for America, once a leading light of the education reform movement, has now transformed itself into an arm of the progressive movement.

What We’re Watching: A Year of Love and Struggle at Ron Brown College Prep

In August 2016, a new public school opened in Washington, D.C. specifically to meet the needs of boys of color. A three-part audio documentary looks at how things went for the students and the school in its first year.

What We’re Watching: Bill Gates Keynote at the Annual Conference of the Council of the Great City Schools

On October 19, 2017 at 12:30, Bill Gates delivered the keynote address at the 61st Annual Conference of the Council of the Great City Schools.

EdNext Podcast: Using Technology to Advance Student Learning

Tom Vander Ark joins Marty West to discuss the benefits of technology in schools and why it would be a mistake to reject the use of computers in the classroom.

In the News: Eli Broad, Giant of Education Philanthropy, is Retiring

Last week, Eli Broad announced that he would be retiring from his work at the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation in order to spend more time with his family.

The Education Exchange: Free Freshman Year of College

Steve Klinsky, founder and CEO of ModernStates.org, joins Paul Peterson to discuss his new charity, which offers students up to 40 transferrable college credits for free.

In the News: ‘Open’ Curricula Offerings Expand to Social Studies

The Core Knowledge Foundation has released a free online social studies curriculum for grades 3 to 5.

EdNext Podcast: Getting Screen Time Right in Schools

How does the current array of technology in schools fit with the ages-old aspiration of forming thoughtful and reflective young men and women who will strive for a greater good beyond themselves? That’s the question Daniel Scoggin raises in his half of a new Education Next forum, “Should We Limit Screen Time in School?”

The Education Exchange: Charter School Performance in New York City

Margaret Raymond, director of CREDO at Stanford University, sits down with Paul Peterson to discuss CREDO’s latest study on charter schools in New York City.

In the News: Turning “STEM” into “STEAM” Is Counterproductive to Protecting Arts Education

Jay Greene argues that supporters of arts education are making a mistake when they try to sell the idea of integrating arts education into the study of science, technology, engineering and math.

In the News: Hispanic Dropout Rate Hits New Low, College Enrollment at New High

New data from the Census Bureau show that the high school dropout rate among U.S. Hispanics has fallen to a new low, and that the reduction has come alongside a long-term increase in Hispanic college enrollment.

EdNext Podcast: K-12 Tax Credit Scholarships Boost College Enrollment in Florida

A new study from the Urban Institute finds that a Florida program designed to expand access to private schools has helped more low income students enroll in college. Matt Chingos, one of the authors of the study, talks with Marty West about how the Florida Tax Credit scholarship program works, how the effects of the program were studied, and how his findings fit in with those of other studies of voucher and tax credit programs.

What We’re Watching: A Keynote and Conversation with Eva Moskowitz

Eva Moskowitz, the CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, was at AEI on Tuesday, October 3 to talk with Rick Hess about her battles to reform America’s education system, the topic of her new book.

In the News: If Your Teacher Looks Like You, You May Do Better In School

Carl Boisrond of NPR describes the findings of a new study that looks more closely at the impact on students of having a teacher of the same race.

The Education Exchange: Giving Teachers Valuable Feedback and Rewards for Improvement

Former Chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools and founder of StudentsFirst Michelle Rhee sits down with Paul Peterson to discuss some of the changes she helped enact in the nation’s capital.

In the News: Supreme Court Poised to Deal a Sharp Blow to Unions for Teachers and Public Employees

The Supreme Court announced Thursday that it will hear a case involving the agency fees that teachers and other public employees are required to pay to unions even if they choose not to join the unions.

What We’re Watching: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Speaks at Harvard

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke at the IOP Forum at the Kennedy School at Harvard on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017

In the News: Denver’s Ambitious Home Visit Program Works to Build Bridges Between Parents and Teachers

In Denver, teachers from the Denver Public Schools have visited hundreds of students and their families at home in the weeks since school started.

EdNext Podcast: How Districts Can Make Smart Ed-Tech Purchases

Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates, visits the podcast to give some insider tips on how school districts can get the most out of education technology and avoid paying too much for it.

What We’re Watching: Has K–12 Education Fallen for a Testing Charade?

On Wednesday, September 27, 2017, AEI hosted Dan Koretz, whose new book is The Testing Charade: Pretending to Make Schools Better. Discussing the book were Nina Rees and Russ Whitehurst. Rick Hess moderated.

The Education Exchange: Teacher Absences Greater in District Than Charter Schools

A new Fordham report finds that 28% of teachers in traditional district schools miss more than 10 school days a year for sick or personal leave while teachers in charter schools have lower rates absences.

David Griffith of the Fordham Institute talks with Paul Peterson about the report and about where teacher absence rates are high and low.

In the News: Innovation Schools Saw Some of the Largest Gains on ISTEP in Indianapolis Public Schools

In Indianapolis, many of the schools that saw the biggest gains in passing rates on state tests were innovation schools, which have been given full autonomy.

In the News: Common Core Used Widely, Despite Continuing Debate

While there is disagreement over whether the Common Core standards are improving student performance, most states that adopted the standards are still using them.

In the News: After More Than 20 Years, Newark to Regain Control of Its Schools

In 1995, the state of New Jersey took control of the public schools in Newark.

EdNext Podcast: The Consequences of Chronic Absenteeism

Brian A. Jacob of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan joins EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss the causes and consequences of chronic absenteeism in schools.

Betsy DeVos to Speak at School Choice Conference at Harvard

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will deliver the keynote address at “The Future of School Choice” on September 28, 2017

The Education Exchange: Students Control the Learning at Summit Schools

Diane Tavenner, CEO of Summit Schools, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss how Summit has spent the past 15 years building a school model around what we know about what motivates students, how they learn, and what they need to be able to do.

What We’re Watching: Legacy of Justice Antonin Scalia on C-SPAN

On Friday, Sept. 15th, the Hoover Institution hosted “Scalia’s Constitution: Essays on Law and Education,” an event that was later broadcast by C-SPAN.

In the News: U-Va. Chooses Law School Alumnus, Harvard Dean As Its Next President

Jim Ryan, currently dean of the Harvard Graduate School of education and a scholar of law and education, will be U.Va.’s next president.

In the News: Minimum Progress for Students with Disabilities ‘Preposterous,’ Betsy DeVos Says in Denver

On Day 2 of her multistate “Rethink School” tour, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos called on schools to work with parents to better serve students with special needs.

In the News: Colleges Need To Do More To Help Students Transfer Credits, GAO Says

A report released by the Government Accountability Office finds that college students who transfer from one school to another lose nearly half of the college credits they earned.

What We’re Watching: Event on Scalia’s Constitution – Essays on Law and Education

On Friday, Sept. 15th, the Hoover Institution hosted “Scalia’s Constitution: Essays on Law and Education,” an event organized by the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Government.

EdNext Podcast: What If the Government Regulated Schools But Did Not Run Them?

In earlier days, and in other countries, the government is the regulator of schools and provides quality control but does not directly operate all schools. This version of public education may better reflect American democracy, Ashley Berner notes. She joins Marty West to discuss pluralism and public education in this week’s episode of the EdNext podcast.

The Fall 2017 Issue of Education Next is Here!

The Fall 2017 cover article details how Western Governors University pioneered a competency-based approach to higher education.

In the News: Schools Around the US Are Finally Pushing Back Their Start Times — and It’s Working

In Business Insider, Chris Waller writes about some schools and districts that have changed their bell schedules so that teenagers start school later.

The Education Exchange: Are Too Many Students Choosing Four-Year Universities?

Stanford University’s Rick Hanushek joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss whether too many students are attending four-year universities instead of two-year institutions in higher education, and how to help students get the skills they need in the workforce.

In the News: Betsy DeVos Could Change Sexual Assault Policy for the Better

DeVos’s announcement that the Education Department will review Obama-era guidance on campus sexual assault has prompted strong reactions.

In the News: Common, Timberlake, U2 and Hayek Join Friday’s ‘Super School Live’ TV Special

Tonight at 8 pm, lots of celebrities will be participating in an hour-long live tv show about reinventing American high schools.

Sloane Stephens on Attending a Virtual School

Sloane Stephens beat Venus Williams yesterday to make it to the finals of the U.S. Open. As a high schol student she spoke with EdNext about attending Florida Virtual School.

EdNext Podcast: Curriculum Is Key in Louisiana

Robert Pondiscio joins Marty West to discuss the curriculum-driven reform efforts led by the Louisiana Department of Education.

The Education Exchange: Public Opinion on Teacher Quality

The 2017 Education Next poll asked the public, parents, and teachers what share of teachers at your local public school are excellent, good, satisfactory and unsatisfactory.

In the News: Do ‘No-Excuses’ Charter Schools Lead to Success after High School? At One High-Profile Network, the Answer Seems To Be Yes

Many no excuses charter schools have high test scores, but critics are often skeptical that those scores will translate into outcomes that really matter.

EdNext Podcast: Should Laptops Be Allowed in College Classrooms?

Susan Payne Carter talks with Marty West about her new study which found that students whose professors banned laptops and tablets from class outperformed students whose professors allowed the devices.

In the News: Undergraduate Education Major, Banned for 56 Years, Returns

In the 1960s, the California legislature decided that aspiring teachers would have to major in an academic area other than education, but last week, Gov. Jerry Brown reversed that decision

The Education Exchange: Choosing Vouchers in North Carolina

Paul E. Peterson talks with Anna Egalite of N.C. State about her new study looking at why some private schools do and others don’t participate in North Carolina’s means-tested voucher program and also at how families make the decision about whether or not to use a school voucher.

In the News: City Will Move Sidelined Teachers From Limbo to Classrooms

New York City teachers who have not found permanent jobs will be moved from the “rubber room,” where they have been paid for not teaching, into schools with vacancies whether the schools want them or not.

In the News: Could the Dip Be a Blip?

In U.S. News, Rick Hess and Amy Cummings take a close look at the decline in support for charter schools found in last week’s EdNext poll.

EdNext Podcast: Which Parents Want a Four-Year College for their Children?

In the 2017 EdNext poll on school reform, parents were asked whether they would rather send their child to a two-year college, a four-year college, or neither. When respondents are given information about the costs and benefits of the different options, this changes the decisions of some respondents, but not others.

The Education Exchange: Should Muslim Students Be Allowed to Form Afterschool Religious Clubs?

Paul is joined by EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss findings from the new EdNext poll on school reform, which measured public support for the rights of Muslim students and of evangelical students to form afterschool religious clubs.

In the News: The Oldest Kids in the Class May Get an Edge in College Admissions

A new study evaluates whether students who are the oldest in their class have an advantage over their younger peers.

In the News: Why Principals Lie to Ineffective Teachers — Honesty Takes Too Long

In the Washington Post, Jay Mathews considers whether any progress has been made in fixing the teacher evaluation systems that generally result in all teachers being rated satisfactory.

What We’re Watching: Discussing the 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform

On Friday, Sept. 8, Education Next held an event at the Hoover Institution in Washington, D.C., to discuss the results of the 2017 EdNext Poll.

What We’re Watching: Bill Gates Talks with the 2017 Washington State Teacher of the Year

Bill Gates sits down with Camille Jones, who teaches STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math– at Pioneer Elementary in Quincy, a small farming town in Central Washington.

In the News: How Does the ‘Trump Effect’ Change the Public’s View of Education?

Andrew Ujifusa writes about one of the more interesting findings from the new EdNext survey on the Politics K-12 blog.

EdNext Podcast: Poll Finds Decline in Support for Charter Schools

The podcast returns from summer vacation early so that EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West can discuss some key findings from the 2017 EdNext Poll with senior editor Paul E. Peterson.

In the News: Americans May Be More Tolerant of Muslims Than Ever

A just-released survey by Education Next finds that “Americans May Be More Tolerant of Muslims than Ever.”

In the News: Hispanic Students Need Degree Data

Hispanic students are more likely than other undergraduates to be enrolled in a two-year college rather than a four-year university.

The Education Exchange: Hanna Skandera and School Reform in New Mexico

Former New Mexico Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how she approached education reform and what she accomplished in nearly seven years on the job.

In the News: Seeing Hope for Flagging Economy, West Virginia Revamps Vocational Track

Dana Goldstein looks at efforts to retool and expand vocational education, now called career and technical education, in West Virginia in a front-page story for the New York Times.

What We’re Watching: Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Road Ahead

HBCUs have been in the news this week. A panel at AEI looks at the state of historically black colleges and universities and what challenges and opportunities await them.

In the News: How New York Stopped Being the Nation’s Education Reform Capital

Politico’s Eliza Shapiro looks at what has happened to education reform in New York over the past three years.

In the News: Why All Parents Should Care About Arts Education

In an article for the Washington Post, Jill Coody Smiths describes some ways schools are exposing kids to the arts and discusses some of the benefits of arts education.

In the News: The Pay Leaders Deserve

In U.S. News and World Report, Rick Hess responds to the Boston Globe’s revelation that Boston’s 16 charter-school leaders earned total compensation of $150,000 to $200,000 in 2016.

In the News: Cal State Will No Longer Require Placement Exams and Remedial Classes for Freshmen

The California State University system will no longer require less-prepared students to take remedial courses, the Chancellor’s office announced last week.

The Education Exchange: Qualified Teachers and Effective Teachers

Paul is joined by Stanford’s Eric Hanushek to discuss the California Board of Education’s plan to distinguish between qualified and effective teachers, which is part of the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan.

In The News: Who Gets Access to School Data? A Case Study in How Privacy, Politics & Budget Pressures Can Affect Education Research

Matt Barnum writes about a dispute over who can get access to data from Louisiana that can be used to evaluate the state’s voucher program.

What We’re Watching: Rick Hess Talks With Derrell Bradford

Rick Hess talks with Derrell Bradford of 50CAN about how he got into education advocacy work, what the work is like, and what keeps him going.

In the News: This Is the Wrong Way to Fight Inequality

What role should the government play in making the American dream available to all?

In the News: When Charter Schools Open, Neighboring Schools Get Better

A new study looks at the impact of co-location, the practice of allowing a charter school to open in the same building as a district public school.

In the News: Justice Dept. to Take On Affirmative Action in College Admissions

The Justice Department is preparing to investigate universities for racial discrimination in their affirmative action policies, reports Charlie Savage of the New York Times.

In the News: 90% of Parents Think Their Kids Are on Track in Math & Reading. The Real Number? Just 1 in 3, Survey Shows

A new national survey of parents investigates the communication gap between parents and schools.

In the News: Betsy DeVos Approves Delaware’s ESSA Plan, After Blowback

Earlier, the Trump Education Department had given Delaware some very critical feedback on the plan, which Mike Petrilli described as “a big unforced error.”

In the News: School Segregation Didn’t Go Away. It Just Evolved.

According to a recent report by EdBuild, over 70 communities have tried to secede from their school district since 2000.

The Education Exchange: Segregation in U.S. Schools

This week, Paul speaks to Gregorio Caetano and Vikram Maheshri about their paper, “Explaining Recent Trends in US School Segregation: 1988-2014.”

The Education Exchange: Trump’s School Choice Policies

This week, Paul talks to Charles Barone, the director of policy at Democrats for Education Reform, about the House Appropriation Committee’s decision to drop several of Donald Trump’s proposals to broaden school choice.

In the News: How Summer Vacation Took Hold in the U.S.

Many people think that school summer vacations are the legacy of an agrarian economy, but that’s mostly not true.

In the News: Together, Technology and Teachers Can Revamp Schools

The Economist has put education technology on its cover this week.

What We’re Watching: Who is Responsible for a Student’s Success: Parents or Teachers?

In this 60-second video produced by AEI, Rick Hess argues that a partnership is necessary for success. He describes how KIPP charter schools ask teachers, parents, and students to sign a contract in which they all take responsibility for whether the student succeeds.

In the News: Teachers With Student Debt: The Struggle, The Causes And What Comes Next

NPR conducted a survey of teachers to find out more about the problem of teachers with heavy student debt.

In the News: New York Schools for Off-Track Students May Face Stricter Rules

Transfer schools that fail to graduate enough students on time could be placed into receivership.

In the News: What Keeps Public School Parents Awake at Night?

When it comes to their children’s education, what are parents’ biggest concerns? Not academics.

The Education Exchange: Bill de Blasio and Mayoral Control

This week, Paul E. Peterson talks to Ester Fuchs, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science at Columbia University, about Mayor Bill de Blasio and mayoral control of schools in New York City.

In the News: House Committee Considers Education Spending Bill That Trims Trump’s Cuts, Drops Funding for Private Choice

The bill to be considered includes a cut of about $2 billion made by eliminating Title II grants that support teacher professional development.

In the News: Yearlong Residencies for Teachers are the Hot New Thing in Teacher Prep. But Do They Work?

Year-long programs that allow teaching candidates to work alongside experienced teachers while learning how to teach don’t have much of a research base.

In the News: The Charter-School Equity Push

In Denver, a charter school network called STRIVE is working closely with Denver Public Schools to improve its ability to serve students with special needs and to enroll more of the students.

Introducing the Education Exchange, a New Podcast with Paul E. Peterson

Prof. Peterson discusses the Trinity Lutheran Supreme Court case with Stanford University professor Michael W. McConnell.

In the News: Teachers Union Adopts New, Anti-Charter School Policy

Delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly approved a policy statement on charter schools that aims to limit the growth of charter schools and regulate the schools more closely.

In the News: Specialized Summer Camps Mean More Enrichment for Kids

Summer is a popular time for opinion pieces calling for the end of summer vacation.

What We’re Watching: Senator Ben Sasse on ‘The Vanishing American Adult’

How can we teach our children to find honor in working hard instead of avoiding work? CBS News talks with Senator Ben Sasse about his new book.

In the News: How Are Schools Funded and Why Does It Matter?

Marguerite Roza is interviewed by Christine Schneider of the Walton Family Foundation about how school spending is related to efforts to improve schools.

In the News: Experiment Seeks to Transform Troubled Baltimore Schools as Federal Grants End

As the federal School Improvement Grants program winds down, a low-performing school in Baltimore is using one of the last grants to be given under the program.

In the News: Chan-Zuckerberg to Push Ambitious New Vision for Personalized Learning

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “whole-child personalized learning.”

In the News: NEA Projects Losses in 2017-18. A Supreme Court Ruling Could Worsen Them

The National Education Association expects to lose about 20,000 dues-paying members next year, and the union could lose even more revenue in the future if the Supreme Court strikes down its ability to collect agency fees from teachers who choose not to join the union.

In the News: State Reaches Deal on Mayoral Control, Giving Mayor Bill de Blasio a Two-Year Extension

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s control over the city’s schools was about to expire when state lawmakers passed (and then the governor signed) legislation giving the mayor two more years to run the city’s schools.

What We’re Watching: Is Technology the Solution to Education Reform?

No, says Rick Hess in this 60-second video produced by AEI.

In the News: Is Harry Potter the Boy Who Saved Reading?

The first Harry Potter book was published 20 years ago this week. Have the books had a magic effect on reading rates?

What We’re Watching: Education and State Accountability

Ed Next’s Mike Petrilli participated in a panel at the Education Writers Association National Seminar on “Accountability and ESSA: Where Are States Headed?”

