The Education Exchange

The president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, Kate Walsh, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss several issues surrounding teachers, including how they are adjusting to online instruction amid Covid-19, how to best prepare young teachers for the profession, and how to teach the history of slavery in the classroom.

An associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, Dr. Eran Bendavid, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the risks and benefits of restrictive Covid-19 shutdown policies in different countries, and the related effects on the spread of the disease.

The Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, Eric Hanushek, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Hanushek's new study, which calculates the expected losses to the annual GDP incurred by the Covid-19 shutdown of schools.

A Post Doctoral Researcher at the Harvard Kennedy School, M. Danish Shakeel, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss their new study, which shows greater gains in student achievement by students in charter schools than their counterparts in traditional district schools. "Charter Schools Show Steeper Upward Trend in Student Achievement than District Schools," by Shakeel Peterson, is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/charter-schools-show-steeper-upward-trend-student-achievement-first-nationwide-study

The director of school choice at Reason Foundation and an adjunct scholar at Cato Institute, Corey DeAngelis, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss DeAngelis' new study which finds a correlation between receiving a school voucher in Milwaukee and a reduction in criminal activity. "Private School Choice and Character: More Evidence from Milwaukee," by DeAngelis and Patrick J. Wolf, is available now. http://journal.apee.org/index.php/Parte3_2020_Journal_of_Private_Enterprise_Vol_35_No_3_Fall

In a replay of this important conversation from July 13, 2020, the 66th Secretary of State and The Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at Stanford University, Condoleeza Rice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how school choice can help lower-income families get more of out the public education system, and how systemic change will be necessary to improve racial equality in America. Rice's op-ed in the Washington Post, "This moment cries out for us to confront race in America," is available now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/04/condoleezza-rice-moment-confront-race-america/

The Editor-in-chief of Education Next, Marty West, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the findings from the 2020 Education Next Survey, including populism as a factor in people’s views of education policy. “People who are suspicious of elites feel like the elites are in control of our educational system” is one way of interpreting the findings, Peterson says. "Amid Pandemic, Support Soars for Online Learning, Parent Poll Shows," by Michael B. Henderson, David Houston, Paul E. Peterson, M. Danish Shakeel and Martin R. West, is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/amid-pandemic-support-soars-online-learning-parent-poll-shows-2020-education-next-survey-public-opinion/

The Superintendent of the South Carolina Public Charter School District, Chris G. Neeley, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the state plans to reopen for the fall semester during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A former senior attorney at the Institute of Justice and the lead attorney in the Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case, Richard Komer, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the outcome of that Supreme Court case, and what it could mean for school choice going forward.

A Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and co-author of "Learning in the Fast Lane: The Past, Present and Future of Advanced Placement," Chester E. Finn, Jr., joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss standardized testing, and how higher education is moving away from requiring tests as part of the application process amid the Covid-19 pandemic. "Favoritism, rich parents getting new kinds of advantages for their kids, the lacrosse coach and the speech coach and the trip to Bhutan will end up counting for more rather than less, because there won't be an SAT score," Finn warns.

A senior fellow and vice president for external affairs at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Robert Pondiscio, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Thomas Sowell's new book, Charter Schools and Their Enemies, and the heavy criticism that charters currently face. Pondiscio's review, "Charter Schools and Their Enemies: At 90, Thomas Sowell reminds charter schools how to fight. And why," is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/charter-schools-and-their-enemies-thomas-sowell-book-review/

The 66th Secretary of State and The Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at Stanford University, Condoleeza Rice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how school choice can help lower-income families get more of out the public education system, and how systemic change will be necessary to improve racial equality in America. Rice's op-ed in the Washington Post, "This moment cries out for us to confront race in America," is available now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/04/condoleezza-rice-moment-confront-race-america/

The Editor in Chief of Education Next, Marty West, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss findings from the 2020 Education Next survey, which reveals what American parents and teachers think of quality of the instruction their children received after schools closed their doors in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. "What American Families Experienced When Covid-19 Closed Their Schools, by Michael B. Henderson, David Houston, Paul E. Peterson and Martin R. West, is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/what-american-families-experienced-when-covid-19-closed-schools-2020-survey

A professor of political science at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Joshua Dunn, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, and the implications it could have for school choice and religious-school parents. Dunn's analysis of the decision, "In Supreme Court Case, a Far-Reaching Win for Religious-School Parents," is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/supreme-court-case-far-reaching-win-religious-school-parents-espinoza-montana/

The CEO of Public Prep, a nonprofit charter school network, Ian Rowe, joins Paul Peterson to discuss the "common struggle" for civil rights in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in police custody. Rowe, who is also a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, also discusses his charter network's early childhood work: "starting at 18 months old, every younger sibling of a Boys' Prep or Girls' Prep scholar has, two times per week, 30 minutes per visit, an early learning specialist comes into the home, sits with the caregiver and the toddler to help begin building their vocabulary. They bring a book each week to build a library at home." Rowe's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, "The Power of Personal Agency," is available now. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-power-of-personal-agency-11592770867

