Author
Martin R. West
Articles
What American Families Experienced When Covid-19 Closed Their Schools
Parents report little contact with teachers and less student learning, but also broad satisfaction; charter and private schools provide more opportunities for student-teacher interaction
Education Reform and the Coronavirus
“In that longer-term sense, at least, the tasks of education and education reform, of teaching and learning, are every bit as life-and-death as anything happening in a hospital emergency room or intensive care unit.”
In Fight Against Grade Inflation, Those Rare Tough Teachers Are Champions
The editor recalls the only “C” on his academic record, in high school calculus.
Democrats Dodge a Charter Question — and for a Reason
It took until the third hour of the third Democratic presidential debate for education policy to make an appearance.
Public Support Grows for Higher Teacher Pay and Expanded School Choice
Results from the 2019 Education Next Poll
An Authoritative Look at Charter Schools and Segregation
Have charter schools intensified the already high levels of segregation afflicting American public schools?
Not So Apolitical, After All
Sleep time, start time story offers wake-up call
The Strikes Keep Coming
Will districts demand reform in exchange for needed raises?
Looking Past the Wreckage of a Disgraceful Confirmation Process
By securing a conservative majority on the court for the foreseeable future, Kavanaugh’s confirmation can be expected to accelerate ongoing shifts to the right in constitutional doctrine.
Public Support Climbs for Teacher Pay, School Expenditures, Charter Schools, and Universal Vouchers
Results from the 2018 EdNextPoll
Privatization in American Education: Rhetoric vs. Facts
Given the recent rhetoric of education reform’s critics, one might be forgiven for thinking that American private schools are at the peak of their influence.
The 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform
Public thinking on school choice, Common Core, higher ed, and more
Justice Gorsuch, Meet James G. Blaine
The Supreme Court has a new opportunity to clarify matters in a case scheduled for oral argument on April 19, just days after Justice Neil Gorsuch’s arrival on the bench.
Under New Administration, Small Measures Could Foster Big Change
The best solution may be to offer federal support for programs that the states themselves design, advancing the cause of school choice while respecting the principle of local control that Trump has also championed.
What Do Parents Think of Their Children’s Schools?
EdNext poll compares charter, district, and private schools nationwide
Ten-year Trends in Public Opinion From the EdNext Poll
Common Core and vouchers down, but many other reforms still popular
Schools of Choice
Expanding opportunity for urban minority students
The 2015 EdNext Poll on School Reform
Public thinking on testing, opt out, common core, unions, and more
What Effective Schools Do
Stretching the cognitive limits on achievement
No Common Opinion on the Common Core
Also teacher grades, school choices, and other findings from the 2014 EdNext poll. Full results also available at education next.org/edfacts
Reform Agenda Gains Strength
The 2012 EdNext-PEPG survey finds Hispanics give schools a higher grade than others do
The Middle School Plunge
Achievement tumbles when young students change schools
The Public Weighs In on School Reform
Intense controversies do not alter public thinking, but teachers differ more sharply than ever
Pyrrhic Victories?
The following essay is part of a forum, written in honor of Education Next’s 10th anniversary, in which the editors assessed the school reform movement’s victories and challenges to see just how successful reform efforts have been. For the other side of the debate, please see A Battle Begun, Not Won by Paul E. Peterson, […]
Meeting of the Minds
The 2010 EdNext-PEPG Survey shows that, on many education reform issues, Democrats and Republicans hardly disagree
Grading Schools
Can citizens tell a good school when they see one?
The Persuadable Public
The 2009 Education Next-PEPG Survey asks if information changes minds about school reform.
Credits Crunched
Arizona rulings hit scholarships and special education vouchers
Educating the Public
How information affects Americans’ support for school spending and charter schools
School Choice International
Higher private school share boosts national test scores
The 2008 Education Next-PEPG Survey of Public Opinion
Americans think less of their schools than of their police departments and post offices
Is the Price Right?
Probing American’s knowledge of school spending
No Choice in Milwaukee!?!
Remarkable finding by an un-credible study
What Americans Think about Their Schools
The 2007 Education Next—PEPG Survey
Is Your Child’s School Effective?
Don’t rely on NCLB to tell you
Crowd Control
Does reducing class size work?