In the News: What Monday’s SCOTUS Ruling in Trinity Lutheran Preschool Case Could Mean for School Vouchers

The Supreme Court will hand down its final rulings of the term today, including the Trinity Lutheran case.

What We’re Watching: Making Sense of New Evidence on Private School Vouchers

On Monday, June 26 at 10:30 am, the Urban Institute will host an event focused on the release of new data from the Louisiana Scholarship Program.

In the News: Legislature Fails to Give Mayor de Blasio Control of Schools

In New York, the state legislature wrapped up its 2017 session without extending Mayor Bill de Blasio’s control over New York City’s schools.

In the News: Consumer Agency Condemns Abuses in Loan Forgiveness Program

A report released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns of problems with a federal program that forgives some student loans for people who take public service jobs.

In the News: Rethinking the Parent-Teacher Conference

In hundreds of schools, educators seek to build stronger relationships with parents and equip families with tools to reinforce classroom concepts at home.

What We’re Watching: Beware of Experts — Especially in Education Policy

In this 60-second video produced by AEI, Rick Hess reminds reformers to be skeptical because trusting the experts doesn’t always work out well in education policy.

In the News: Montessori Was the Original Personalized Learning. Now, 100 Years Later, Wildflower Is Reinventing the Model

Wildlflower Montessori, a micro-school in Cambridge, Mass. with 15 students, two teachers, and no principal, is one of 11 Wildflower schools in a loose network.

In the News: Stop Pretending You’re Not Rich

In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Richard Reeves gives an overview of the argument of his new book on the American upper middle class and how its members understand their own position.

In the News: No More Art, Music and Gym Tests Just to Grade Teachers?

In Ohio, the state superintendent has proposed that the state stop administering standardized tests in subjects like art, music, and gym.

In the News: Ending the Curse of Remedial Math

David Kirp looks at how CUNY is enrolling students in an intensive, counseling-heavy program that helps them quickly get on track to their degrees instead of getting bogged down in remedial courses.

In the News: Success Academy Wins 2017 Broad Prize

The prize goes to a charter network that demonstrates outstanding academic outcomes among low-income students and students of color.

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In the News: The Silicon Valley Billionaires Remaking America’s Schools

In the New York Times, Natasha Singer takes a skeptical look at the involvement of tech entrepreneurs in school reform efforts

EdNext Podcast: How Can Students Learn Better?

Researchers know more than ever before about how people learn, but our school systems struggle to translate this knowledge into student success.

In this episode, Ulrich Boser, the author of Learn Better, joins Marty West to discuss this paradox. Is the problem simply a failure of communication? Or is it deeper?

What We’re Watching: Can We Bridge the Research-to-Policy Divide?

On June 15, 2017 at 10 am, the Fordham Institute will host a discussion about why education research and education policy are often disconnected and what can be done to fix this.

In the News: Increasing Salaries So Teachers Don’t Have To Become Principals

Spencer Campbell was making too little money to live on when he was a classroom teacher so he left the classroom to be an administrator.

In the News: Report: Teacher Pension Promises Not Kept

A new report finds that pensions do little to attract new talent and even less to retain it. In fact, the opposite is true.

What We’re Watching: The Changing Politics of Education

Marty West, Randi Weingarten, Shavar Jeffries, and Lindsey Burke took part in a panel discussion on the changing politics of education at this week’s Education Writers Association conference in Washington, D.C.

EdNext Podcast: Hugh Price’s African American Life

Hugh B. Price, former president of the National Urban League, joins EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his new memoir, “This African American Life.”

In the News: Backers Abandon $10 Million Super School Project in Oakland

A proposal from a group in Oakland was one of the winners in last year’s XQ Super School Project competition, aimed at reinventing the American high school.

In the News: Trump Should Capitalize on Vouchers’ Newfound Popularity

In an op-ed for Real Clear Education, Paul Peterson notes that public opinion surveys are finding that public support for vouchers is growing.

In the News: How Two Business-Savvy Nonprofits Are Breathing New Life Into Philadelphia’s Struggling Catholic Schools

Preserving traditional Catholic education while adding education reform elements has been the goal.

What We’re Watching: Contract-Based Accountability for All Public Schools?

What if all public schools were held accountable through contracts that gave them freedom in return for results?

In the News: The New Diploma Mills

Slate is publishing a series of articles called “The Big Shortcut” about the increasing use of online credit recovery courses to help struggling students come up with enough credits to graduate from high school.

EdNext Podcast: Program Helps Colleges Recruit High-Achieving Hispanic Students

Jonathan Smith speaks with Marty West about how an effort to recognize high-scoring Hispanic students boosts the chances that those students will enroll in and graduate from four-year institutions.

The Summer 2017 Issue of Education Next Is Here!

The cover article helps parents decide whether to hold their kindergarteners back a year to give them more time to develop physically, socially, or emotionally.

In the News: U.S. Education Secretary to Roll Out School Choice Plan in Indy

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will give a speech in Indianapolis tonight. She is expected to announce a federal tax credit program for school choice.

In the News: Will Middle Schools Become a Thing of the Past?

In Florida, middle schools are increasingly being replaced by K-8 schools.

What We’re Watching: Silicon Valley Billionaires Created AltSchool

In this video from Business Insider, former Google executive Max Ventilla talks about why he founded AltSchool.

In the News: Secret Report Shows ‘Special’ Treatment for Public Officials in D.C. School Lottery

In Washington, D.C., a report by the Inspector General’s office has found that the former schools chancellor allowed some well-connected parents with political clout to bypass the lottery and enroll their children in popular D.C. public schools.

In the News: Trump’s First Full Education Budget: Deep Cuts to Public School Programs in Pursuit of School Choice

According to a leaked copy of an almost-final version of the education budget acquired by the Washington Post, the Trump administration plans to encourage states to embrace choice.

In the News: Reformers Sweep LAUSD School Board Elections

In a school board election held on Tuesday in Los Angeles, a reform candidate defeated the board president and reformers reached a majority on the school board.

EdNext Podcast: Indianapolis’ Unique Pursuit of Choice

Over the past decade, a growing number of urban school districts have responded to the presence of charter schools by providing some of their own schools the same flexibilities that charters enjoy. But few have gone as far as Indianapolis,

In the News: Four Things to Watch For at New Schools Venture Fund Summit

Last year’s summit sparked a big debate about the role of race in education reform.

What We’re Watching: Teaching Kids Controversy

This afternoon (Monday, May 15, 2017) at 4 pm, CATO hosts an event featuring Jonathan Zimmerman, coauthor of the new book The Case for Contention: Teaching Controversial Issues in American Schools.

In the News: Private Schools Met With Rejection from Indiana State Board

In Indiana, three private schools with low grades from the state have been told that they can not accept new voucher students this fall.

In the News: Franklin & Marshall’s Mission to Make College More Equitable Is Changing the Face of Higher Ed

This weekend, 17 percent of graduates who receive their diplomas at Franklin and Marshall College’s commencement will be low-income Pell Grant recipients.

EdNext Podcast: How Charter Schools Can Avoid Financial Traps

One of the key advantages charter schools have is the flexibility to start from scratch financially. However, that advantage can quickly erode if charter schools make the same decisions as their district predecessors when it comes to spending on buildings, employees, and retirees. Marty West and Robin Lake discuss pitfalls that charter school entrepreneurs and those who support them need to avoid.

In the News: Why Secretary DeVos Must Champion Course Choice

Using the bully pulpit to encourage states to launch course choice programs could greatly expand academic opportunity.

EdNext Podcast: Can a Federal School Choice Program Work?

Should the federal government launch a federal tax credit scholarship program, or will they inevitably muck this up?

In the News: In China, Daydreaming Students Are Caught on Camera

Will students work harder in school if their parents–or complete strangers–are keeping an eye on them? In thousands of classrooms in China, webcams are being used to live-stream classrooms so that anyone can watch what is happening.

In the News: Arizona Charters Lead 2017 Best High Schools Rankings

BASIS Scottsdale, a charter school in Arizona, is the No. 1 public high school in the U.S. according to the new US News rankings.

What We’re Watching: Lessons Learned From the Common Core

What lessons can education reformers learn from the development and implementation of the Common Core? Rick Hess and Chris Minnich (of the Council of Chief State School Officers) discuss that question in this 20-minute video.

EdNext Podcast: Unmasking School Spending

As of December 2018, school districts nationwide will be required to report exactly what they spend on each of their schools. Will that information kick off a new wave of school finance research and reform? Could it become one of the law’s most important legacies? Marty West discusses the change with Marguerite Roza of Georgetown University.

In the News: In Church-State Playground Brawl, Justices Lean Toward The Church

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer and seemed troubled by a Missouri grant program that bars state money from going to religious schools for playground improvement.

EdNext Podcast: Should You Hold Your Child Back from Kindergarten?

Each year, millions of parents nationwide must make a seemingly life-altering decision for their soon-to-be kindergartener: to redshirt or not to redshirt. Many parents believe that so-called “academic redshirting,” or the act of delaying a student’s kindergarten entrance by one year, will give their children a leg up not only when they first enroll in school, but throughout their educational careers and later in life. But is redshirting preschoolers really advantageous? Could it do more harm than good?

In the News: An Unconventional Teacher-Prep Program on the Rise in Philly

Philadelphia tries a new kind of teacher training program that focuses on the how of teaching rather than the why.

In the News: How Vouchers Transformed Indiana

Writing for Chalkbeat, Dylan Peers McCoy describes how one of the nation’s largest school voucher programs has changed the private schools that participate, leading them to focus more intensely on student test scores.

In the News: Ready Or Not (For Kindergarten) Some Research Says, Enroll Anyway

An interview published this week with NPR asks education professor Diane Schanzenbach of Northwestern University about her motivation to gather the research on academic redshirting in her recent article for Education Next “Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten: ‘Redshirting’ may do more harm than good,” which challenges Malcolm Gladwell’s assertion that being among the oldest in one’s peer group is always an advantage.

What We’re Watching: A $20 Billion Federal School Choice Tax Credit Program

On Tuesday, April 25th, the Fordham Institute, Education Next and the Hoover Institution hosted two discussions on what a $20 billion federal school choice tax-credit program could look like.

EdNext Podcast: High School History Class with Broadway’s Hamilton

Could Hamilton have an impact on the teaching of U.S. History in American high schools? That’s the vision behind the Hamilton Project, a major new effort to get the musical in the hands of kids, first in New York City, and eventually nationwide.

What We’re Watching: What Do We Know About the Effects of Pre-K?

On Monday, April 17 at 9 am, Brookings will host a discussion of the state of knowledge on pre-K education.

What We’re Watching: Updating Accountability Systems for Urban Schools

On Monday, April 10 at 9 am, Andy Smarick will host an event at AEI to discuss his paper on how states might apply charter-style accountability to district-run schools.

In the News: A Look at Some States That Have Turned in Their ESSA Plans

This past Monday was the early deadline for states to submit their Every Student Succeeds Act plans to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos for approval.

What We’re Watching: The Problem of Big ‘R’ School Reform

Rick Hess explains why massive, top-down school reforms don’t work in this 60-second video.

EdNext Podcast: The Unintended Consequences of Lowering Class Size

It is hard to think of a more popular education policy proposal than reducing class size, but reducing class size on a large scale can have major unintended consequences.

In the News: Lawyer who highlighted Hillary Clinton’s role in defending rape suspect tapped for key federal civil rights post

Emma Brown of the Washington Post reports that Candice E. Jackson will serve as acting assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education.

In the News: Betsy DeVos Calls for More School Choice, Saying Money Isn’t the Answer

Earlier this week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke at the Brookings Institution at an event marking the release of a report that ranks school districts based on how much school choice they offer families.

In the News: Open Educational Resources Movement Scales Up

The use of open educational resources is expanding in several ways to cover core academic content.

In the News: Nevada’s Governor Rushes to Save Education Savings Accounts. But Will Program Survive Legislature’s Democrats?

Efforts to advance a bill that would fix the funding mechanism for Nevada’s Education Savings Account program are not being warmly received by Democrats in the state Senate.

What We’re Watching: Ashley LiBetti Mitchel on Charter Schools and Pre-K Programs

Ashley LiBetti Mitchell discusses her recent article on charter schools that offer pre-K programs in this episode of C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.

In the News: To test or not to test? That’s the question families face as students head into state exams this week

State testing begins in New York this week and observers are watching to see whether “opting out” will increase, decrease, or remain the same.

EdNext Podcast: A New Role for the Office for Civil Rights?

Shep Melnick explains how the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights works and what is likely to change under the Trump administration.

In the News: How Are Teachers Using EngageNY’s Reading and Math Materials?

A new study by Rand looks at how teachers are using a popular set of free online curriculum materials produced by New York.

What We’re Watching: Senator Lamar Alexander at AEI

On Wednesday, March 29 at 8:30 am, Sen. Lamar Alexander will deliver a keynote address about the Every Student Succeeds Act at AEI.

What We’re Watching: Improving Federal Student Aid

Earlier this week, Matt Chingos testified at a hearing on “Improving Federal Student Aid to Better Meet the Needs of Students” before the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development.”

In the News: Good Schools Aren’t the Secret to Israel’s High-Tech Boom

Israel’s education minister writes that people who look to Israel’s education system to understand why his country is such a high-tech powerhouse are looking in the wrong place.

In the News: The Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of A Special Education Student

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled unanimously that schools must give students with disabilities the chance to make meaningful progress,

EdNext Podcast: Designing a Blended Learning School

What should schools look like in order to succeed with blended learning? Marty West talks with Larry Kearns about how he and his team designed two charter schools to support their blended learning models.

In the News: British Schools Hope to Improve Performance With Chinese Textbooks

The UK Department for Education has begun implementing a new style of teaching math modeled on the way math is taught in China.

In the News: Parents Call For More Funding For Charter, Magnet Schools

In Connecticut, parents rallied on the steps of the state capitol in Hartford to call attention to charter and magnet school state funding discrepancies.

In the News: High-Stakes Senate Hearings on Gorsuch Set to Start This Week

Some insight into how Judge Gorsuch might approach education issues if he is confirmed by the Senate.

In the News: Is your kid absent more than classmates? School ‘nudge’ letters tell parents just how much

Schools let parents know how many times their children have been absent and how many times other children in the school have been absent.

EdNext Podcast: Should Schools Close When Snow Falls?

EdNext’s Marty West talks with Josh Goodman, the author of “In Defense of Snow Days,” about research showing that declaring a snow day is better for students in the long run.

In the News: Regents Drop Teacher Literacy Test Seen As Discriminatory

In New York, the Board of Regents voted Monday to eliminate a requirement that aspiring teachers pass a literacy test in order to become certified.

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In the News: A-F School Rankings Draw Local Pushback

In several states, local superintendents are pushing back against plans to rate schools with letter grades

In the News: Senate Scraps Obama Regulations on School Accountability

The regulations that were written by the Education Department to explain how states could comply with ESSA were repealed by the Senate late last week.

What We’re Watching: What Are Education Savings Accounts?

The 74 explains ESAs in this 90-second video.

In the News: Kansas Supreme Court Says State Education Spending Is Too Low

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the state’s low spending on public education violated the state’s constitution.

In the News: Applications Double for Boston Charter Schools Under New Enrollment System

Boston charter schools this year received 35,000 applications, more than double the 13,000 applications that were received last year.

EdNext Podcast: Rebooting Professional Development

Can professional development for teachers be personalized? Michael Horn joins EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss a new way of doing professional development. Teachers identify the skills they want to acquire, receive specialized training, and are certified as having these new competencies, receiving a micro-credential, something akin to a merit badge.

The Spring 2017 Issue of Education Next is Here!

This issue features the first-ever analyses of the views of nationally representative samples of parents that compares perceptions of charter, private and district schools.

In the News: Could the L.A. School Board’s Balance of Power Tip Pro-Charter?

Voters go to the polls today in L.A. to choose three school board members. Supporters of charter schools have a good chance to win a majority of seats on the board.

In the News: Trump Highlighted This Unusual School Choice Idea Last Night

Here’s how a scholarship tax credit program works.

What We’re Watching: How Much Autonomy? A School Choice Debate

In this debate, Robert Pondiscio and Peter Cunningham consider how much regulation should accompany government-funded school choice.

EdNext Podcast: What Could We Expect on Ed From a Justice Gorsuch?

Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick has been poring over Neil Gorsuch’s opinions as a federal judge to learn how he might approach the steady stream of education cases that inevitably make their way before the Supreme Court.

In the News: Suspensions Plummet in NYC School that Incentivizes Good Behavior

A middle school in New York City reports fewer suspensions under the school’s new approach to discipline, but there is not yet much rigorous evidence to support new approaches.

In the News: Colleges Remake Remedial Education by Going Back to High School

Troubled by high percentages of students who are not ready for credit-bearing work when they enter community college, Tennessee is experimenting with a different approach.

What We’re Watching: Busting the School Bureaucracy

Rick Hess and a panel of expert teachers talk about how teachers can bust out of the “cage” of misguided policies, inattentive administrators, and inadequate funding.

In the News: Trump Considers Tax Credit to Channel Public Money to Private Schools

The Trump administration is considering a federal tax credit scholarship program to enable poor children to attend private schools, Politico reports.

EdNext Podcast: ESSA — What You Need to Know

The Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal education law passed in 2015, is part of what would seem to be a dying breed: major pieces of domestic policy legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. How did ESSA come to be? And what does it mean for American students?

In the News: Separate – And Still Unequal

Is integration the only solution?

EdNext Podcast: Will Students with Disabilities Receive Meaningful Benefits?

On January 11, 2017 the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the most important special education case in thirty-five years, Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. At issue was the level of services federal law requires school districts to provide students with disabilities. Marty West discusses the case with Josh Dunn, Ed Next’s legal beat columnist.

In the News: How Farmers, Engineers, and Artists Are Becoming Substitute Teachers

Substitute teachers are almost always put in sink-or-swim situations. Parachute Teachers is trying to change the way substitutes work.

What We’re Watching: Taking the Measure of Charter School Students

On February 7, AEI hosted a discussion about new research on how the student compositions of charter and traditional public schools differ.

In the News: Charter School Facts vs. Myths: What NAACP Needs to Learn

The NAACP has been conducting a series of hearings on the topic of whether charter schools are good for children of color.

EdNext Podcast: Fixing Math Remediation

A new study finds that allowing students to skip remedial algebra and go right into a college-level statistics course has long-term benefits.

In the News: The Comforts of the Betsy DeVos War

Ross Douthat wonders why the Democrats fought so hard against the nomination of Betsy DeVos

What We’re Listening To: The Search for Education Equity in California

NPR’s 1A program looks at the future of school funding, with a focus on California’s latest efforts to equalize spending on schools.

What We’re Watching: Race, Social Justice and School Reform at AEI

On January 25, 2017 AEI hosted a discussion of race, social justice, and school reform that was inspired by a forum in Education Next titled “Education reform’s race debate.”

In the News: Teachers Keep Teens Learning on Cyber Snow Days

Some schools provide non-traditional instruction using technology on snow days to keep teens on track and prevent the schools from having to make up the missed school days.

EdNext Podcast: Match Beyond Coaches Students to a College Degree

Mike Larsson, co-founder and chief operating officer of Match Beyond, talks with Marty West about how his program helps low-income students overcome the obstacles that prevent many from finishing college.

In the News: Indianapolis Public Schools Are Using New Ways to Reduce Absenteeism

On Chalkbeat Indiana, Dylan Peers McCoy takes a look at how Indianapolis is trying to improve attendance for all kids and those who are chronically absent.

What We’re Watching: Intelligence Squared Debate on Charter Schools

On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 Intelligence Squared hosted a debate on the resolution “charter schools are overrated.”

What We’re Watching: What Can Washington Learn From Recent School Voucher Studies?

On February 2, Fordham hosted a discussion on the findings of recent studies of the impact of using vouchers to attend private school.

What We’re Watching: Marty West on the DeVos Confirmation Hearing

EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West recently appeared on the Harvard EdCast to discuss Betsy DeVos’s confirmation hearing.

EdNext Podcast: DeVos and Detroit Schools

Depending on your news source, you might not realize that charter schools are actually outperforming district schools in Detroit.

Good Reads for National School Choice Week

Here are some of EdNext’s recent and trending articles on various aspects of school choice just in time for School Choice Week.

What We’re Watching: Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program Survives Teacher Union’s Attempt to Kill It

Paul E. Peterson discusses his pick for Choice Media’s Story of the Day.

In the News: School Improvement Grants: Implementation and Effectiveness

The final evaluation of the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program found no significant impacts on math or reading test scores, high school graduation, or college enrollment.

EdNext Podcast: What Went Wrong with Obama’s Teacher Evaluation Reform?

The efforts by the Obama administration to promote changes in the way teachers are evaluated have paid off in some ways but backfired in others.

What We’re Watching: A New Federal Push on Private School Choice?

On January 18, 2017, Fordham and Hoover hosted a discussion of three of the options policymakers might consider as they try to launch a school choice program.

In the News: Text Your Way to College

In the New York Times, David Kirp writes about efforts to raise college enrollment and graduation rates among students from poor families by texting the students regularly with helpful information and reminders.

In the News: New York City Confirms Plans to Close or Merge Nine Renewal Schools Next Year

In New York City, education officials announced that they will be closing 6 schools and merging three others after the schools, which were part of the Renewal program, failed to improve.

EdNext Podcast: What to Expect from Betsy DeVos’s Confirmation Hearing

With Betsy DeVos’s confirmation hearing rescheduled for January 17, EdNext’s Marty West talks with Mike McShane, the author of a new profile of the Education secretary designee, about what to expect.

In the News: Confirmation Hearing For Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Education Pick, Delayed A Week

The confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, has been delayed until January 17.

In the News: Educators Worry Schools Are Botching Student Discipline Reform

Emmanuel Felton of the Hechinger Report looks at complaints by teachers in four states that school discipline reforms are making their classrooms harder to manage. Researchers find that the evidence for critiques of exclusionary discipline and in support of alternative strategies is relatively thin.

In the News: The Fog of “College Readiness”

Most parents think their children are on track to be prepared for college after their 12th-grade year, but the truth is, a shockingly large share of graduating high-school seniors are not prepared to go to college.

What We’re Watching: What Will be Obama’s Lasting Education Legacy?

PBS NewsHour talks with Ed Week’s Alyson Klein and Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik about the future of the education policies promoted by President Obama and his education secretaries.

In the News: Opportunity School District May Be Dead, but A-F Rating System Lives On

In Georgia, the Department of Education, the governor’s office, and the teachers union disagree about the best way to rate schools. A recent Education Next forum looked at how states should design their accountability systems.

EdNext Podcast: Howard Fuller on Betsy DeVos and School Choice

EdNext’s Marty West asks Howard Fuller about his reaction to the election results, his thoughts on Betsy DeVos, and what supporters of school choice can do now.

In the News: The Right Kind of School Choice for Trump to Promote

In the Washington Post, editorial page editor Fred Hiatt describes the kind of school choice program he thinks would show immediate dividends for poor kids.

Extracurricular Activities and the American Student

Many people think that students in the U.S. spend too much time on sports and other extracurricular activities, but there is actually some evidence that these activities are doing a lot of good.

Education Reformers and the Company They Keep

These interviews will allow you to get to know some of the smart, knowledgeable, experienced, committed, caring, and thoughtful people working in this sector.

Embracing Screen Time

Before you start to feel guilty about all the time your children are spending in front of screens this winter break, consider how much they might be learning from all the screen time.

Are School Field Trips Important?

Culturally enriching field trips produce significant benefits for students on a variety of outcomes that schools and communities care about.

A School That Works for My Kid

The students and parents who tell their stories here describe the schooling arrangements that ultimately turned out to fit just right.

EdNext Podcast: Making Sense of 2016

2016 was a year of surprises. AEI’s Andy Smarick highlights the themes of the past year through a selection articles that best explain the outcome of the election and more.

What We’re Watching: The Politics of Education Reform at #EIE16

This panel discussion on politics attracted a standing-room-only crowd at last week’s national summit on education reform organized by the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Who Will Win?

Each year we publish a list of the most popular entries on the Education Next blog. Which blogger will be at the top of the list this year?

In the News: Private, Charter School Parents More Satisfied Than District School Parents

Parents are more satisfied with schools they choose.

EdNext Podcast: How Does Parental Satisfaction Vary Across School Sectors?

Two new studies compare the views of charter school parents to the views of private school and district school parents.

In the News: Trump’s Education Pick: A Win for Public-School Parents

Many parents have noticed for some time that district-run public schools aren’t educating students well.

What We’re Watching: How Do Parental Perceptions of Schools Vary Across Sectors?

On December 13 we hosted a D.C. event looking at data from two surveys on what parents say about charter, district and private schools.

In the News: Where Students Get Two Years of College in High School for Free

“Early college” programs are not a new idea but have experienced rapid growth in recent years

What We’re Watching: What Would You Change About Public Education?

At last week’s National Summit on Education Reform, sponsored by ExcelinEd, speakers were asked what one thing they would like to change about public education in the U.S.

In the News: Why One Houston High School Stands Out In Global Test Results

While the overall results for U.S. students on this year’s PISA exam were not good, some individual high schools got good news about the performance of their students on the test.

EdNext Podcast: School Suspensions and Teacher Race

Students of color are suspended more often than their white peers, but the rates of suspension and expulsion change when students have a teacher of the same race.

In the News: Singapore Teens Top Global Education Ranking as US Lags

The United States ranked 25th, performing in line with the OECD average for science and reading but below average for math.

In the News: Many State Report Cards Leave Parents in the Dark About School Achievement

A new study by the Data Quality Campaign reviews school report cards issued by each state and finds many of them lacking.

In the News: U.S. Students Still Lag Many Asian Peers on International Math and Science Exam

On TIMSS, the average score of U.S. fourth-graders in math put them behind students in 10 other systems

EdNext Podcast: Charter Schools for the Preschool Set

Why has it taken so long for charter schools to start serving kids younger than kindergarten?

The Winter 2017 Issue of Education Next is here!

The Winter 2017 issue celebrates the tenth anniversary of the annual EdNext Poll of American public opinion on K-12 education policy.

In the News: Trump Could Open Door to Expanding D.C. School Voucher Program, Advocates Say

What will happen to the school voucher program in Washington, D.C. under Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos? Patrick Wolf reviews the research evidence on the impact of the vouchers.

In the News: How Betsy DeVos Could Scramble the Ideology and Politics of Education Reform

The divide among education reformers over how much regulation and oversight are needed for school choice to work is highlighted as reformers react to Betsy DeVos’s nomination as education secretary.

In the News: Education Secretary: Trump’s Search For Education Secretary Narrows To Two Candidates

Who will Donald Trump choose as his Education Secretary? BuzzFeed reports that the two finalists are Betsy DeVos and Michelle Rhee

In the News: Boosting Attendance In Preschool Can Start With A Knock On The Door

Teacher home visits are being used by preschools to promote attendance. K-12 schools use the visits to engage parents in their child’s learning.

In the News: D.C.’s Public Charter School System Turned 20 This Year. Now What?

The history of charter schools in D.C. at 20 and the past and future of charters nationwide at 25.

In the News: Trump’s Transition Team Needs to Find Nearly 4,000 Appointees

In the U.S. Department of Education 147 appointments need to be made. Rick Hess offers his suggestions for who could be nominated to fill some of these positions.

In the News: The Real Threat to Common Core May Come Not From a Trump White House but From Many Statehouses

Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to eliminate the Common Core state standards, but many have noted that Common Core is not an issue President Trump will have any say over.

EdNext Podcast: Will New Orleans’ Education Reforms Stick?

The governing arrangements that made New Orleans a darling of education reformers will soon be a thing of the past. Is this the beginning of the end of the nation’s most promising experiment in non-traditional education governanace?

In the News: Candidate Trump Talked Tough on Crime. Does That Signal an End to School Discipline Reform?

Many observers believe that the way American schools address student discipline will change once Donald Trump becomes president.

In the News: Hard Questions as Education Reform Wakes Up to Trump’s America

Which communities should education reformers serve, and can a new coalition be built in support of school reform?

Education Policy Under Donald Trump

What will education policy look like under a Trump administration? Education Next editors and contributors offer their thoughts.

Trumpcast: What does Trump’s Victory Mean for Education Policy?

Education Next’s Paul E. Peterson and Martin West talk about what education reforms they expect from President-Elect Donald Trump. Will he move on school choice, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, Title I portability, charter schools, or something entirely unexpected?

In the News: Massachusetts Votes Against Expanding Charter Schools, Saying No to Question 2

In Massachusetts voters rejected a ballot question that would have allowed the state to approve additional charter schools.

In the News: GOP Lawmakers to John King: Take Back Your Draft ESSA Spending Rules

What is the fate of the draft ESSA regulations? Twenty five Republican members of Congress have asked the Department of Education to rescind its proposed spending rules.

What We’re Watching: What Will the 2016 Election Mean for Education?

On Thursday, November 10, AEI held a panel discussion on how the results of the election will affect federal and state education policies.

In the News: Math Teachers: Open Resources Come With Risks

The NCTM released a statement warning of the challenges math teachers can face when schools rely too heavily on open educational resources.

What We’re Watching: American Public Opinion on K-12 Education Policy

On September 16, Education Next hosted an event to discuss the results of its 10th annual survey of public opinion on K-12 education.

EdNext Podcast: Why Do Field Trips Matter?

Randomized experiments that send some students to visit art musuems and live theater performances find that these field trips help children develop critical thinking skills and values like empathy.

In the News: Jill Biden’s Push to Make Community College Free

As the Obama administration nears its end, second lady Jill Biden is still working hard to try to make free community college a reality across the U.S.,

EdNext Podcast: Will Open Educational Resources Disrupt the Textbook Industry?

Teachers can now access a wealth of free resources online—from one image to a whole curriculum. But the growing reliance on open educational resources raises questions—who will produce them, how will they be compensated, how will educators be able to find the best ones, and how will all this affect the market for textbooks?

In the News: Teacher Training As ‘Part Theater, Part Sport’

Anya Kamenetz takes a close look at the Relay Graduate School of Education, a school singled out last week by the U.S. Department of Education.

In the News: 50 Years Later, What America Still Hasn’t Learned From the Coleman Report

Progress has often been disappointing in addressing many of the problems related to educational inequity highlighted by the report.

In the News: L.A. Unified Decides Fate of Six Charter Schools

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to reject petitions for renewal for five charter schools.

What We’re Watching: Jeb Bush at Harvard

On October 13, Governor Jeb Bush spoke at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) Askwith Forum on new opportunities for state leadership on K-12 education policy

EdNext Podcast: Test Prep or True Learning?

There’s plenty of evidence that students attending “no excuses” charter schools can do extremely well on standardized tests, but do the benefits of this approach to education extend beyond test scores?

In the News: Protesters Interrupt NAACP Board Meeting in Cincinnati

On Saturday, the national board of the NAACP ratified a resolution adopted this summary calling for a moratorium on charter school expansion.

In the News: New D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Should Protect This Crucial Program

Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews urges the new chancellor of the D.C. public schools to continue teacher visits to the homes of students.

EdNext Podcast: What Does the Research Say about School Discipline Policies?

Minority students are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school. What does the research say about the consequences of exclusionary discipline policies and alternatives to it?

In the News: Boston Parents Ask Why Their Wealthy Neighbors Are Fighting Charter Schools

Will voters in Newton (median house listing price: $1.2 million) vote to help out voters in Roxbury (median list price: $479,000) looking for better school options?

In the News: The Roles of Family and Community in Shaping Educational Success

This week Johns Hopkins University is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Coleman Report. This evening at 5:50 pm, Education Secretary John B. King Jr. will speak at the conference.

What We’re Watching: Charter Schools at Twenty-Five: Humdrum or Revolutionary?

On Wednesday, October 12, Fordham hosted a discussion on the state of charter schooling. Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Richard Whitmire spoke about what has been accomplished, what has been learned, and what the future may hold.

EdNext Podcast: Jeb Bush on Fixing School Accountability

Under ESSA, states have new freedom to design their own accountability systems for schools. Will they innovate or will they retreat from real accountability?

What We’re Watching: Building a Learning Culture in America

On Tuesday at 10 am, AEI will host a conversation between Gerard Robinson and Kevin Chavous about Chavous’s new book, Building a Learning Culture in America.

What We’re Watching: Teachers & Parents: Allies or Opposition in Ed Reform?

As part of the State Policy Network’s Annual Meeting on October 4, a panel discussed the role that teachers and parents play in shaping school policy, including school choice, merit pay, and school spending.

What We’re Watching: The Accountability Movement – Progress or Retreat?

On September 29th, the Manhattan Institute hosted a symposium on the state of the accountability movement.

Nevada Supreme Court: Education Savings Accounts Are Constitutional, Funding Mechanism Isn’t

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Nevada yesterday upheld the constitutionality of the nation’s most expansive educational choice law

What We’re Watching: Sara Goldrick-Rab on The Daily Show

Sara Goldrick-Rab was a guest on The Daily Show this week to talk about her new book, Paying the Price, about the cost of higher education, our current system of financial aid, and some strategies for cutting costs.

EdNext Podcast: What Will the Election Mean for Charter Schools?

What voters decide on November 8 will matter for education policy in general and school choice especially. Will federal support for charter schools continue? Will charter schooling remain a bipartisan issue? Who will win the battle over lifting the charter cap in Massachusetts?

What We’re Watching: Economic Segregation and Student Poverty

In this video, NPR’s Cory Turner looks at which states have the most-segregating school district boundaries– borders with the largest difference in child poverty rates from one side to the other.

In the News: Sixth Grade Is Tough; It Helps To Be ‘Top Dog’

On NPR, Anya Kamenetz reports on a study that finds that sixth graders who attend K-8 schools do better than sixth graders who attend middle schools.

EdNext Podcast: Should Massachusetts Allow More Charter Schools?

In November, voters will have a chance to weigh in directly on the state’s charter school policy. Should they vote to allow more charter schools? Which direction does the evidence point?

Would Martin Luther King Have Supported Charter Schools?

Emphatically yes, says his closest aide and fellow civil rights legend, Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker.

What We’re Watching: Match Charter School Shares Its Curriculum

Match Charter School, a high-performing preK-12 school in Boston, is making its curriculum available to teachers everywhere through Match Fishtank.

In the News: New ‘What Works Clearinghouse’ Aims to Help Districts Find Research for ESSA

This week, the IES launched a new version of its What Works Clearinghouse that allows school and district leaders to search for research-proven programs based on the specific characteristics of their schools.

In the News: #XQBigReveal on Facebook at 3 pm

Today at 3 pm on Facebook, XQ will announce the winners of its Super Schools competition to rethink high school. To old timers this may call to mind the effort by New American Schools to redesign schools.

EdNext Podcast: Bill de Blasio’s Strategy for Fixing New York City’s Public Schools

When Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014, he launched several new programs to boost student achievement in New York City schools. Has he succeeded in crafting a progressive alternative to predecessor Michael Bloomberg’s “education reform” agenda?

In the News: Fortress of Tedium – What I Learned as a Substitute Teacher.

Nicholson Baker’s new book about 28 days he spent as a substitute teacher is getting a good bit of negative attention.

In the News: Online Education Startup, Byju’s, Becomes Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s First Investment in Asia

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic organization created by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, is making an investment in a startup in India that offers personalized learning services to students.

In the News: How Domestic Violence In One Home Affects Every Child In A Class

An increase in the number of children from troubled families reduces test scores for other students in the class and increases peer disciplinary infractions.

In the News: A Strategy Backfires, Increasing Teen Births

Educators with high hopes of preventing teen pregnancy have assigned their students computerized baby dolls, programmed to cry, coo, and make life complicated, just like a real baby. A new study finds that the program may encourage teen pregnancy.

In the News: Almost the Entire D.C. School District Is Ignoring its P.E. Requirements

In Washington, D.C., only 10 of the District’s more than 200 schools are offering the required amount of physical education. Researchers find that state P.E. requirements are not always effective.

EdNext Podcast: Should School Start Later?

Now that summer vacation is over, American students are trading sleeping in for morning alarms. Are early start times a mistake? Would students perform better in school if classes started later?

In the News: Americans Oppose School Closures, But Research Suggests They’re Not A Bad Idea

By 84 percent to 14 percent, Americans prefer that failing schools be kept open, but research suggests that closing the schools may be better for students.

What We’re Watching: A School Founder’s History

The 74 is creating an oral history of America’s top charter schools. They’ve posted a series of video interviews with educators, school leaders, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. This video features JoAnn Gama of IDEA Public Schools.

EdNext Podcast: What Does The Public Think About Policies Affecting Teachers?

Should teachers be paid more? Should it be harder for teachers to get tenure? Are teacher evaluation systems working?

In this episode of the EdNext podcast, Paul E. Peterson and Martin West take a close look at the differing views of teachers, parents, and the general public on polices that affect teachers, based on data from 2016 EdNext survey.

In the News: More Students Are Taking The ACT, But Few Of Them Are Actually Prepared For College

Roughly one-third of the students who took the ACT last year were judged to be ready for college. Mike Petrilli notes that college completion rates are not likely to be much higher than college readiness rates.

The Fall 2016 Issue of EdNext is Here!

Our Fall 2016 issue examines surprising contradictions in school reform.

In the News: Are Poor Students More Prepared for Kindergarten?

A new study finds that school readiness gaps between rich and poor students and between white and minority students are narrowing (as measured at kindergarten entry) but that the gaps are not continuing to close after the children enter school.

What We’re Watching: John Oliver on Charter Schools

Earlier this week, John Oliver ran a segment making fun of charter schools on Last Week Tonight. Nelson Smith, Travis Pillow, and others have responded.

In The News: Break Up the Big Break?

While some schools have shortened summer vacation to reduce summer learning loss, not everyone agrees that more school is the best way for kids to spend their summer.

EdNext Podcast: A Closer Look at Public Opinion on School Reform

The just-released 2016 Education Next poll identified changes in public support for the Common Core, testing, opting out, and school choice. Paul Peterson and Marty West discuss what the public says it wants and why these opinions are changing.