Tough Love
The value of high grading standards
Gray Lady Wheezing
The AFT hoodwinks the Times
School Reform Economics
Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies? by JAMES J. HECKMAN AND ALAN B. KRUEGER, EDITED by BENJAMIN M. FRIEDMAN
Strike Phobia
School boards need to drive a harder bargain
Blog Posts/Multimedia
A Disappointing National Report Card
What explains the disappointing results?
Surveying the Charter School Landscape
From the Editor: Some highlights from the Spring 2018 issue of Education Next
Laptops in the Classroom: An Open and Closed Case
Do professors who study education policy allow their students to use laptops in the classroom?
Personalized Learning 1.0
In 2002, years before the current fervor over personalized learning, the state of Florida embraced a primitive form of the concept with its test-based promotion policy.
The Battle over Blaine Amendments Heads Back to the States
On the heels of its decision yesterday in Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, the Supreme Court today granted cert to and vacated state supreme court decisions out of Colorado and New Mexico that used Blaine Amendments to exclude religious schools from government aid programs.
Broad Majority, Narrow Ruling for School Choice in Trinity Lutheran Case
The Supreme Court closed out its Spring 2017 term this morning by announcing its opinion in a case with potential implications for private school choice.
At the Ballot Box, a Test for Bay State Charters
Question 2 has given Massachusetts voters a unique chance to weigh in on the future of school choice in their state.
Why Delaying School Start Dates is a Bad Deal for Students
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that all public schools in the state must delay the start of classes until after Labor Day and end the school year by June 15.
Transition Time
Big transitions are underway throughout American education.
Should Non-Cognitive Skills Be Included in School Accountability Systems?
Evidence confirms that student skills other than academic achievement and ability predict a broad range of academic and life outcomes.
From Evidence-based Programs to an Evidence-based System: Opportunities Under the Every Student Succeeds Act
A series of provisions in the new education law encourage the use of evidence to inform the kinds of decisions states are now empowered to make.
James Coleman, the “Equality of Opportunity” Study, and School Choice
Coleman’s work spawned a large body of research comparing the effectiveness of district, private, and (later) charter schools in preparing students for college and life. A new article reviews that research.
Why Do Two Good Polls Get Different Results?
Gauging public opinion on parental opt-out, charters, Common Core and vouchers
Public Supports Testing, Opposes Opt-Out, Opposes Federal Intervention
If those in our nation’s capital want to modify federal education policy along lines preferred by the public at large, they will enact a law that resembles the bipartisan bill passed by the Senate.
Teachers and the Public Oppose Agency Fees Charged By Teachers Unions
Judging by a recent survey, a plurality of the American public and an equally large share of teachers oppose forced union payments.
Partisanship and Public Opinion on the Common Core
In Louisiana, where the fight over Common Core has been particularly salient, the effect of the “Common Core” label was even more negative than in the American public as whole, and the impact on polarization was greater.
Preserving the Federal Role in Encouraging and Evaluating Education Innovation
Increased reliance on competitive grants has been arguably the defining feature of the Obama administration’s K-12 education policy.
Why Annual Statewide Testing Is Critical to Judging School Quality
Accountability based on grade-span testing judges schools based on the students they serve, not how well they serve them.
Fixing No Child Left Behind: Oral Testimony of Martin West
Congress should maintain the law’s current annual testing requirements while restoring to states virtually all decisions about the design of their accountability systems.
The Limitations of Self-Report Measures of Non-Cognitive Skills
Researchers need to find better ways to study non-cognitive skills like conscientiousness, self-control, and grit.
Mixed Results for Arizona’s Charter Schools
Charter schools vary more in their impact on student performance on state tests than traditional public schools; there are more charters with very large positive or very large negative test-score impacts than there are traditional public schools with such extreme outcomes.
Why Do Americans Rate Their Local Public Schools So Favorably?
Americans assign far higher grades to the public schools in their local community than to the public schools of the nation as a whole.
The First Hard Evidence on Virtual Education
Florida high school students taking Algebra or English I online perform at least as well on state math and reading tests as do students taking the same courses in a traditional format.
Do Americans Know How Well Their State’s Schools Perform?
Evidence suggests that Americans have been wise enough to ignore the woefully misleading information about student proficiency rates generated by state testing systems when forming judgments about the quality of their state’s schools.