In the News: Why Does the NAACP Oppose Charter Schools?

At its national convention, the NAACP voted to support a moratorium on the growth of charter schools, which is puzzling because opinion surveys show strong support for charter schools among African Americans.

In the News: California Teacher Tenure Laws Upheld

In California, the state Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal in Vergara vs. California, so teacher tenure laws will stand.

In the News: Seattle Schools Brace For A ‘Historic’ Scheduling Change

High school students will start school later in a move designed to prioritize student health over district logistics.

In the News: (Another) Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan

In response to an earlier open letter advising Zuckerberg and Chan to focus their education philanthropy on innovation outside the system, Marc Tucker urges them to try to change the way the system works.

What We’re Watching: Private School Choice – How Do Programs Nationwide Stack Up?

On Thursday, August 25 at 4 pm, Fordham will release a new report rating private school choice programs across the country.

EdNext Podcast: Will Virtual Reality Be Just Another Classroom Fad?

Using inexpensive new technology, students can take virtual reality field trips without leaving their classrooms. What will schools, teachers, and curriculum developers need to do for virtual reality to live up to the hype? In this episode of the EdNext podcast, Marty West talks with Michael Horn, whose article, “Virtual Reality Disruption: Will 3-D technology break through to the educational mainstream?” appears in the Fall 2016 issue of Education Next.

In the News: Clinton Abandons the Middle on Education

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Paul E. Peterson and Martin R. West compare the education plank of the Democratic party platform with what the public says it wants.

What We’re Watching: The Story Behind America’s Top-Performing Charter Schools (Book Trailer)

On August 30, The 74 will release a new book by Richard Whitmire about America’s high-performing public charter schools called The Founders.

In the News: Crash course in credit recovery yields best-ever graduation rate of 75% for L.A. schools

In December, only about half of LAUSD seniors were on track to graduate, but by June, many of those students were all caught up after taking advantage of credit recovery programs.

EdNext Podcast: Are Minority Students Actually Underrepresented in Special Ed?

It is widely believed that minority students are overrepresented in special ed programs, possibly due to racial bias. But controlling for other factors that might put students at risk for problems at school, Paul Morgan and George Farkas find that minority students are actually less likely to receive special ed services than similarly situated white students.

What We’re Watching: Pro-Charter Ad from Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, where residents will soon vote in a referendum on whether to allow the creation of more charter schools, pro-charter groups are running tv ads.

In the News: How a Free Denver Public Schools Camp Seeks to Stop the Summer Slide

DPS offers a free eight-week summer camp to all students in the district to help prevent summer learning loss.

In the News: School Closures Controversial, but Potentially Beneficial

While closing a school often sparks protests, and sometimes even legal action, a new study finds that school closures that took place in New York City between 2000 and 2014 benefited students.

EdNext Podcast: Common Standards without Common Tests

The Common Core standards initiative was launched in 2009 but by the time new tests aligned with those standards were rolled out 4 to 5 years later, there was mounting opposition to using those tests to evaluate teachers and schools. To preserve support for the standards, many states began throwing the assessments overboard. Will abandoning the tests in order to save the standards actually work?

In the News: A Fifth of New York Students Opted Out of This Year’s Common Core State Exams

In New York, slightly more students opted out of the Common Core aligned state test this spring than did last year,

In the News: No Consensus Against Using Test Scores in Teacher Evaluations, Contra Democratic Platform

The Democratic party platform states that researchers have rejected use of test scores, but that’s not accurate.

In the News: A Program For Preschoolers Gets A Convention Bounce

A shoutout during Bill Clinton’s speech is bringing new attention to a program offering parents home visits from a coach.

In the News: The Democratic Platform: More of a Victory for Reformers Than It Seems

What does the Democratic party’s education platform have to say about school reform?

In the News: Social Security Isn’t Fair. Here’s How We Fix It

Teachers are not treated fairly when it comes to Social Security.

EdNext Podcast: Will Leaked Plans to Boost L.A. Charter Schools Harm Them Instead?

Los Angeles has over 41,000 students on charter school wait lists. But when the school district and teachers union got wind of the Broad Foundation’s plan to help launch schools to serve those students, simmering tensions over charter school expansion exploded.

In the News: Andrew Smarick Elected President of Maryland State Board of Education

Congratulations to Andy Smarick, longtime contributor to Education Next and the EdNext blog.

In the News: The Fight for the Future of Massachusetts’ Charter Schools

Massachusetts voters will weigh in this fall in a referendum on whether to increase the number of charter schools in the state

What We’re Watching: Teaching Rich and Poor Alike

Amanda Ripley and Robert Pondiscio discuss whether poor kids should be taught using the same methods as rich kids. This discussion was part of the New York Times’ Cities of Tomorrow event.

EdNext Podcast: Summer Melt — Why College-Bound Kids Don’t End Up in College & How to Help

At least ten percent of students who graduate from high school and plan on going to college never show up on campus in the fall, a phenomenon called “summer melt.” Ben Castleman of the University of Virginia has studied the causes of summer melt and is testing some innovative interventions to help get at-risk students to college.

In the News: The Sudden Rise and Ongoing Challenges of Democrats for Education Reform

A new article assesses the impact of DFER, an organization founded to create a ‘safe place’ for pro-charter, reform-oriented Democratic politicians to make much-needed changes to the education system.

In the News: Give Weak Teachers Good Lesson Plans, Not Professional Development

A new study finds that teachers who were given access to a set of “inquiry-based” lesson plans and online support on how to use the lesson plans saw increases in student achievement.

In the News: After Big Splash, Scaled-Back Rocketship Still Finding Its Way

Rocketship runs one of Milwaukee’s higher-performing charter schools, but the school has fallen short of enrollment goals and is running a $1.4 million deficit.

What We’re Watching: Debate Over Changes to Democratic Platform on Education

At a meeting last weekend, the Democratic Party amended its education platform in a way that amounts to a rejection of the many of the policies of the Obama administration. C-Span broadcast the debate over the changes.

EdNext Podcast: Teachers Unions Around the World

Stanford University’s Terry M. Moe sits down with EdNext editor Marty West to discuss how political debates over education reform have unfolded around the world, with a focus on the role played by teachers unions.

What We’re Watching: Teachers Like Common Core Math. Why Don’t Parents?

On Thursday, July 14 at 4 pm, Fordham will host a discussion of the results of a recent survey that found that, while teachers have begun to embrace Common Core math, parents (as perceived by teachers) seem less enamored.

In the News: The Sobering Evidence of Social Science

In his column, George Will notes that we have just passed the 50th anniversary of the Coleman Report. The Spring issue of Education Next featured a series of articles commemorating the anniversary.

In the News: Teachers Union Cheers Clinton for Stance on Standardized Testing and Pay, but Boos Her Embrace of Charters

On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton gave a speech before the NEA’s annual Representative Assembly and was booed for expressing support for charter schools.

In the News: A New Argument for More Diverse Classrooms

In a speech this evening at the National PTA Convention in Orlando, U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. will call on parent and teachers to create diverse schools where students of all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds have access to good teachers and learning opportunities like he did.

What We’re Watching: Maps Showing How School Funding Works in Each State

EdBuild has created a website that shows, state-by-state, how schools are funded. (Clicking on the above map will take you to EdBuild’s interactive maps.)

EdNext Podcast: Politicians Taking On Chronic Absenteeism

Leslie Cornfeld, former special advisor to both the Secretary of Education and to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaks with Paul E. Peterson about chronic absenteeism and how data can be used to identify kids who are at risk.

In the News: Leg Up or Catch Up? Wealthier Students Use Summer School to Get a Step Ahead

Summer school has become a place where some students do remedial work to make up an “F” grade while other students take advanced classes to get ahead.

In the News: Increasing Teacher Diversity Could Be a Game-Changer for Students’ Academic Attitudes

A new paper looks at the impact of having demographically similar teachers on a wide range of students’ academic perceptions.

In the News: What’s Really in LAUSD’s Online Credit Recovery Courses?

An L.A. Times editorial writer arranged to take one of the online credit recovery courses taken by students and found good and bad.

EdNext Podcast: Do Vouchers Reduce Incarceration Rates?

Paul E. Peterson speaks with Patrick Wolf of the University of Arkansas about his study finding that students in Milwaukee who received vouchers to attend private schools were 2-5 percentage points less likely to be accused or convicted of crimes than comparable students who attended public schools.

In the News: Making Sense of the Opt Out Movement

To make sense of the opt-out phenomenon, Education Next has published a forum featuring two public school parents with contrasting views on opting out.

In the News: How California Gov. Jerry Brown Fought the Federal Government on Education Policy — and Won

Writing for the 74, Matt Barnum takes a long look at education policy in California, where Governor Jerry Brown has led the charge against testing and accountability

What We’re Watching: Fordham Event on Education Reform’s Common Ground

The Fordham Institute hosted a discussion on Monday, June 20, 2016 about what the education reform community agrees on.

In the News: Coming of Age in a City Coming Apart

Khalil Bridges is a senior at one of Baltimore’s poorest and most violent high schools, Renaissance Academy High School.

In the News: The Exit Exam Paradox

In an article for The 74, Matt Barnum looks at what states are doing about their exit exams now that they are using Common Core-aligned tests,

EdNext Podcast: Partisan Politics in Education

Paul Peterson interviews Robert Shapiro, an expert on public opinion, about how the partisan divide in education policy is shifting, as issues of school quality and accountability have produced “conflicted liberals,” at the same time that the presidential election is creating “conflicted conservatives.”

What We’re Watching: Brookings Event on Inequality

On June 8, 2016, Brookings hosted a panel discussion on the topic “Bringing education disparities to the forefront of the political debate.” Among the panelists were Gerard Robinson of AEI, DeRay Mckesson of Black Lives Matter, and Peggy McLeod of La Raza.

In the News: Why I Reject the American Obsession with Achievement Gaps

When Jay Mathews looked at which school district had the smallest black-white achievement gap, he was surprised to find that it was Detroit, which he calls “our nation’s worst school district, or close to it.”

In the News: Invite All Comers to Teach in Our Public Schools

In an op-ed in the New York Daily News, RiShawn Biddle and Jeremy Lott argue for a new approach to boosting the number of high-quality teachers in our schools: “right-to-teach” laws.

In the News: Student Absences a Growing Problem

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education finds that nearly 1 in 7 public school students miss too many days from school — at least 10 percent of the school year.

EdNext Podcast: How to Tackle Chronic Absenteeism

A report released by the U.S. Department of Education this week finds that 6.5 million students missed at least three weeks of school last year. On this week’s podcast, Bob Balfanz talks with EdNext’s Paul Peterson about the problem of chronic absenteeism.

In the News: If MCAS Is So Good, Why Are We Ditching It?

The MCAS was long considered one of the best tests in the nation. But last fall, the Massachusetts Board of Education decided to create a new test that would combine elements of the MCAS with elements of PARCC.

What We’re Watching: Core Knowledge Performance at Icahn Charter School

At Icahn Charter Schools in the South Bronx, students learn the Core Knowledge curriculum developed by E.D. Hirsch. Here they demonstrate some of the things they’ve learned in an end-of-year Core Knowledge Assembly program.

In the News: New Rules To Ban Payday Lending ‘Debt Traps’

Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed new regulations affecting payday loans. The CFPB argues that these loans are set up in a way that makes it very difficult for lenders to repay them, so people end up borrowing more and more and ultimately pay far more in fees and interest than they borrowed.

In the News: Bursting the ‘Personalization’ Bubble: An Alternative Vision for Our Public Schools

A few years ago, Benjamin Riley sparked a debate over personalized learning with a blog entry arguing “Don’t personalize learning.” Not long after, Riley and Alex Hernandez debated “Should Personalization Be the Future of Learning?” in an EdNext forum.

In the News: Bill Aims to Ease Teacher Mobility Across States

Newly introduced federal legislation would make it easier for teachers to move to other states for teaching jobs without having to deal with licensure hassles.

EdNext Podcast: The Shared Legacy of Bush and Obama in Education Policy

Paul E. Peterson discusses his recent article, “The End of the Bush-Obama Regulatory Approach to School Reform,” with host Marty West.

In the News: Education Department Proposes Rules for Judging Schools

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education released draft regulations spelling out what states need to do to comply with the accountability provisions of the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act.

What We’re Watching: Online Course on Using PISA to Drive Progress

EdPolicy Leaders Online has launched a new online course that will take a close look at PISA data and explore how the data can be used to improve education policymaking in the U.S.

EdNext Podcast: Can Non-Cognitive Skills Be Taught?

Journalist Paul Tough talks with Education Next editor Marty West about his new book, Helping Children Succeed.

The Summer 2016 Issue of EdNext Is Here

In his final issue as editor-in-chief of Education Next, Paul E. Peterson assesses the effectiveness of the regulatory approach to school reform and looks ahead to choice and competition as the best hope for the future.

Behind the Headline: edTPA Teaching Exam’s Ties to Effectiveness Mixed, Study Finds

A new study looks at the predictive validity of the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA), a new performance-based test that is being used as a teacher licensing exam in some states.

Behind the Headline: Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Nevada School Choice Program

In Nevada, a judge has rejected a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against the state’s new education savings account (ESA) program.

Behind the Headline: The ‘Intolerable’ Fight Over School Money

Yesterday marked the latest skirmish in the battle over how to implement Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which sends $15 billion from the federal government to school districts to help schools serving low-income students.

What We’re Watching: Match Minis

Match education has produced a series of 3-5 minute videos, Match Minis, to share what they have learned about classroom teaching, teacher training, and more. There are videos for teachers, for teacher coaches, and for school leaders.

Behind the Headline: New Evidence that U.S. Schools are Resegregating

A new report released by the Government Accountability Office finds that poor, minority students are increasingly isolated from their white, affluent peers in school.

EdNext Podcast: How Will Accountability Change Under ESSA?

Randall Reback, professor of economics at Barnard College and Columbia University, talks with EdNext’s Paul Peterson about flexibility for states under the new Every Student Succeeds Act.

Behind the Headline: Virginia Governor Moves to Upend Traditional High School

In Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed legislation last week that will lead to an overhaul of the state’s high school graduation requirements.

Behind the Headline: Detroit schools’ decline and teacher sickout reflect bad economy and demographic shifts

Earlier this month, teachers in Detroit staged a sick-out, shutting down 97% of the district’s schools.

What We’re Watching: Middle School Math Competition on ESPN

Earlier this week, top middle-school mathletes competed in the Mathcounts national championship. The final round aired on ESPN3

EdNext Podcast: Free College Tuition: Lessons from Germany

With the prospect of free college tuition attracting many young voters to the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, EdNext’s Paul Peterson talks with Ludger Woessmann of the Ifo Institute in Munich about free higher education in Germany.

Behind the Headline: Appeals Court to Consider Teachers’ Lawsuit Over Tax-Credit Scholarships

An appeals court heard oral arguments yesterday in a lawsuit that a Florida teachers union has brought against the state’s tax credit scholarship program.

What We’re Watching: AEI Event on Education Savings Accounts

On Wednesday, May 11, 2016, starting at 9:30 am, AEI will host an event on education savings accounts (ESAs). Participants will include the authors of a new book on ESAs as well as policymakers, practitioners, and advocates.

Behind the Headline: Has the MCPS Board Learned Its Lesson?

How does a local school board hire a superintendent? Or fire a superintendent? In Montomery County, Md., a suburban school district outside of Washington, D.C. with over 150,000 students and an annual budget of $2.4 billion, much of the work of the school board seems to take place behind closed doors.

What We’re Watching: The Reading Paradox and the ESSA Solution

On Tuesday, May 11, 2016, at 10 am, Fordham will host an event to examine how the Every Student Succeeds Act gives states an opportunity to boost reading comprehension.

EdNext Podcast: The Experts Debate Education Savings Accounts

Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) allow families to claim most or all of the funds that the state would have spent on their child’s education and spend those funds on private school tuition or home schooling.On this week’s episode of the Ed Next podcast, Matthew Ladner and Nelson Smith join Ed Next’s Marty West to discuss the pros and cons of ESAs.

What We’re Watching: Personalized Learning Event at Harvard

On Thursday, May 5 at 5:30, the Harvard Graduate School of Education will host an event about a new online personalized learning platform that has been developed by teachers from Summit Public Schools with help from Facebook engineers.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

To show our appreciation for all the great teachers out there, we’ve pulled together some of our favorite articles that we think teachers might enjoy.

Behind the Headline: Money, Race and Success: How Your School District Compares

A widely shared post on The Upshot uses a set of colorful graphics to shed light on achievement gaps both within and across school districts.

Behind the Headline: This Controversial Law Could Help Schools in Nevada Struggling With Growth Booms

A law passed in June 2015 in Nevada gave all parents in the state access to a new school choice mechanism — the education savings account (ESA).

Behind the Headline: The Merit Pay Myth: Why the Conventional Wisdom About Paying Teachers Is Wrong

It is easy to find statements by education experts and journalists that “merit pay doesn’t work,” but as as Matt Barnum writes, the research on merit pay is mixed.

Behind the Headline: National Teacher of the Year: I Was a Teenage Mom, and Teachers Changed My Life

Jahana Hayes, a history teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, Conn., has been named this year’s National Teacher of the Year

Behind the Headline: Most High School Seniors Aren’t College Or Career Ready

The results from last year’s NAEP exam for 12th graders have just been released and NPR’s Anya Kamenetz takes a close look at the most important numbers: math and reading scores both declined a tiny amount, lower-achieving students are doing slightly worse and higher-achieving students slighly better than they were two years ago, and fewer than 40 percent of high school seniors score at college- or career-ready levels

EdNext Podcast: How Much Economic Growth Can We Get If We Improve Our Schools?

Eric Hanushek talks with Paul E. Peterson about the findings of his new study, which calculates the impact we would see on the economy if states improve their schools and students improve their skills.

Behind the Headline: Can More Money Fix America’s Schools?

Is it how much you spend on schools or how you spend it? NPR’s ed team is in the midst of a series of reports on money and schools. The latest installment takes a close look at the debate over whether money matters.

Behind the Headline: White House launches $100M competition to expand tuition-free community college

Vice President Biden will announce today that the White House will award $100 million in grants to expand workforce training programs at community colleges.

What We’re Watching: Brookings Event on Charter Schools in America

On April 26, Brookings hosted an event looking at charter schools in the U.S., what they are doing well, what they need to do better, and what their future holds.

Behind the Headline: Texas, Arizona High Schools Dominate New U.S. News Rankings

U.S. News and World Report has released its 2016 rankings of the country’s best high schools, identifying the public high schools that do the best job of preparing students for college and careers.

EdNext Podcast: Should Massachusetts Have More Charter Schools?

In Massachusetts, a proposal to increase the number of charter schools that was made by Governor Charlie Baker is facing opposition in the state senate. Jim Stergios, the Executive Director of the Pioneer Institute, talks with with Paul E. Peterson about the debate over charter schools that is now taking place in the Massachusetts state legislature.

What We’re Watching: Shavar Jeffries on the Democratic Candidates for President

The 74 talks briefly with Shavar Jeffries of Democrats for Education Reform about Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and school reform.

Behind the Headline: Better Adult Outcomes for Charter School Students

A study released earlier this month by Mathematica finds that students attending charter high schools in Florida scored lower on achievement tests than students in traditional public schools, but years later, the charter students were more likely to have attended at least two years of college and also had higher earnings.

Behind the Headline: Sharply Divided Reactions as Vergara Is Reversed

Last week, an appeals court in California reversed a lower court ruling in Vergara v. California that had struck down several state laws involving teacher tenure. The plaintiffs in the case, minority students in California, had argued that California’s teacher tenure system violates the equal protection clause because it protects teachers who are ineffective, and poor and minority students are more likely to be assigned these ineffective teachers.

Behind the Headline: ESSA Can Help States Offer a Well-Rounded Education, John King Says

In a speech he gave on Thursday in Las Vegas, Education Secretary John King urged states to use the flexibility they’ve been granted by the Every Student Succeeds Act to expand their focus beyond the subjects of reading and math.

What We’re Watching: Webinar on Economic Gains from Raising School Quality

On Wednesday, April 20 at noon, Eric Hanushek will explain the findings of a new study, “It Pays To Improve School Quality,” in a webinar presented by Education Next.

Behind the Headline: House Oversight Committee Reauthorizes D.C. Voucher Program

The U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday voted to reauthorize the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers to low-income D.C. students. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan praised the program at a press conference on Thursday.

What We’re Watching: Career and Technical Education Today: A Dead-End Track, or a Path to the Middle Class?

On Thursday, April 14 at 4 pm, Fordham hosts an event to discuss the findings of its new study on the impact of a well-designed Career and Technical Education program on student outcomes.

EdNext Podcast: How Has Denver Done It?

David Osborne talks with Marty West about the education reform strategies being embraced by the elected school board in Denver which have made the school district a leading example of urban reform.

Behind the Headline: Black and Latino Parents Want Better Teachers and Harder Classes for Their Kids

A new survey of black and Latino parents finds that they want their children challenged more in school and that lack of funding, inadequate teachers, and racism are the main reasons why their children do not get as good an education as white children.

Behind the Headline: Chicago Public Schools 101: The Politics, Passion, and Hopeless Financials Behind a System in Crisis

Matt Barnum and Naomi Nix of the 74 tell you all you need to know about what’s happening in Chicago now, answering questions starting with Why is Chicago in the news? Who is Rahm Emanuel? and Who is Karen Lewis? and moving on to What happened during the last strike? What is the financial situation in Chicago schools? Have recent reform efforts improved Chicago’s schools? and Why is Chicago important in the larger education debate?

EdNext Podcast: Energy and Entrepreneurialism in Catholic Education

Andy Smarick talks with Marty West about innovation in the Catholic school sector.

Behind the Headline: What Will Remain of StudentsFirst?

StudentsFirst, the education reform organization started in 2010 by former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, announced last week that it is merging with another education reform group, 50Can.

Behind the Headline: White Teachers and Black Teachers Have Different Expectations for Black Students

A new study finds that, when evaluating the same black student, white teachers expect significantly less academic success than black teachers.

Behind the Headline: Brooklyn Private School Looks to Expand to Manhattan

BASIS schools started out as a network of charter schools that are routinely ranked among the top-performing schools in the country.

Behind the Headline: Dual-Enrollment Programs: Funding, Rigor, Alignment Are Crucial, Study Says

A new report from the Education Commission of the States examines the policies each state has in place for allowing high school students to earn college credit in “dual enrollment” programs.

Behind the Headline: Diddy Is Opening a Charter School. When Did They Become a Hot Celebrity Accessory?

In Slate, Laura Moser reports that “hip-hop and fashion impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs hopped on the bandwagon of celebrities who dabble in charter schools when he announced plans to help launch a new charter in his birthplace of Harlem.”

Behind the Headline: In D.C., A Radical Shift in Parent Involvement

In the Boston Globe, Michael Levenson describes how schools in Washington, D.C. are trying to involve parents in their children’s education in new ways, beginning with visits by teachers to the homes of the students before school even starts, and continuing with a series of specialized parent-teacher meetings that focus not on report cards but on how parents can support their children’s learning.

Behind the Headline: Racial Aspects Tinge Massachusetts Charter Debate

In Massachusetts, the political battle over whether to raise a cap on the number of charter schools has come to center around the issue of race.

EdNext Podcast: Can We Count on Schools to Boost Social Mobility?

Mike Petrilli and Marty West discuss the role schools can play in putting more low-income children on the path toward success, and what schools need to do differently in order to do a better job.

Behind the Headline: Supreme Court Deadlocks Over Public Employee Union Case

The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it is split over Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.

Behind the Headline: Can Charlotte-Mecklenburg Desegregate Its Schools … Again?

A long article by Rachel Cohen in The American Prospect looks at new efforts to integrate schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, in North Carolina.

Behind the Headline: Schools Are Slow to Learn That Sleep Deprivation Hits Teenagers Hardest

Writing on The Upshot, Aaron Carroll reviews the research on sleep deprivation and concludes that, while sleep deprivation among adults is rare, among teens it is likely much more widespread.

Behind the Headline: Teachers Are Warned About Criticizing New York State Tests

In New York City, where state testing begins next week, the Department of Education is warning teachers and principals not to encourage parents to opt their students out of state tests.

Behind the Headline: Some Cities Are Making Great Strides In Educating Low-Income Students

A new report from Education Cities and GreatSchools identifies cities that are doing a better job than others at reducing the achievement gap between rich and poor students.

Behind the Headline: New Research Shows How a Federal School Turnaround Program Backfired in North Carolina

A new study examining North Carolina schools that were part of the state’s turnaround program finds that the program “had at best no effect on student achievement, and by some measures had a negative impact,” explains Matt Barnum in the 74.

What We’re Watching: Reading and Math in the Common Core Era

On Monday, March 28, Brookings hosted an online discussion of a new report that looks at how deeply the Common Core standards have penetrated schools and classrooms. It focused on new research by Tom Loveless looking at the emphasis of non-fiction vs. fiction texts in reading and on enrollment in advanced courses in mathematics.

EdNext Podcast: Do Teachers Matter Most?

Marty West talks with Dan Goldhaber about the differences teachers and schools make. Goldhaber is the author of “In Schools, Teacher Quality Matters Most.”

Behind the Headline: Teach for America To Cut National Staff by 15 Percent

Teach for America has announced that it will cut 15 percent of its national staff and give more independence to its regional offices, Emma Brown reports in the Washington Post.

How to Build a Better Reader, from the EdNext Podcast

In the new book Reading Reconsidered: A Practical Guide to Rigorous Literacy Instruction, Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, and Erica Woolway offer clear guidance on how to teach students to be better readers. In the March 16, 2016 episode of the EdNext podcast, the authors sat down with EdNext executive editor Marty West to discuss strategies […]

Behind the Headline: NYC Charters Retain Students Better Than Traditional Schools

Data from charter schools and traditional public schools in New York City shows that a lower percentage of students transfer out of charter schools than traditional public schools

EdNext Podcast: Overcoming Knowledge Deficits to Boost Reading Comprehension

Education Next’s Marty West talks with Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, and Erica Woolway, authors of the new book Reading Reconsidered: A Practical Guide to Rigorous Literacy Instruction.

Chingos, Peterson Win Best Academic Paper on School Choice and Reform

A study by Matthew M. Chingos and Paul E. Peterson on the long-term impact of school vouchers on college enrollment and graduation won the 2016 Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) Prize awarded for Best Academic Paper on School Choice and Reform.

Behind the Headline: Inside Educators’ Emotional Debate about ‘No Excuses’ Discipline

In a long, thoughful piece for Chalkbeat New York, Elizabeth Green looks “beyond the viral video” of a Success Academy teacher shaming a first-grade student to consider the pros and cons of the No Excuses approach to discipline and learning.

Behind the Headline: A New Era for the Battle Over Teacher Evaluations

In the Atlantic, Tom Toch looks at the evolution of teacher evaluation systems over the past decade and considers what might come next.

Behind the Headline: Running Out of Cash, CPS Tells Principals to Stop Spending

The Chicago Public Schools announced last week that teachers would have to take three unpaid days off this year as a cost-cutting measure.

What We’re Watching: Education for Upward Mobility Event

On Tuesday, March 15 at 4:00 pm, the Hoover Institution and the Fordham Institute will host an event to discuss a new book that looks at the role schools can play in helping low-income children advance in life.

Behind the Headline: Students Find More Awareness with Later Starts

An article by James Vaznis in the Boston Globe describes how many school districts in Massachusetts are exploring whether to change high school start times so that teens can get more sleep.

Behind the Headline: Americans Rank Last in Problem-Solving With Technology

A new report that looks at the skill of using technology to solve problems and evaluate information ranks American workers 18th out of 18 participating industrial countries.

EdNext Podcast: How Much Does Family Background Affect Student Achievement?

Marty West talks with Anna Egalite about the Coleman Report’s finding that family background explained more about student achievement than factors within the control of the school or other things that education policy can influence.

Behind the Headline: There Is No FDA For Education. Maybe There Should Be

NPR’s Eric Westervelt talks with Harvard education researcher Tom Kane about why American education research has mostly languished in an echo chamber for much of the last half century.

What We’re Watching: Meet the Visionary Chicago School Leader Who Just Won a ‘Genius’ Grant

The 74 made this video about Juan Salgado, who has launched two charter schools in Chicago through an organization called Instituto Del Progresso Latino.

Behind the Headline: Who’s Really Opting Out Anyway?

As the spring testing season is about to begin, Caroline Bermudez takes a look at the opt-out phenomenon that grabbed headlines last spring.

Behind the Headline: Why I Want My Students to Read Ta-Nehisi Coates But Believe Lin-Manuel Miranda

Writing for The 74, Robert Pondiscio compares the works of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Lin-Manuel Miranda, two “young men of color who have created two of the most praised and dissected cultural works of the moment.

What We’re Watching: School Choice Regulation Event at Cato

On Friday, March 4 at noon, the Cato Institute will host a discussion with the title “School Choice Regulation: Friend or Foe?”

Behind the Headline: How this Bay Area charter school network is reinventing education

For an article in the LA Times, Nichole Dobo pays a visit to the Summit network of charter schools and its founder Diane Tavenner

EdNext Podcast: Will the Every Student Succeeds Act Boost Digital Learning?

The federal education law passed in December 2015 shifts power back to states and school districts. It gives states the flexibility to decide what they want a high school diploma to mean, among other things. Susan Patrick of iNACOL sits down with EdNext’s Paul E. Peterson to discuss the impact of the new Every Student Succeeds Act on digital learning, testing, and more.

Behind the Headline: There Are More High-Needs Students In NYC Charters Than You Think

The New York City teachers’ union is lobbying the state legislature to change the charter law so that schools that serve a below-average number of children with disabilities will be sanctioned.

Behind the Headline: Testing for Joy and Grit? Schools Nationwide Push to Measure Students’ Emotional Skills

About five years ago, it started to become popular for schools to teach students social-emotional skills like grit, self-control, and perseverance after research showed that these skills improved academic performance.

Behind the Headline: Learn Different: Silicon Valley Disrupts Education

In the new issue of the New Yorker, Rebecca Mead takes a long look at AltSchool and in particular at AltSchool Brooklyn.

Behind the Headline: The Secret to School Integration

In an op-ed in the New York Times, Halley Potter and Kimberley Quick argue that, while school segregation overall is increasing, and challenges to integration are substantial, “viable options are still within reach for nearly any community that makes integration a priority.”

Behind the Headline: Judges Weigh Arguments Over Teacher vs. Student Rights in Landmark Tenure Lawsuit

Last Thursday, a California court heard arguments in Vergara vs. California. In 2014, a judge ruled that job protections for teachers like tenure are so harmful to students that they violate children’s rights to an equitable education. That ruling is now being challenged by the state of California and its teachers unions.

What We’re Watching: Education Policy 101

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and 50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now are offering an online course called Education Policy 101. The application deadline to take the Spring 2016 course is March 11. (Click here for the application.) As described on the course page Education Policy 101 (Ed Policy 101) is an innovative online course that introduces […]

The Spring 2016 Issue of Education Next is Here!

Fifty years ago, the U.S. Office of Education released James S. Coleman’s “Equality of Educational Opportunity” report, an immense analysis of data from around 600,000 public school students and tens of thousands of teachers.

Behind the Headline: Maryland Board Considers Two-Tier High School Diploma System

High school students in Maryland took the Common Core-aligned PARCC test last year for the first time. Because fewer students passed the test than passed the previous high school exam, the Maryland Board of Education is now considering whether to lower the score needed to pass the test or to issue two different diplomas, one for students who pass the PARCC exam and are ready for college and one for students who get a lower score on the test.

Behind the Headline: How Laurene Powell Jobs Is Reimagining the Future of Education

In Vogue magazine, Robert Sullivan profiles Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, who will use part of her $17 billion fortune to launch XQ: The Super School Project, a national competition aimed at reimagining the American high school

What We’re Watching: Reconsidering the Coleman Report on its 50th Anniversary

On February 26 EdNext hosted an event to revisit James S. Coleman’s 1966 report, “Equality of Educational Opportunity” on its 50th anniversary.

Equality of Educational Opportunity Event: Live Webcast

Tune in here Thursday at noon for a live webcast of an event that will revisit James S. Coleman’s 1966 report, “Equality of Educational Opportunity” (better known as the Coleman Report), on its 50th anniversary,

EdNext Podcast: Should We Abandon the Medical Model of Education Research?

In this episode of the EdNext podcast, Tom Kane talks with Marty West about why education research is not having an impact on education policy and what it would take for decisions made by policymakers at the state and local level to be influenced by research.

What We’re Watching: Release of Four Studies on Vouchers in Louisiana

On Monday, Feb. 22 at 4 pm, the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans will release four new reports on the Louisiana Scholarship Program.

Behind the Headline: Conservatives and Labor Find Common Ground: Can They Do It Again?

Could a Supreme Court decision striking down the legality of agency fees for teachers unions be good for unions?

What We’re Watching: Why Are Brooklyn’s Schools So Segregated?

A new video from Reason TV looks at a Brooklyn neighborhood where school boundaries may be redrawn to make schools more diverse, and wonders whether this is the best way to integrate schools.

Behind the Headline: The Education Issue We Should Debate This Election Year: School Choice

In the Wall Street Journal, Jason Riley laments the fact that the only education issue getting any air time at all in the debates among presidential candidates has been the Common Core.

EdNext Podcast: Common Core is Encouraging States to Raise Their Standards

Amanda Olberg interviews Paul E. Peterson about the results of his new analysis of state academic standards. The study looks at how high states are setting the bar for student proficiency.

Behind the Headline: This Viral Video of a Teacher Berating a Student is a Window on the Charter School Debate

Libby Nelson describes the controversy that has erupted after a secretly-recorded video was released showing a teacher from a Success Academy charter school berating a student in front of her classmates. Nelson writes “The video is undeniably upsetting. But the bigger question it raises is whether it happened to capture a teacher’s worst moment, or whether it’s indicative of a larger pattern.”

Behind the Headline: How Scalia’s Death May Grant Public-Sector Unions A Reprieve

The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia could impact the court’s ruling in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association this term,

Behind the Headline: Can This Man Save U.S. Soccer?

In the Atlantic, Amanda Ripley describes how soccer officials who wanted to raise the level of soccer playing in the U.S. turned to a teacher of teachers, Doug Lemov, for answers.

Behind the Headline: Assessing Assessments: The New Wave of Testing

A new report by the Fordham Institute takes a close look at the content, rigor, and quality of the new Common Core-aligned tests, and also at the MCAS, the exam used in Massachusetts which has been considered one of the best tests in the country

EdNext Podcast: Are American Schools Re-Segregating?

How have patterns of school segregation evolved in recent decades? Are American schools re-segregating, as newspaper headlines often suggest? And what do we know about the consequences of school segregation for students? Marty West talks with Steven Rivkin, a professor of economics and the author of a new paper on desegregation since the 1960s.

Behind the Headline: The Math Revolution

In this month’s Atlantic, Peg Tyre writes about the remarkable number of American students performing at extremely high levels in math and looks at how they got there.

What We’re Watching: How Good Are The New Common-Core Aligned Tests?

On Thursday, February 11 at 4:00 pm, the Fordham Institute will host an event to discuss a new report that evaluates the quality of three “next generation” assessments: PARCC, Smarter Balanced, and ACT Aspire.

Behind the Headline: Teach for America Celebrates 25th Anniversary at Washington Event

Teach for America celebrated its 25th anniversary with a conference in Washington, D.C. attended by thousands of alumni of the program.

What We’re Watching: Should Charter Schools Be Allowed to Push Out Difficult Kids?

Reason magazine’s Nick Gillespie talks with Robert Pondiscio about the charge that Success Academy charter schools try to push out students who are difficult to manage, and about whether poor kids should have the same right to disruption-free schools as rich kids.

Behind the Headline: Nation’s Charter Schools Aren’t Growing As Fast As Once Thought

Charter schools now enroll 2.9 million students, up 9% from last year, according to a new report from the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools described in the Washington Post.

Behind the Headline: A Radically Sensible Proposal for Training Teachers

On the 74, Matt Barnum writes about a new report arguing for a very different way of training teachers: “instead of raising the bar for those who enter teaching, we should actually lower it, while at the same time, making it tougher to remain in the classroom.”

EdNext Podcast: Do Snow Days Hurt Student Learning?

Each winter, thousands of school superintendents must decide whether or not to cancel school in light of an impending snow storm. In this week’s podcast, Marty West talks with Josh Goodman, the author of “In Defense of Snow Days,” about why they should err on the side of cancelling school.

Behind the Headline: ‘Micro Schools’ Could Be New Competition for Private K-12

In the new issue of Ed Week Arriana Prothero writes about the rise of micro-schools, “tiny schools—sometimes with as few as half a dozen students—that put a heavy emphasis on technology and pushing instructional boundaries in a mash-up of lab schools and home school co-ops.”

Behind the Headline: Sometimes, teacher turnover is a good thing, study finds

A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research last week found that teacher turnover led to an improvement in average student achievement under a new teacher evaluation system in Washington, D.C.

What We’re Watching: Who Has the Best Ideas for Accountability under ESSA?

Fordham held a competition to see who can come up with the best ideas for creating systems that states can use to hold schools accountable.

Behind the Headline: Education Department Tells States: If Students Don’t Take Tests, You Will Lose Funding

The U.S. Department of Education is reminding states that allowing or encouraging students to opt out of annual tests is not an option.

EdNext Podcast: Can Academic Games Motivate Teens in School?

Marty West of EdNext talks with Greg Toppo about academic games and James Coleman’s idea that they could be used to increase motivation and academic performance among teens.

Behind the Headline: Millions take AP courses, but percentage of schools offering them drops

Participation in the Advanced Placement program has grown from 330,000 students in 1990 to 2.2 million in 2013.

Behind the Headline: School Closings Rolling In As D.C. Region Digs Out From Snowzilla

Schools will be closed on Monday in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and many other areas on the east coast after a blizzard dumped 1 to 3 feet of snow over the weekend.