Do Math and Science Teachers Earn More Outside of Education?
Efforts to provide better pay for teachers in the high-demand subjects of math and science may be insufficient to offset the differences in outside earnings opportunities.
Using Technology to Drive Competition – and Change Student Culture?
Interstellar allows students anywhere to compete in real-time against similarly skilled competitors, in pick-up games if they like but also in structured leagues and tournaments.
Misunderstanding the Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching Project
MET argues for a more balanced set of weights among value added, classroom observations, and feedback from student surveys.
Grounds for Dismissal
Podcast: Eric Hanushek and Marty West discuss two new studies that look at teacher dismissals.
Profiles in Courage and “Thuggery”
NEA Rhode Island assistant executive director John Leidecker was arrested Tuesday and charged with using his computer to impersonate state legislator Doug Gablinske in the context of the recent election campaign. Gablinske, a Democrat from Bristol, lost to an NEA-backed challenger in the primaries and mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign to keep his seat.
The Passing of a Fighter
I was saddened to learn recently of the death of Lovett “Pete” Peters, the legendary philanthropist, education reformer, and founder of the Boston-based Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, who passed away on November 11th at the impressive age of 97.
A Blown Analysis of Tolerance in Private Schools
Charles Blow, the “Visual Op-Ed Columnist” for the New York Times, devotes his Saturday column this week to the “private school civility gap” – a phenomenon he deems a “not-so-little, not-so-secret, dirty little secret among the upper crust.”
How Middle Schools Hurt Student Achievement
Today’s Wall Street Journal reports on a new Education Next study showing that, at least in New York City, attending a standalone middle school rather than a K-8 school has a big negative impact on student achievement and attendance rates.
How Do Citizens Grade Schools?
For several decades pollsters have asked American citizens to grade the nation’s public schools, both nationally and within their local community. Yet we know next to nothing about how citizens go about answering.
EdNext Poll Shows Civil Rights Groups Out of Touch on Charters
Support for charters among the public at large has remained relatively stable since 2008. Among African Americans, however, support has increased from 42 percent to 64 percent. Meanwhile, Hispanic support for charters has increased from 37 percent to 47 percent. It is puzzling, then, that a coalition of prominent civil rights organizations last week issued a statement criticizing the Obama administration’s current emphasis on chartering as a strategy to turn around low-performing schools.
What Should Charlie Do? Latest Poll on Tenure and Merit Pay in Florida Finds Support for Change
In 2009 Education Next asked a representative sample of Floridians their opinion about teacher tenure and merit pay, the very issues that have just landed on Florida Governor Charlie Crist's desk. Although Crist initially supported the bill, he has given hints that union-backed protests are causing him doubts. “Shame on any public servant who doesn’t listen to the people,” he told the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday. So let’s have a look at what the people think.
Cash Incentives for AP Scores Yield Long-Term Benefits
In the Fall 2008 issue of Education Next, economist C. Kirabo Jackson reported that the Advanced Placement Incentive Program boosted AP participation rates in participating schools, the share of students receiving solid SAT or ACT scores, and the share of students going on to post-secondary education. The results were no doubt encouraging, but they left unanswered questions as to what would happen to students after they had enrolled in college. A follow-up study now available in the NBER Working Paper series puts these concerns to rest.
International Benchmarking
Video: Mark Schneider talks with Education Next about the limits to what we can learn from international tests.
The Lost Art of Book Reviewing: Editors Defend School Money Trials
The academic book review is a lost art. In days gone by, one could count on fellow scholars to lay out the books’ argument, skewer it, then identify a laundry list of factual errors that demonstrate the author was careless or worse.
Which Students Graduate from College?
Video: Matthew Chingos, an author of Crossing the Finish Line, talks with Education Next about which factors best predict whether students will graduate from college. High school grades and AP test scores are stronger predictors than SAT or ACT scores, this new study finds.
Swaying Public Opinion
Video: Martin West talks with Education Next about what it takes to change public opinion about reforms like charter schools.
Alternate Route Principals Not So Bad After All, New York Times Admits
A new NYU study finds that schools assigned new elementary and secondary principals trained by the Aspiring Principals Program of the New York City Leadership Academy outperformed other city schools with new principals who came through traditional routes in English Language Arts, and matched their performance in math.