Behind the Headline: Feds Quietly Close Long-Running Probe of Milwaukee Voucher Program

An investigation that was launched more than four years ago into whether the Milwaukee private school voucher program discriminates against students with disabilities has been closed.

Behind the Headline: The Hidden Bill Young Teachers Pay

In US News, Marcus Winters looks at the practice of expecting young teachers to pay for the retirement of the teachers who came before them.

What We’re Watching: Teacher Pensions Explained in Less Than 3 Minutes

Concerned that our system of teacher pensions leaves too many teachers without adequate funds for retirement, the folks at TeacherPensions.org have created a short video that explains the problems with today’s pensions for teachers.

EdNext Podcast: President Obama and the Scrambled Politics of Federal Education Policy

Eric Hanushek talks with Paul E. Peterson about President Obama’s education legacy.

Behind the Headline: Martin Luther King Jr. Born in Atlanta, Jan. 15, 1929

On Monday we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday is today. His work to fight racial inequality inspires many to continue the struggle today.

Eric A. Hanushek and Paul E. Peterson on Changes in the Achievement Gap

As we reach the 50th anniversary of the Coleman Report on equality of educational opportunity in the U.S., Hanushek and Peterson discuss how the achievement gap has changed over time.

Behind the Headline: Bills to Restructure Detroit K-12 District Finally Proposed

Legislation that would create a new state-overseen school district in Detroit to run schools and leave the old Detroit Public Schools district in existence only to collect taxes and retire its debt has been introduced.

Behind the Headline: The Key to the White House is Working-Class Whites

On the campaign trail, Marco Rubio has been talking up vocational education. Earlier this week he spoke at the auto shop of a community college in New Hampshire about the need for young people to learn tangible skills. Phillip Rucker and Robert Costa of the Washington Post wrote about the speech in an article on efforts by the Republican party to reach out to white working-class voters.

Behind the Headline: Netflix Chief Announces $100 Million Fund for Education

Reid Hastings, the founder of Netflix, announced Tuesday that he is creating a $100 million foundation for education.

EdNext Podcast: The Coleman Report and the Achievement Gap

As part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress authorized a national study of equality of educational opportunity in the United States. The study, conducted under the leadership of James Coleman, has reverberated across the decades.
We are now on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Coleman Report. For this occasion, Eric A. Hanushek has written about the changes in student achievement that have occurred over the past 50 years.
For this episode of the Ed Next podcast, he sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss what the Coleman Report found about the size of the achievement gap between blacks and whites across the country and how that gap has changed over time.

What We’re Listening To: Slate’s Amicus Podcast on Friedrichs

Two lawyers who filed amicus briefs on opposite sides of the Friedrichs vs. CTA case are guests this week on a podcast called Amicus produced by Slate magazine.

Behind the Headline: Teachers Unions At the Supreme Court: 9 Things You Need to Know About the Friedrichs Case

The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association this morning.

Behind the Headline: Don’t Fall For Easy Catchphrases Like ‘Race to the Bottom’

On “The Grade,” Alexander Russo takes a close look at the frequently stated claim that under NCLB, states lowered their standards in a “race to the bottom.”

EdNext Podcast: Are Teachers Unions an Obstacle to School Improvement?

Michael Lovenheim of Cornell University sits down with Marty West to discuss his new study on the impact of teacher collective bargaining.

Behind the Headline: Why I’m Fighting My Teachers Union

In the Wall Street Journal, California teacher Harlan Elrich explains why he is one of the plaintiffs in the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case, which will be heard by the Supreme Court next week.

Behind the Headline: Arne Duncan calls for addressing gun violence in final speech as education secretary

In his last speech as U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan spoke in the basement of a Catholic church in Chicago last week about the impact of gun violence on children.

What We’re Watching: Arne Duncan on Race to the Top

In a talk delivered on November 12, Arne Duncan spoke about the legacy of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program.

Have You Heard? The EdNext Podcast is Here!

We’re excited to bring our subscribers the EdNext Podcast, a weekly series hosted by Education Next editor-in-chief Paul E. Peterson and executive editor Martin West.

Behind the Headline: Success Academy Schools, in Shortening Their Day, Shed a Distinction

Success Academy charter schools will shorten their school day next year, Eva Moskowitz, the head of the charter network announced this week.

Behind the Headline: Coming To Texas: Special-Ed Cams To Protect Students From Their Own Teachers

NPR reports on a new law in Texas that requires schools to videotape special ed classrooms if a parent or school staff member requests it.

Behind the Headline: Leading By Example: Black Male Teachers Make Students ‘Feel Proud’

In the Hechinger Report, Katy Reckdahl writes about the Honoré Center for Undergraduate Achievement, a program at Southern University in New Orleans that gives full scholarships to young African American men who show promise despite unremarkable transcripts and then trains them to be teachers.

What We’re Watching: Implementing ESSA – What to Expect in 2016

Mike Petrilli of the Fordham Institute and three education experts will discuss the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act in a webcast on Thursday, December 17 at 2:00 pm.

EdNext Podcast: Mike Petrilli on ESSA

On this episode of the Ed Next podcast, Mike Petrilli of the Fordham Institute joins Ed Next Executive Editor Marty West to discuss the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Who were the real winners and losers in this deal? And what happens next?

Behind the Headline: Chris Cerf Reviews ‘The Prize’

The Prize, published earlier this year, is Dale Russakoff’s examination of school reform efforts in Newark. New Newark superintendent Chris Cerf reviews the book for The 74. Cerf served as New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education from 2011 to 2014.

School Pension Costs Continue to Rise

Given that school districts now spend about $11,800 per pupil on average, the $1,085 spent on employee pensions represents a significant amount of money that might have otherwise been spent in ways that would benefit student learning.

EdNext Podcast: William Howell on the Obama Administration’s Education Legacy

William Howell of the University of Chicago talks with Marty West about the Every Student Succeeds Act and federal education policy in the Obama administration. The Every Student Succeeds Act will mark a dramatic change in federal education policy. Is the bill a repudiation of the Obama administration’s education legacy? What is the administration’s education legacy and how will that change?

Behind the Headline: As D.C. Gentrifies, Some Charter Schools Aim To Reach Broader Spectrum

The Washington Post’s Michael Alison Chandler looks at how the growth of charter schooling and rapid gentrification in some areas are affecting school diversity in Washington, D.C.

Behind the Headline: Standardized Testing Works, Depending On Where You Go To School

Kevin Hartnett of the Boston Globe reports on a new study by David Deming and three co-authors that looks at whether standardized testing really promotes outcomes education policy cares about most, like success in college and the job market.

Behind the Headline: High-Poverty Schools Often Staffed by Rotating Cast of Substitutes

Every U.S. classroom needs a sub from time to time. But in the troubled schools that serve some of the nation’s neediest children, it is not uncommon for classrooms to churn with substitutes as teachers leave in large numbers each June, or quit midyear, and principals struggle to fill the positions. So explains Emma Brown in a front page story for Sunday’s Washington Post.

Behind the Headline: Where Will Mark Zuckerberg Direct His $45 Billion? Here Are Some Clues

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced that they will give away 99 percent of their Facebook shares for charitable purposes to “advance human potential and promote equality.”

Looking to Hire a Manuscript Editor for Education Next

We seek someone with excellent writing, editing, communication, and organizational skills and a substantial knowledge of education policy and research.

Behind the Headline: Ohio’s ‘Parent Trigger’ Law Doesn’t Work

The state of Ohio passed a law creating a “parent trigger” option that took effect last year, but so far no parents have expressed interest in pulling the trigger.

EdNext Podcast: Deborah McGriff on Charter Schools and Innovation

Deborah McGriff, managing partner of NewSchools Venture Fund, discusses the charter school movement with Marty West in this episode of the Education Next podcast.

How innovative has the charter school movement been? What are charter schools doing to narrow the achievement gap? These are questions that Deborah McGriff is well positioned to answer.

Behind the Headline: The Catholic School Revival

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Zinsmeister looks at the surprising boost Catholic schooling is getting from charter schooling.

Behind the Headline: To Build a Better Teacher, Harvard Launches Program Aimed at Quality

Harvard is launching a new training program for teachers that will combine instruction in teaching methods with practice in the classroom under the supervision of a mentor.

What We’re Listening To: Does Early Education Come Too Late?

In the latest Freakonomics Radio podcast, hear the story of three economists, Steve Levitt, Roland Fryer, and John List who start an experimental preschool in Chicago that has a Parent Academy go to along with it to help parents learn how to best support their kids’ learning.

Behind the Headline: Urban Charter Schools Often Succeed. Suburban Ones Often Don’t.

On the Upshot, Susan Dynarski provides a careful review of the evidence on the effectiveness of charter schools.

Behind the Headline: Louisiana’s School Voucher Victory

Earlier this month, a court in Louisiana overturned a lower court ruling that allowed the Justice Department to veto individual school vouchers awarded in Louisiana.

The Winter 2016 Issue of Education Next Is Here

The cover story is the 2015 EdNext poll on school reform, which finds continuing high levels of support for educational testing and little sympathy for the opt-out movement.

What We’re Watching: Marco Rubio Talks K-12 Education

Marco Rubio sat down with the Seventy Four’s Campbell Brown to discuss his views on federal education policy.

What We’re Watching: ESEA Conference Committee Meeting

The joint conference committee to reauthorize ESEA met on Wednesday afternoon and will meet again on Thursday morning at 10:00 am.

EdNext Podcast: Which Test Better Predicts College Success, MCAS or PARCC?

Ira Nichols-Barrer and Brian Gill of Mathematica Policy Research sit down with Marty West to discuss an important testing decision faced by Massachusetts: whether to keep the MCAS assessment or switch to the PARCC assessment.

Nichols-Barrer and Gill, along with two other co-authors, are the authors of a new study that looks at which test better predicts college performance.

Behind the Headline: John E. Chubb, Education Researcher and National Private School Leader, Dies

Influential education researcher and leader John Chubb passed away last week.

Behind the Headline: Sources: House and Senate Negotiators Have Reached Preliminary ESEA Deal

On Thursday evening, Alyson Klein of Politics K-12 broke the news that, after weeks of long and hard negotiations, House and Senate lawmakers have reached preliminary agreement on a bill for the long-stalled reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, multiple sources say.

Behind the Headline: How To Build a Better Teacher: Groups Push a 9-Point Plan Called TeachStrong

A coalition of 40 education groups is launching a campaign called TeachStrong aimed at “modernizing and elevating” the teaching profession, reports Lyndsey Layton in the Washington Post.

Behind the Headline: Common Core Grade Inflation

On the Knowledge Bank blog, AEI’s Jenn Hatfield and Max Eden argue that Ohio’s decision to lower its cut score for proficiency on the PARCC test is more likely to make the state a trailblazer than an outlier.

EdNext Podcast: Gerard Robinson on Education Policy and the Presidential Race

Paul E. Peterson talks with Gerard Robinson of AEI about how education is being discussed (and not discussed) in the early stages of the presidential race.

Behind the Headline: Here’s Why $7 Billion Didn’t Help America’s Worst Schools

Caitlin Emma has a long piece in Politico about the federal School Improvement Grants program that looks at “what two troubled high schools tell us about why the government got so little for so much money.”

Behind the Headline: Hillary Clinton: Most charter schools ‘don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they don’t keep them’

At a town hall in South Carolina this weekend, Hillary Clinton was asked whether she supports charter schools.

Behind the Headline: Rewriting No Child Left Behind: Three Testing Issues to Watch

Will Congress reauthorize ESEA in the coming months? If so they’ll have to resolve a handful of disagreements related to testing.

Behind the Headline: The War Over Evaluating Teachers—Where it Went Right and How it Went Wrong

Writing for The 74, Matt Barnum describes and evaluates the massive transformation in how teachers are evaluated that has taken place over the past few years.

Behind the Headline: School vs. Society in America’s Failing Students

In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Eduardo Porter considers whether it is a mistake to blame America’s schools for not doing a good enough job of educating disadvantaged students.

What We’re Watching: Pre-Medial Education Event at Fordham

On Thursday, Nov. 5,the Fordham Institute hosted a discussion of what can be done to ensure that kids aiming for college do not graduate from high school unprepared for college-level work.

EdNext Podcast: Does Test-Based Accountability Work?

David J. Deming sits down with Ed Next’s Marty West to discuss his new study on the effects of a test-based accountability system on student learning.

Behind the Headline: Does the U.S. Lead the World in Childhood Poverty? Absolutely Not.

“Bernie Sanders often claims that America has the highest child-poverty rate of any advanced democracy in the world. He uses this fact to justify his call for a European-style social-welfare state. But what if it’s simply not true?” So wonder Mike Petrilli and Brandon Wright on NRO.

What We’re Watching: AEI Event on Brown v. Board of Education II 60 Years Later

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 9 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. AEI hosted three panel discussions on school integration on the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1955 ruling.

Behind the Headline: College Aid: Obama to Extend Pell Grants to Some HS Students

On Friday, the Obama administration announced an experimental program that will give up to 10,000 low-income students access to federal Pell grants to take college courses while still in high school.

What We’re Watching: Why Knowledge Is the Key to Skills — and the Common Core

On October 29, Fordham hosted a discussion of how the pursuit of skills rather than knowledge is widening the achievement gap.

Behind the Headline: The Poverty Cure: Get Married

In the Wall Street Journal, Bill Galston reviews several studies on the impact of family structure just published in the fall 2015 issue of the academic journal the Future of Children.

Behind the Headline: How Well do Minnesota’s Education Programs Prepare Students to be Teachers? It’s Almost Impossible to Tell

In a long article for MinnPost, reporter Beth Hawkins attempts to gather data that could be used to evaluate how good a job Minnesota’s teacher education programs are doing.

Behind the Headline: The Tech Elite’s Quest to Reinvent School in Its Own Image

Jason Tanz takes a close look at the Khan Lab School in Mountain View, California for Wired magazine.

Behind the Headline: U.S. Student Performance Slips on National Test

Scores on the NAEP test, sometimes called the Nation’s Report Card, were released this morning and the results were not good.

EdNext Podcast: Al Hubbard on School Choice in Indiana

Al Hubbard talks with Paul E. Peterson about the state of school choice and other reforms in his home state of Indiana.

What We’re Watching: Katherine Bradley on the School of the Future

AEI hosted a discussion with Katherine Bradley on how technology and adaptive-learning software can be used to revolutionize learning.

Behind the Headline: Surprise: Florida and Texas Excel in Math and Reading Scores

A report released today shows how states rank by NAEP scores when scores are adjusted based on student demographics, including poverty, race, native language and the share of students in special education.

Behind the Headline: Obama Proposes Capping Standardized Testing at 2% of Classroom Time

On Saturday, the Obama administration outlined new guidelines on standardized testing, including a proposed cap on the amount of time students spend taking standardized tests.

Behind the Headline: Should We Turn High School Into College?

This fall, a low-income school district in Texas became the first large district to implement “early college” in all of its high schools.

Behind the Headline: A Disadvantaged Start Hurts Boys More Than Girls

A study released Thursday investigates why boys in low-income families tend to do worse than girls in those families, both academically and in terms of behavior.

Behind the Headline: Tiny Schools, Big Impact

There’s a lot of buzz about tiny schools like Altschools, but also a lot of skepticism, writes Michael McShane.

EdNext Podcast: Michael Podgursky on Pension Reform

University of Missouri Professor of Economics Michael Podgursky sits down with EdNext editor Paul E. Peterson to discuss the trouble some states are in with their pension systems.

Behind the Headline: Make Pell Grants Conditional on College Readiness

Writing as part of a series on “big ideas for reforming college,” Brookings’ Isabel Sawhill proposes that Pell grants be made conditional on college readiness. She writes

Behind the Headline: High School Graduation Rates Are On The Rise In Most States

Preliminary data released on Monday by the Department of Education show that high school graduation rates rose in a majority of states and gaps in graduation rates between white and minority students narrowed in most states.

Behind the Headline: State Faces Testing Showdown

Next month, education officials in Massachusetts will decide whether to abandon the state’s much-praised MCAS test and adopt the Common Core-aligned PARCC test.

Behind the Headline: Are Charter Schools a Threat or Opportunity for Los Angeles?

Robin Lake and Paul Hill offer their take on the recently reported plan to serve half of all Los Angeles’ students in charter schools in an article in the Los Angeles Daily News.

Behind the Headline: An Uncivil Civil War

An estimated 18,500 families, children, educators and charter school employees marched to the steps of city hall in New York City earlier this month to urge Mayor Bill de Blasio to give more children the opportunity to attend effective charter schools. Many of the families had children attending Success Academy charter schools.

Behind the Headline: Schools for Wisdom

In his column in this morning’s New York Times, David Brooks reacts to a documentary about education called “Most Likely to Succeed.”

What We’re Watching: We Don’t Want School Choice

In this humorous video by ChoiceMediaTV parents, talk about why they don’t want school choice.

Behind the Headline: Democrats Propose Tuition-Free Public College, Vow to Lower Student Debt

While K-12 education issues were not addressed during last night’s first official Democratic debate in Las Vegas, college affordability was in the spotlight.

EdNext Podcast: Arne Duncan’s Legacy

Michael B. Horn and Paul E. Peterson discuss Arne Duncan’s decision to resign and what his legacy will be as Secretary of Education.

Behind the Headline: Another State Redefines ‘Proficiency’ on Common Core Tests, Inflating Performance

The Arkansas Department of Education has announced that students who score at level 3 or above on new Common Core tests will be deemed “proficient,” even though the makers of the test say that only students who score at level 4 or above are on track to graduate from high school with the skills they need to be ready for college or a career.

Behind the Headline: California Exit Exam’s Demise Revives Dreams for Thousands

In California, Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed a law that suspends the state’s high school exit exam for three years.

Behind the Headline: Preschool is Good for Children, but it’s Expensive. So Utah is Offering it Online.

In Utah his year, more than 6,600 children are attending preschool online, using laptops at home to access lessons, games and songs.

Ed Next Book Club: Failing Our Brightest Kids

Mike Petrilli interviews Chester Finn and Brandon Wright about their new book.

Behind the Headline: A Fight Over Private Schools, Federal Dollars and Home Rule

Eight members of the Washington, D.C. City Council have asked Congress to end the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, the only federally funded private school voucher program.

EdNext Podcast: The Challenges of Implementing Tech-Based Personalized Learning

Michael Horn and Paul E. Peterson discuss the growth of personalized learning and how technology can help advance it.

Behind the Headline: A Tale of Two Schools, One Building

Wadleigh Secondary School in New York City occupies the same building as a charter school, Success Academy Harlem West, and the students at both schools come from the same neighborhood.

What We’re Watching: Failing Our Brightest Kids Event at Hoover in DC

On Monday, Oct. 26 Hoover hosted a discussion of Failing Our Brightest Kids, the new book by Chester E. Finn, Jr., and Brandon L. Wright.

Behind the Headline: Arne Duncan Stepping Down, Returning to Chicago

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced today that he will step down in December.

Behind the Headline: What if No Child Left Behind Worked and Nobody Realized It? Blame the Media.

In an article on The 74, Matt Barnum writes that the general public largely believes that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) didn’t work, but that this is wrong.

What We’re Listening To: Can CBT Help Troubled Young Men Stop Fighting and Stay in School?

Freakonomics Radio looks at an effort to reduce violence and dropout rates among young men in the Chicago Public Schools using cognitive behavioral therapy.

EdNext Podcast: What Does the Public Want Taught?

Paul E. Peterson, Martin R. West and Michael B. Henderson discuss what the public thinks schools should be teaching more of.

Behind the Headline: Lesson-Sharing Sites Raise Issues of Ownership, Use

Ed Week’s Stephen Sawchuk takes a close look at some of the most popular lesson-sharing websites for teachers and finds some complications lurking.

What We’re Watching: Developing Strong K-12 Leaders from Within

Fordham and EdFuel hosted a discussion about how education organizations can learn to recognize and retain their most talented staff and turn them into tomorrow’s leaders.

Behind the Headline: Why the Friedrichs Court Case Will Give Teachers More Power — and Better Pay

On Top of the News Why the Friedrichs Court Case Will Give Teachers More Power — and Better Pay The 74 | 9/28/15 Behind the Headline Teachers Unions At Risk of Losing Agency Fees Education Next| Winter 2016 In its 2015–16 term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association a case that considers the legality […]

Behind the Headline: When America Hated Catholics

While Pope Francis is enjoying a warm welcome from politicians of all faiths during his visit to the United States, Josh Zeitz of Politico takes a look back at a time when anti-Catholic emotions were strong here.

Behind the Headline: $490-Million Plan Would Put Half of LAUSD Students in Charter Schools

A group of foundations in Los Angeles have developed a $490-million plan to add 260 new charter schools in the city over the next eight years, enrolling at least 130,000 students.

What We’re Listening To: Lower Income, Higher Ed

This radio documentary by WAMU’s Kavitha Cardoza takes a close look at why so many low-income students who show great promise do not graduate from college.

Behind the Headline: Race and Class Collide in a Plan for Two Brooklyn Schools

As gentrification brings new families into many Brooklyn neighborhoods, some schools there are becoming overcrowded and redrawing school boundaries is on the table.

EdNext Podcast: The Department of Education’s Equity Initiative

Shep Melnick and Paul E. Peterson discuss a “Dear Colleague” letter sent by the federal government to education officials around the country about equalizing educational resources for students of different races.

Behind the Headline: Catholic Schools Are Back, and There’s Hope for Their Future

If you only read one article about Catholic schools on the occasion of the Pope’s visit to the U.S., make it this one by Andy Smarick.

Ed Next Book Club: The Prize

Mike Petrilli talks with Dale Russakoff about her new book on school reform in Newark.

The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools? tells a gripping, and mostly depressing, tale of the reform efforts in woebegone Newark, complete with some of the most colorful characters in American public life today. Chris Christie. Corey Booker. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. Appointed schools superintendent Cami Anderson. And of course the teachers and students who are the true heroes of the book—and the victims of a school system—and a reform effort—gone badly astray.

Behind the Headline: KIPP Charter School Students Show Lasting Achievement Gains, Study Finds

A new study by Mathematica examines how the KIPP charter network fared during a period of rapid growth, when enrollment in KIPP schools roughly doubled to 68,000 students after the network received a $50 million expansion grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2010.

What We’re Listening To: Boston Schools Seek To Increase Teacher Diversity

Boston Public Schools, where 87 percent of students are minorities but only 38 percent of teachers are, is trying to build its own pipeline of talented minority teachers.

Behind the Headline: AltSchool, the High-Tech Ed Experiment, Announces New Locations in Manhattan and California

AltSchool, an education startup with schools in four locations and over $133 million in funding, will have ten school sites open in 2016, its founder says.

What We’re Watching: AEI Conference on Education Reform After Katrina

On September 16, AEI hosted an event on the state of education reform in New Orleans ten years after Hurricane Katrina.

EdNext Podcast: School Reform in New Orleans After Katrina

Marty West and Doug Harris take stock of the education reforms that have taken place in New Orleans in the decade since Hurricane Katrina.

Behind the Headline: The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration

On the 50th anniversary of the Moynihan Report, Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic looks back at what Moynihan wrote in the original report, how Moynihan’s views later changed, and about the experiences of African Americans in the U.S. in the decades since the report was issued, with a focus on the phenomenon of mass incarceration.

Behind the Headline: Laurene Powell Jobs Commits $50 Million to Create New High Schools

Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, is launching a $50 million effort to reinvent the high school.

Behind the Headline: A Federal Raid on Local Schools

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Shep Melnick analyzes a “Dear Colleague” letter about school funding sent out by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.

Behind the Headline: Houston ISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier Resigns

Houston Superintendent Terry Grier has announced that he is resigning effective March 2016.

Behind the Headline: Seattle Teachers Strike On First Day Of School

Teachers in Seattle are on strike today after contract talks between the teachers union and the school district broke down. The two sides are far apart on key issues, “including pay raises, teacher evaluations and the length of the school day.”

Behind the Headline: Rideshares for Kids Take On the After-School Pickup

A new company in the Bay Area is operating as an Uber for kids who need rides to and from school and afterschool activities.

EdNext Podcast: Does the Public Support Higher Teacher Salaries?

Marty West and Paul E. Peterson discuss the findings of the 2015 EdNext poll on public support for higher school spending and higher teacher salaries.

Behind the Headline: Teachers Aren’t Dumb

“The problem in American education is not dumb teachers. The problem is dumb teacher training,” argues Dan Willingham in an op-ed in the New York Times.

Behind the Headline: Newark Students Are Better Off, Despite The Political Noise

Dale Russakoff, a reporter from the Washington Post, spent more than four years in Newark observing its school reform efforts, and the result is a new book, The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools? which was released today.

Behind the Headline: Washington Charter School Law Ruled Unconstitutional by State’s High Court

The Washington Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the state’s charter-school law is unconstitutional.

Behind the Headline: Has Gentrification Begun in New Orleans Public Schools?

While public schools in New Orleans educate mainly children from poor families, “several new schools are attracting families who could afford private or parochial school, the same type of families who started leaving the school system 45 years ago,” writes Danielle Dreilinger on nola.com.

Behind the Headline: Indianapolis Pact Couples New Teacher Roles and Big Pay Boosts

The school board in Indianapolis has approved a new teacher contract that will allow six schools to implement an experimental program that allows high-performing teachers to take on new roles, reach more students, and earn higher salaries.

EdNext Podcast: Is Support for the Common Core Dropping or Stabilizing?

Marty West and Paul E. Peterson discuss the public’s changing opinion of the Common Core.

Behind the Headline: Tests Matter

In US News, Nina Rees takes a close look at what the public says about testing in two recent polls, and in particular considers why PDK/Gallup found that respondents believe there is too much emphasis on testing, while EdNext found that respondents support annual standardized testing.

What We’re Watching: America’s Neglected Gifted Kids

Brandon Wright talks with The Wall Street Journal about what schools are doing for academically gifted students, the subject of a book he has written with Chester Finn.

The Fall 2015 Issue of Education Next is Here!

The cover features three articles assessing school reform in New Orleans on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Behind the Headline: The Obligations of High-Output Charter High Schools

Should charter schools be forced to backfill — to admit new students whenever they have an open seat because a student has left? Charter school advocates are divided over this issue. Paul Hill and Robin Lake of CRPE lay out their positions for and against backfilling on The Lens, the blog of CRPE.

Behind the Headline: How Common Core Can Help in the Battle of Skills vs. Knowledge

While many people blame standardized testing for narrowing the elementary school curriculum to reading and math, the real culprit is “a longstanding pedagogical notion that the best way to teach kids reading comprehension is by giving them skills — strategies like “finding the main idea” — rather than instilling knowledge about things like the Civil War or human biology.” So writes Natalie Wexler in an op-ed in the New York Times.

New Orleans Education Coverage by Education Next

Research, features, and opinion from Ed Next authors on schools in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina

Behind the Headline: 2 Polls Span 2 Poles On Testing In Schools

Does the American public support annual testing or think there’s too much testing, or both?

Behind the Headline: From Scholarship Student to Charter School Teacher, a Young Man Helps New Orleans Come Back

In the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Danielle Dreilinger tells the moving life story of Gary Briggs, a teacher in a New Orleans charter school.

EdNext Podcast: Comparing the EdNext Poll to the PDK Poll

Marty West and Paul E. Peterson discuss the findings of the 2015 Education Next poll and compare the results with the findings from this week’s PDK/Gallup Poll.

What We’re Watching: Virtual Tour of Success Academy Charter Schools

An immersive, 360-degree panoramic view inside a Success Academy elementary school.

Behind the Headline: How New Orleans Proved Urban Education Reform Can Work

“The creation of high-achieving urban charter schools is one of the most impressive triumphs of American social policy,” writes Jon Chait of New York magazine. “Nowhere has this revolution had a more dramatic impact than in New Orleans, because nowhere has reform been carried out with such breadth,” he continues.

Common Core’s Silent Majority

The public is still quietly backing Common Core by a margin of nearly 15 percentage points

The Feds Have Not Convinced Parents, Teachers, or the General Public on School Discipline

In January 2014, the Obama administration’s Departments of Justice and Education, acting together, sent every school district in the country a letter warning local officials to avoid racial bias when suspending or expelling students.

Behind the Headline: Time Out for Opt-Outs?

“Americans aren’t as pissed off about standardized testing as headlines often make it seem. In fact, it looks like most of the country’s adults support it. What the public isn’t so fond of are the people who are pissed off—the ones who are so pissed off they’re boycotting the assessments as part of a growing ‘opt-out movement.’” So writes Alia Wong in “Time Out for Opt-Outs?” in the Atlantic.

Behind the Headline: State Law Forces Milwaukee to Put Vacant Schools Up for Sale

A new law in Wisconsin is forcing the Milwaukee school system to put all its vacant and surplus buildings on the market this October. Charter and private school operators will be able to purchase the properties.

Behind the Headline: Billions in Pell Dollars go to Students Who Never Graduate

While the federal government does not collect data on the graduation rates of students who receive Pell grants, an investigation by the Hechinger Institute suggests that billions of taxpayer dollars are going to students who never earn degrees.

Job Opportunity at Education Next

Education Next is looking to hire a communications consultant, someone to help us promote articles appearing in EdNext by writing press releases, communicating with traditional media outlets, and maintaining a lively social media presence.

What We’re Watching: The New Hampshire Education Summit

The 74’s Campbell Brown interviewed GOP presidential candidates about education policy in New Hampshire on August 19.

Behind the Headline: Teachers and Schools are Funded at a Higher Rate Than Most People Know

In an op-ed in the Washington Times, Paul E. Peterson takes a close look at what the public knows about school spending based on data from the 2015 EdNext poll.

2015 EdNext Poll Finds High Levels of Support for Testing and Little Sympathy for the Opt-Out Movement

Today Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard Kennedy School released the ninth annual Education Next public opinion poll on education policies.

Behind the Headline: A Wink, a Nod and a Diploma?

In U.S. News, Robert Pondiscio worries that some credit recovery programs are a mere fig leaf covering up academic failure and inflating graduation rates.

What We’re Watching: One New Orleans Senior Struggles to Graduate

Nola.com tells the story of Sean Talley, an at-risk teenager from New Orleans trying to make it through high school.

Behind the Headline: 20% of New York State Students Opted Out of Standardized Tests This Year

New York state education officials said Wednesday that more than 200,000 students declined to take the state’s standardized tests this year, which represents 20 percent of those students eligible to be tested.

What We’re Watching: Baseball Players To Visit Schools That Set High Standards

To win the contest and get a visit from a major league baseball player, nominate a school that “is hitting it out of the park with higher standards, clear expectations, and classroom support .”

Behind the Headline: Crowded Field of Online News Sites Focuses on Education Issues

“The past two years or so have seen a boom in online news outlets covering education. New local and national sites are focusing exclusively on the subject; general-interest sites have education beat reporters or otherwise include K-12 issues in their mix.” So notes Mark Walsh of Ed Week, who goes on to describe the numerous new websites providing education news.

What We’re Listening To: Diane Rehm Show on Teacher Shortages

Is there a nationwide teacher shortage? Why are so many districts struggling to fill certain kinds of teaching slots?

Behind the Headline: Charlotte, N.C. Gave Principals Power Over Teacher Layoffs. What Happened?

A new study looks at which teachers in Charlotte, North Carolina were laid off when principals had to reduce their teaching staffs due to budget shortfalls.

Behind the Headline: Judge Rules New York Teacher Exam Did Not Discriminate Against Minorities

A federal judge has ruled that, even though a greater proportion of minority teachers than of white teachers have failed a new licensing exam in New York, the test can still be used because it does measure skills crucial to teaching.

What We’re Listening To: New Orleanians See Remarkable Progress A Decade After Hurricane Katrina

A new survey looks at how residents of New Orleans are feeling ten years after Hurricane Katrina.

Behind the Headline: Anxiety, Frustration and Incredulity Follow Suggestion of School Sports Cuts

A task force in Fairfax County, Virginia, one of the nation’s largest school districts, has estimated that the district could save nearly $24 million by eliminating sports and cutting other extracurricular activities.

Behind the Headline: CDC: Too Many Schools Start Class Too Early, A Problem For Student Health

A report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that five out of every six middle schools and high schools nationwide start classes earlier than 8:30 a.m.

Call for Papers: Harvard Conference on The Politics of Education Policy: An International Perspective

On May 5-6, 2016, the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University and the Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich will jointly host a workshop at Harvard on “The Politics of Education Policy: An International Perspective.”

What We’re Listening To: This American Life on Desegregation

Nikole Hannah-Jones tells the story of Normandy School District, which accidentally launched a desegregation program.

Behind the Headline: Billions of Dollars in Annual Teacher Training is Largely a Waste

A new study by TNTP finds no evidence that any kind of teacher professional development consistently helps teachers improve in the classroom.

New Orleans Reforms Boost School Performance

Are New Orleans’ schools living up to the expectation that once schools are freed from district and union contract rules and allowed to innovate, schools will work better and students will learn more?

Behind the Headline: It’s Time to Reconsider the Parent Trigger

The editorial board of the Los Angeles Times writes that it’s time for changes to be made to California’s parent trigger law.

Behind the Headline: Success Academy Gets $8.5 Million to Add Charter Schools in New York City

Success Academy announced last week that it received an $8.5 million gift so that it can open more of its charter schools in New York City.

Behind the Headline: The $1-A-Week School

Across Africa, the Middle East and South Asia inexpensive private schools are booming.

What We’re Watching: Dual Credit STEM Courses In Chicago High Schools

Chicago Public Television looks at five high schools where students are earning college credit through an early college program.

Behind the Headline: State-Run Achievement School District Posts Big Gains

Schools in Tennessee’s Achievement School District, a special state-run district set up to try to turn around some of the state’s lowest-performing schools, achieved test score gains greater than the state average this year.

What We’re Watching: Key & Peele’s ‘TeachingCenter’

A new sketch from Comedy Central’s Key & Peele imagines teachers being treated like professional athletes.

Behind the Headline: BASIS, One of America’s Top Charter School Networks, Seeks New Turf: China

BASIS schools, which began as a network of academically challenging charter schools and now include private schools, will open a new school in China.

What We’re Watching: The Complicated Problem Of Race And Special Education

Are minority students, particularly African Americans, overrepresented or underrepresented in special ed? Experts discuss a new study.

What We’re Listening To: Michael McShane Banters About Education Entrepreneurship

Mike McShane discusses a recent conference AEI held on the state of education entrepreneurship in K-12 education.

Behind the Headline: Quality of Teacher Hires Improved During the Recession, Analysis Finds

A new study finds that teachers hired during recession periods are more effective in math than teachers who are hired in more secure times because stronger applicants apply for teaching jobs when the economy is not doing well.

Behind the Headline: Missing, Messy Teacher-Prep Data Stumps Even Federal Watchdog

A new report by the Government Accountability Office finds that many states are not complying with a requirement under the Higher Education Act that they evaluate teacher education programs and identify “at risk” and “low performing” programs.

Behind the Headline: Arne Duncan’s Wrong Turn on Reform: How Federal Dollars Fueled the Testing Backlash

In an article for The 74, the new reform-oriented education news website launched by Campbell Brown, Matt Barnum looks at the impact of the Obama administration’s decision, in 2009, to push states applying for Race to the Top funds to come up with ways to evaluate all teachers based in part on student test scores.

Behind the Headline: Facing Decline, Catholic Schools Form a Charter-Like Network

Six Catholic schools in East Harlem and the South Bronx have banded together into a network managed by a new group called the Partnership for Inner City Education, which signed an 11-year contract with the Archdiocese of New York to run the schools.

What We’re Listening To: Sometimes A Little More Minecraft May Be Quite All Right

How much screen time is too much if the game is educational? Sarah Tribble of NPR investigates.

What We’re Watching: What Is Student Data?

A new video from the Data Quality Campaign shows the kinds of data that can be used to help educators and parents support student learning.

Behind the Headline: These Phone Notifications Could Actually Change Your Kid’s Life

A study finds that text messages sent to the parents of preschoolers encouraging them to engage in literacy-boosting activities has a positive impact on literacy skills.

Behind the Headline: The Bizarre Alliance Between Republicans and Teachers Unions, Explained

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed the Every Child Achieves Act by a vote of 81-17. The Every Child Achieves act would keep the testing requirements from No Child Left Behind but allow states to come up with their own systems for holding schools accountable for results.

What We’re Watching: Campbell Brown Launches The Seventy Four

Former CNN anchor Campbell Brown has launched an education-focused website called The Seventy Four.

What We’re Watching: What Should Replace No Child Left Behind?

Rick Hess and Bob Wise appear on PBS NewsHour to talk about how federal education policy should work in a post-NCLB world.

Behind the Headline: The Next Phase of D.C. Education Reform

In the Washington Post, Richard Whitmire writes about a new report from the National Research Council that finds that students in Washington, D.C., including low-income minority students, are doing better.

What We’re Watching: Blended Learning in a Pod at Intrinsic Schools

WTTW takes a look at Intrinsic Schools, a Chicago blended-learning charter school

Behind the Headline: Advocates for Arts Education May be Doing More Harm Than Good

An article in the Hechinger Report examines possible reasons for the decline in arts education, focusing on the idea that education today emphasizes skills over the humanities.

Behind the Headline: States Still Differ Dramatically In Their Academic Expectations, Study Finds

A new report released by the National Center for Education Statistics finds that states vary in where they set their proficiency standards, reports Joy Resmovits. The study converted states’ cutoff scores on their own 2012-2013 state tests to where those scores would fall on the NAEP scale.

What We’re Listening To: No More No Child Left Behind?

Chester E. Finn, Jr., Kati Haycock, and Lyndsey Layton discuss ESEA reauthorization on On Point.

What We’re Watching: The State of Entrepreneurship in K–12 Education

AEI hosted a research conference on the current role of entrepreneurship in improving K-12 Education.

Behind the Headline: House Could Vote on Parent’s Right to Opt Out of Tests Under ESEA

As the House turns its attention back to ESEA reauthorization, an amendment introduced by Rep. Matt Salmon (R. – Ariz.) would allow parents to opt their children out of state standardized tests, without penalizing the school for accountability purposes, Alyson Klein notes.

Behind the Headline: Even Vocational High Schools Are Pushing Kids to Go to College

Gail Robinson visits two school in New York City that are part of the rapidly changing world of career and technical education for an article in the Hechinger Report.

Behind the Headline: In Keynote, NEA President Garcia Strikes Populist Tone

The National Education Association’s Representative Assembly is meeting now and NEA President Lily Eskelsen-Garcia delivered her keynote address today.

Behind the Headline: New Fund Aims to Grow Quality Private Schools

A small group of philanthropists and investors are founding a new philanthropic venture known as the Drexel Fund aimed at creating new high-quality private schools for 50,000 low- and middle-income students over the next decade.

Behind the Headline: Supreme Court Takes Up Major Case on Public Sector Union Fees

The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a case brought by ten teachers who say that California’s requirement that they pay the equivalent of union dues violates their free speech rights.

What We’re Watching: Turnaround Districts — Lessons from Louisiana, Tennessee and Michigan

On June 29, Fordham hosted a discussion on turnaround school districts which included the leaders of these state-run districts in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan.

Behind the Headline: Colorado Supreme Court Squashes Douglas County School Voucher Program

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled this morning that the voucher program in Douglas County violates the state’s Constitution.

What We’re Watching: Why Proficiency Matters

The Foundation for Excellence in Education has launched Why Proficiency Matters, an interactive website that will help parents understand what proficiency means in their state and how it impacts their children.

Behind the Headline: Study on Minorities in Special Education Proves Provocative

According to the conventional wisdom, minority students tend to be overrepresented in special ed because teachers are biased against them. Black students are 1.4 times more likely to be placed in special education than students of other races and ethnicities combined.

Behind the Headline: What If Students Got Free College Tuition? Study Examines Kalamazoo Promise

A new study finds that the Kalamazoo Promise is boosting college enrollment and college success.

Behind the Headline: Supreme Court Upholds Broad Discrimination Claims Under Housing Law

The Supreme Court ruled today that the Fair Housing Act (FHA) does allow “disparate impact” claims, in which plaintiffs only need to show that a particular practice has a disparate impact on a minority group and not evidence of discriminatory intent.

Behind the Headline: Why Are American Schools Slowing Down So Many Bright Children?

Jay Mathews writes about a new report that describes ways of accelerating learning for gifted students and then describes barriers that school administrators and state legislators sometimes set up to block students who might do better in more challenging classes.

Behind the Headline: Cami Anderson, Picked by Christie, Is Out as Newark Schools Superintendent

On Top of the News Cami Anderson, Picked by Christie, Is Out as Newark Schools Superintendent 6/23/15 | New York Times Behind the Headline Newark’s Superintendent Rolls Up Her Sleeves and Gets To Work Winter 2013 | Education Next Cami Anderson, the superintendent of the Newark public school system since 2011, resigned on Monday. Anderson […]

Behind the Headline: The Outrageous Treatment Of One Of The Nation’s Most Outstanding Teachers

Rafe Esquith, a fifth grade teacher in Los Angeles, has become famous for helping his students, who come from low-income Hispanic and Korean families, put on a Shakespeare play every year.

Behind the Headline: School Field Trips Go Virtual

In the Wall Street Journal, Caroline Porter describes the rise of the virtual field trip.

Behind the Headline: Cover Story: Playdate

The cover of this week’s New Yorker shows two girls playing Minecraft on a playdate and in an article inside, Chris Ware describes what playing Miinecraft looks like to a parent of a 10-year-old girl.

What We’re Watching: Who Invented the Common Core?

USA Today’s Greg Toppo answer’s a reader’s question about the origins of the Common Core State Standards.

Behind the Headline: Share of Births to Unmarried Women Dips, Reversing a Long Trend

New data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control show that the overall birth rate in the U.S. went up last year but that the rate of unmarried women who gave birth declined.

What We’re Watching: The Knowledge of Capital Nations

Eric Hanushek discusses the value of raising students’ cognitive skills and how this is crucial to boosting long-term economic growth

Behind the Headline: A Vision For Teacher Training At MIT: West Point Meets Bell Labs

Arthur Levine, the former president of Teachers College, will partner with MIT to create a new kind of teacher training program, funded by $30 million from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

Behind the Headline: How Effective Are Online Credit Recovery Programs?

“Despite the rising presence of online credit recovery programs, there exists scant evidence as to their effectiveness in increasing high school graduation rates, or their impact on other outcomes of interest,” notes Ly Le on the blog of the Albert Shanker Institute.

What We’re Watching: The New TNTP: A Conversation with Daniel Weisberg

The Fordham Institute hosted a live-streamed conversation with Daniel Weisberg, the new CEO of TNTP.

Behind the Headline: When Guarding Student Data Endangers Valuable Research

On the Upshot, Susan Dynarski explores the tension between protecting the privacy of student data and using large data sets to determine what is working in schools.

Behind the Headline: Hess, Straight Up

Ed Next’s Rick Hess is profiled in the Summer issue of Harvard Ed. Magazine.

What We’re Watching: Getting Education Bills to the Finish Line

The Brown Center hosted a panel to discuss why it has been so hard for Congress to reauthorize ESEA.

Behind the Headline: A Charter-City Deal That Doesn’t Really Help Kids

Instead of trying to come up with an unsatisfying compromise between pro- and anti-charter forces, legislators in New York should really be working to broker a compact between charter schools and the school district like the one Denver has. So argues Richard Whitmire in today’s New York Daily News.

What We’re Watching: Universal Basic Skills: What Countries Stand to Gain

Eric Hanushek talks about the economic growth that would result if countries could meet the goal of bringing all children up to a level of basic skills.

What We’re Watching: The American Dream in Crisis

On May 13, Robert Putnam was at the Fordham Institute to discuss his new book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.

Behind the Headline: Study: Kids Can Learn As Much from ‘Sesame Street’ as from Preschool

A major study on the impact of “Sesame Street” finds that the show “has delivered lasting educational benefits to millions of American children — benefits as powerful as the ones children get from going to preschool,” writes Jim Tankersley in the Washington Post.

Behind the Headline: Take the Test to Get Into China’s Top Universities

During two days in June, 9 million Chinese high school graduates will take a college entrance test, the gaokao, that Bloomberg’s Yuling Yang calls “the SAT on steroids.”

Behind the Headline: School Vouchers for All? Nevada Law Breaks New Ground

A new Nevada law will allow parents of public school students to take their child’s share of state funding and use it toward tuition or other expenses related to education at a private school, or for homeschooling.

What We’re Watching: Why Common Core Math Problems Look So Weird

Libby Nelson of Vox explains the Common Core approach to math to skeptical parents and others.

Behind the Headline: From Harlem to Capitol Hill, A Lesson in Producing Better Teachers

In the Washington Post, Lyndsey Layton describes a classroom demonstration organized by Success Academy on Capitol Hill.

Behind the Headline: How Do We Help Our Least Motivated, Most Disruptive Students?

Jay Mathews reviews Caleb Stewart Rossiter’s new book Ain’t Nobody Be Learnin’ Nothin’: The Fraud and the Fix for High-Poverty Schools.

Behind the Headline: CAEPed Crusader Ousted

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), the body that accredits teacher preparation programs, announced last week that it would be dismissing its founding leader, Jim Cibulka.

What We’re Watching: Gov. Scott Walker on Improving Education

Governor Scott Walker spoke about reforms he put in place in Wisconsin at a Harvard conference on improving school systems in July 2012.

Behind the Headline: Report Exposes Divide Over Charter School Authorizing Best Practices

A new AEI report, The Paperwork Pileup, makes the case that many charter school authorizers require applicants to fill out unnecessarily extensive applications to get approval to open a school.

The Summer 2015 Issue of EdNext Is Here

Charter schools, state standards and snow days are featured in the latest issue.

On Winning (and Losing) the National Spelling Bee

The 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee takes place this week. In 2010, Marty West of Ed Next spoke with George Thampy about what it was like to win the bee in 2000.

Behind the Headline: An Irreplaceable Replacement, This Sub Gets The Job Done

The 2015 Substitute Teacher of the Year award has been given to Josephine Brewington by Kelly Educational Staffing, the largest provider of substitute teachers in the U.S.

Behind the Headline: L.A. School Board Seat is a Pivotal Win for Charter School Movement

Ref Rodriguez, the co-founder of a charter school, won a seat on the school board in Los Angeles this week.

What We’re Watching: The Opt-Out Movement Against Standardized Testing

Michael Jonas of Commonwealth Magazine hosts an online discussion of the opt-out movement with Robert Pondiscio and Jennifer Berkshire.

Ed Next Book Club: The Game Believes In You

Mike Petrilli interviews Greg Toppo about his new book.

Behind the Headline: Beyond a Spot on the Map

What can policymakers do to bring school reform to rural America? Experts are taking a fresh look.

What We’re Watching: This High School Trains Baltimore’s Students To Be Artists

PBS NewsHour has a feature on the Baltimore School for the Arts, where students are admitted based on their artistic potential.

Behind the Headline: A Father’s Initiative

In a powerful article in the Washington Post, Eli Saslow takes readers inside the world of an unemployed single father in Milwaukee trying to find a job and give his daughter a better life.

Behind the Headline: Common-Core Backers Hit States’ High Proficiency Rates

A report released this week examines the gap in most states between the proficiency rates their students achieve on state tests and the proficiency rates they achieve on NAEP.

What We’re Listening To: Teacher Diversity in America’s Schools

Anna Egalite appeared on Where We Live to talk about teacher diversity and student success.

Behind the Headline: Rise In Latino, Black High School Grad Rates Boosts National Numbers

Nationwide high school graduation rates reached a record high of 81.4 percent in 2013, in part due to a rise in graduation rates among minority and low-income students, according to a report released this week.

What We’re Watching: Turning Dropouts Into Diplomas

This Ed Week video spotlights a dropout-recovery program in Lawrence, Mass., that includes home visits from a “scholar re-engagement manager” and personalized plans for returning to school.

Behind the Headline: This Teacher Has the Opportunity to Hit Police Unions Where It Hurts the Most

A case that the Supreme Court might decide to hear this fall could have a huge impact on the power of teachers unions… and also police unions.

What We’re Listening To: Ask A Teacher

In Slate’s new podcast, three teachers discuss the best and worst advice they’ve ever received.

Behind the Headline: Most States Lacked Expertise to Improve Worst Schools

The Obama administration spent over $3 million on School Improvement Grants to states to help them turn around their lowest-performing schools, but a new report from the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education finds that most states lacked the capacity to improve those schools.

Behind the Headline: Zuckerberg, Tech Investors Fund AltSchool Initiative

AltSchool, a high-tech, personalized learning startup, announced Monday that it had raised $100 million from investors including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

What We’re Watching: Welcome to National Charter Schools Week

Nina Rees of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has a welcome message for National Charter Schools Week, which began Monday.

What We’re Watching: IDEA Public Schools Celebrates College Signing Day

Seniors at IDEA Public Schools, a charter school network in Texas which has sent 100% of its graduates to college for seven years straight, reveal their college plans.

Behind the Headline: The Childless Millennial

A new study from the Urban Institute finds that women in their twenties have a lower birth rate today than in any previous generation.

Behind the Headline: Harvard’s Roland Fryer Wins John Bates Clark Medal

This year’s John Bates Clark medal, given to the most promising American economist under 40, has been awarded to Roland Fryer.

What We’re Listening To: What Makes A Land Of Opportunity?

Krissy Clark of Marketplace visits Dayton, Ohio, which has one of the worst rates of economic mobility in the U.S, but which is also the home of a great deal of education innovation.

What We’re Watching: The Game Believes in You

On April 28, the Fordham Institute hosted a conversation with Greg Toppo about his new book, The Game Believes in You: How Digital Play Can Make Our Kids Smarter.

What We’re Watching: Does Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Test Miss its Goal?

PBS NewsHour looks into the impact of legislation that promised to hold students back who cannot pass the state’s reading test by the end of third grade.

Behind the Headline: This Viral Math Problem Shows What American Schools Could Learn From Singapore

“A headache-inducing logic problem from Singapore’s Math Olympiad went viral this week, sparking online debates, a Twitter hashtag, and even a song that mimics the process of elimination that leads to the correct answer,” notes Libby Nelson in Vox.

Behind the Headline: Fixing Failing Schools

The state of Massachusetts is poised to take over the schools in Holyoke, after taking over the schools in Lawrence four years ago.

Behind the Headline: Is Education Technology Where Women Are Starting To Buck The Tech World’s Sexist Trends?

“In the geeky boys’ club of tech, education tech may be one of the few slightly more bright spots where female founders and CEOs are showing up—and staying the course—in greater numbers,” writes Tony Wan in Fast Company.

Behind the Headline: Study of Black and Latino Boys Excludes Charter Success

When the Boston Public Schools commissioned a study to identify schools that are helping black and Latino boys close the achievement gap, they were unable to find any traditional district schools where black and Latino boys were achieving at levels that matched or exceeded state averages, writes Michael Jonas in Commonwealth magazine.

What We’re Watching: What Can We Learn From Cage-Busting Teachers?

Teacher Marilyn Rhames gives teachers strategic advice on how to start new school programs. Rhames appeared at a Cage-Busting Teacher event at AEI.

Behind the Headline: Schools of Education Just Keep Fighting Change

In RealClear Education, Kate Walsh analyzes the battle between schools of education and their accreditors over efforts to raise standards and hold ed schools accountable.

Behind the Headline: Sens. Alexander, Murray Propose Bipartisan Measure to Replace NCLB

Senate leaders have released a bipartisan proposal to replace NCLB which would give states more leeway when it comes to setting academic standards, evaluating teachers, and deciding what to do about low-performing schools. The law would continue to require annual testing.

Behind the Headline: Shut Down Bad Charter Schools

In USA Today, Richard Whitmire argues that charter authorizers need to be more aggressive about shutting down poorly performing charter schools.

Behind the Headline: The War on Poverty: Was It Lost?

In the latest issue of the New York Review of Books, Christopher Jencks reviews Legacies of the War on Poverty and explains why there is disagreement over the impact of the War on Poverty and why it is so difficult to measure changes in the poverty rate over time.

Behind the Headline: Charter Schools Still a D.C. Hot-Button Issue

In Washington, D.C., the percentage of students enrolled in charter schools has grown every year for almost 20 years, but this year, enrollment has leveled off at 44 percent, notes Michael Allison Chandler.

Behind the Headline: There’s a Big Hole in How Teachers Build Skills, and Pinterest Is Helping Fill It

For many teachers, Pinterest has become a valuable place to find creative lesson plans, classroom decorations, and teaching tips, notes Madeleine Cummings in Slate.

Behind the Headline: Turning Schools Into Fight Clubs

In the Wall St. Journal, Eva Moskowitz warns that many across the country are engaging in a misguided campaign to diminish the school discipline needed to ensure a nurturing and productive learning environment.

Behind the Headline: Common Core Is Unpopular In Louisiana When You Call It Common Core, LSU Survey Finds

In Louisiana, where Gov. Bobby Jindal wants the state legislature to drop the Common Core state standards in its upcoming legislative session, a survey finds high support for “generic” academic standards but lower support for the Common Core standards.

Ed Next Book Club: A Democratic Constitution for Public Education

Mike Petrilli interviews Paul Hill and Ashley Jochim about their new book.

What We’re Listening To: Stretching One Great Teacher Across Many Classrooms

A middle school in Nashville is embracing “opportunity culture” and allowing its most talented teachers to lead multiple classrooms.

What We’re Watching: Incorporating Noncognitive Skills into Education Policy

On Tuesday, March 31, the Brown Center hosted an event looking at what policymakers need to know about how noncognitive skills like grit can be cultivated.

Behind the Headline: Do Snow Days Hurt Student Progress? A Harvard Professor Says No.

In the Washington Post, Emma Brown describes the findings of a new study by Joshua Goodman on the impact of snow days on student achievement.

What We’re Watching: Moneyball for Education

Rick Hess and Bethany Little describe how state and local school systems could use data and evidence to improve student outcomes just like Billy Beane did for the Oakland A’s.

What We’re Watching: Cage-Busting Teachers

On Wednesday, April 15, AEI will host a discussion of The Cage-Busting Teacher, a new book by Rick Hess.

Behind the Headline: Charter-School Head Says City’s Transfer Kids Can’t Keep Up

When seats open up in charter schools mid-year, should those spots be filled by students on the waiting list, or should they be allowed to remain empty?

Behind the Headline: Has Brookings Lost Its Mind?

Chester E. Finn, Jr. wonders how it is possible that Brookings is allowing Russ Whitehurst to leave his position as the head of the Brown Center on Education Policy

What We’re Watching: Securing Our Nation’s Future

The Foundation for Excellence in Education is offering a new online course about the threat a failing education system poses to national security.

Behind the Headline: Getting the Balance Right

In an op-ed in the Washington Post, two leaders of the D.C. Public Charter School Board argue that the goal should not be for ALL D.C. schools to become charter schools.

Job Opening at Education Next

We’re hiring a manuscript editor at Education Next.

What We’re Listening To: Meet the Teachers Crazy Enough to Teach Middle School

WNYC series looks at what it is like to be 12 years old.

What We’re Watching: Teachers of the Year on Common Core

Pam Reilly, Illinois Teacher of the Year for 2014, talks about the Common Core standards.

Behind the Headline: Virginia Pushed Into Debate Of Teacher Privacy vs. Transparency For Parents

A parent in Virginia has sued state officials to force the release of value-added evaluation data for thousands of teachers across Virginia. The Washington Post ran on its front page a long article by Emma Brown about the issue raised by the lawsuit.

What We’re Watching: Teaching Teachers How To Lead Beyond Their Classroom

Rick Hess talks about his new book, The Cage-Busting Teacher, which aims to help teachers who want to make their schools better for kids and teachers alike.

Behind the Headline: Feliz Día de San Patricio

This St. Patrick’s Day, as always, “what will likely go unheralded is the singular achievement of the Irish in their adopted homeland: the Catholic school system that stretches across the nation and ranges from kindergarten through college.” So writes William McGurn in today’s Wall Street Journal.

What We’re Watching: Girls, Boys, and Reading

On Thursday March 26, Tom Loveless and Matt Chingos discussed the Brown Center’s new report on reading and the gender gap.

What We’re Watching: 180 Days: Hartsville

A new PBS documentary, 180 Days: Hartsville, explores how a town in South Carolina is working to provide a better education for its poor students.

What We’re Listening To: Three Miles

What happens when a program brings together students from a poor public school and a rich private school that are three miles apart?

What We’re Watching: Live Free and Learn

The Cato Institute has produced a short film about New Hampshire’s scholarship tax credit program.

Behind the Headline: When Liberals Blew It

In his New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof argues that Democrats made a historic mistake fifty years ago when they distanced themselves from the Moynihan Report.

Behind the Headline: Harried Parents Embracing Uber To Move Kids Around Town

Affluent parents busy juggling work and family are increasingly turning to Uber and other app-based car services to take their kids to and from school and afterschool activities.