Marcus WintersAn associate professor in Boston University and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Marcus Winters, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Winters' new study, which presents test-score evidence about whether charter schools harm traditional public schools. "We haven't seen big negative effects really for anyone," Winters says. "It puts the burden back on the side that would say that expanding charter schools harms public schools or harms kids in public schools." The study, "Do Charter Schools Harm Traditional Public Schools? Years of Test-Score Data Suggest They Don’t," is available now. https://www.manhattan-institute.org/charter-school-growth-doesnt-harm-public-schools

A senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Niall Ferguson, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the 1957-58 "Asian Flu" pandemic, how governments reacted to its outbreak and how it compares to the modern-day response to the Covid-19. In the conversation, Ferguson says that, "we've created one of the deepest recessions in American history." He adds that, "there are two pandemics going on at the moment. There's the real one involving a real virus. And then there's the pandemic online of disinformation and misinformation."

The President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Nina Rees, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how charters have responded to the Covid-19 school shutdowns, and how they can continue to adapt going forward.

The Director of the Public Policy Research Lab at LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication, Michael Henderson, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Louisiana's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and how the public is responding to the state's stay-at-home order. The full survey results are available here. https://www.lsu.edu/manship/news/2020/may/la-survey-stay-at-home-order.php

The founder and CEO of ModernStates.org, Steve Klinsky, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the online platform has stepped up colleges and universities shut down due to the novel coronavirus.

The David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and a Member of Hoover Institution’s Working Group on Health Care Policy, Scott W. Atlas, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss fear, risk, Covid-19 shutdowns, and how to move forward with reopening schools.

The co-leader of the Eversheds Sutherland Business and Commercial Litigation team, Rocco E. Testani, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a recent decision from the Sixth Circuit in the Gary B. v. Whitmer case. The court ruled that "substandard outcomes" in Detroit's public schools violated a Constitutional right to a basic education for students, going against decades of precedent.

The director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, Robin Lake, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new report published by CRPE which details how school districts have responded to closures due to Covid-19. The full report, "School Systems Make a Slow Transition From the Classroom to the Cloud," co-written by Lake and Bree Dusseault, is available now. https://www.crpe.org/thelens/school-systems-make-slow-transition-classroom-cloud

A senior research and policy associate at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, David Griffith, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new study that investigates whether student achievement increases as the market share of charter schools grows. Read Griffith's full report, "Rising Tide: Charter School Market Share and Student Achievement." https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/rising-tide-charter-market-share

A co-founder of and a distinguished fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, Michael Horn, joins Paul E. Peterson to survey how schools and families are adapting to online education. They also explore what innovations might be on the horizon amid coronavirus-related school-building closures.

The former superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, Joseph Olchefske, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how schools are operating amid the closures due to Covid-19, including scenario planning and how to deliver education while physical campuses are closed.

The superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Alberto Carvalho, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how the county has prepared for the school closures forced by the coronavirus pandemic, including strong investments in digital technology.

The director of the Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research at Saint Louis University, Michael Podgursky, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss what the lasting economic impacts could occur as a result of Covid-19.

A senior fellow and director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute, Ray Domanico, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how enrollment in district and charter schools in New York City is shifting. Read Domanico's complete report, "A Statistical Profile of New York’s K-12 Educational Sector: Race, Income and Religion." https://www.manhattan-institute.org/complex-demographics-new-york-public-private-schools

An Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas, Albert Cheng, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Cheng's new paper, "What Do They Deliver? A Report on American Colleges and Universities," which polls a representative sample of college alumni on their experiences in higher education. The paper, co-written with David Sikkink, is available here: https://www.cardus.ca/research/education/reports/what-do-they-deliver/

The Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education at the Hoover Institution, Eric Hanushek, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss new findings on the widening gaps in educational achievement by socio-economic status. Hanushek and Peterson are co-authors of a new paper, "Long-Run Trends in the U.S. SES-Achievement Gap," with Laura M. Talpey and Ludger Woessman. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Taubman/PEPG/research/PEPG20_01.pdf

The director of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education, Ludger Woessmann, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Woessmann's new research that investigates how testing reforms relate to country performance on the Program for International Student Assessment tests over time, and their link to student achievement. The full paper, co-written with Annika B. Bergbauer and Eric A. Hanushek, is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xW74mZz6OSHlS3SzmERF6y7yQ_3aAXoO/view

A distinguished research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Macke Raymond, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Raymond's new paper that looks into the rising high school graduation rates, and the gap between those graduation requirements and the entry requirements for state universities. The paper, "The Diploma Dilemma," is available now as part of the Hoover Education Success Initiative. https://www.hoover.org/research/diploma-dilemna

The Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education at the Hoover Institution, Eric Hanushek, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new paper by Hanushek that offers guidelines for states and local governments on how to raise teacher pay in a way that best supports improved student achievement. Hanushek's paper, "The Unavoidable: Tomorrow’s Teacher Compensation," is part of the Hoover Education Success Initiative, and is available here: https://www.hoover.org/research/unavoidable-tomorrows-teacher-compensation

A professor of education policy at the University of Arkansas, Patrick Wolf, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Wolf’s latest findings from Milwaukee’s Parental Choice Program. Wolf’s research explores whether voucher students are more likely to attain higher levels of education than their peers outside of the program. Read the full paper, co-written with John F. Witte and Brian Kisida, here: https://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai19-115

Daniel Hamlin, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, joins Paul E. Peterson to discussion the question of whether homeschooled children have fewer opportunities to acquire cultural capital than their public school peers. Hamlin's full paper is available here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0161956X.2019.1617582

Marcus Winters, an associate professor in Boston University and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his new study, which shows lasting test score gains for students at charter schools in Newark, N.J. Read the full study, "Charter Schools in Newark: the Effect on Student Test Scores," here: https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/charter-schools-newark-effect-on-student-test-scores-MW.pdf

Melanie Rucinski, a doctoral student in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss her new paper, "Racial Diversity in the Teacher Pipeline," which looks into how Massachusetts has worked to make the teacher profession better reflect the student population. The full paper, co-written with Joshua Goodman, is available here: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/rappaport/research-and-publications/policy-briefs/racial-diversity-in-the-teacher-pipline

Bill Whalen, the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Fellow in Journalism and a Hoover Institution research fellow, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss education issues, including school choice, in California.

Richard Burkhauser, Professor Emeritus of Policy Analysis at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the poverty rate in the United States, looking at a full-income poverty measure, and raising the question of whether President Lyndon Johnson's original War on Poverty has been a success. Burkhauser is co-author on two recent papers, "Evaluating the success of President Johnson’s War on Poverty" and "Income Growth and its Distribution from Eisenhower to Obama." https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Burkhauser-Corinth-Elwell-Larrimore-President-Johnson-War-on-Poverty-WP-1.pdf https://www.nber.org/papers/w26439.pdf

On Aug. 12, 2019, Todd Rogers, Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, sat down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new study that looks to curb chronic absenteeism through randomized experiments. The paper, "Reducing Student Absences at Scale by Targeting Parents’ Misbeliefs," is co-written with Avi Feller, and he co-wrote "How to Tackle Student Absenteeism" with Carly Robinson for Education Next. https://www.educationnext.org/how-to-tackle-student-absenteeism/

In a new book, "Love Your Enemies" Arthur Brooks describes the rise of a “culture of contempt”—a habit of seeing people who disagree with us not as merely incorrect or misguided, but as worthless--and considers what we can do to bridge divides and mend relationships. Earlier this year, Brooks spoke to Paul E. Peterson about how contempt corrodes our own happiness, about remembering the difference between people we disagree with and the ideas they embrace, and about the role universities can play in repairing our culture.

Bruce Meyer, the McCormick Foundation Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his annual report on U.S. consumption poverty, which reveals that poverty has fallen sharply in the past 50 years. Read the full report here: https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/annual-report-on-us-consumption-poverty-2018/

David Steiner, the Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the review of the Providence Public School District recently undertaken by Johns Hopkins. The review includes distressing news on proficiency in math and reading, teacher morale and deteriorating facilities. Read the full review here: https://edpolicy.education.jhu.edu/institute-leads-review-of-the-providence-public-school-district/

Erica Smith, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a case that takes a deep look at school choice and which could declare the so-called Blaine Amendments unconstitutional in 38 states. Prof. Peterson previously spoke to Richard Komer on this issue, and in the Fall 2019 issue of Education Next, Joshua Dunn analyzed the Espinoza case in “Answered Prayer? Montana case could prompt last judgment for Blaine Amendments.” https://www.educationnext.org/education-exchange-school-choice-blaine-amendments-montana-supreme-court-espinoza/

Andreas Schleicher, Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills at OECD, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss the upcoming PISA results, how high-performing nations work to support teachers, and what school systems can do to better prepare students for the future. The 2019 PISA results will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss his time observing a Success Academy school in the Bronx, and his new book, "How the Other Half Learns." Read an excerpt from the book, "Come to Jesus: Effort parties, data walls, reading logs, and “warm/strict” — a look inside Success Academy." https://www.educationnext.org/come-to-jesus-look-inside-success-academy-excerpt-how-the-other-half-learns/

Richard Komer, a former Senior Litigation Attorney at the Institute for Justice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a case which could declare the Blaine Amendments in 38 state constitutions unconstitutional. Komer is defending plaintiffs, including Kendra Espinoza, who received a tax credit scholarship to attend a religious school. In the Fall 2019 issue of Education Next, Joshua Dunn analyzed the Espinoza case in "Answered Prayer? Montana case could prompt last judgment for Blaine Amendments." https://www.educationnext.org/answered-prayer-montana-case-prompt-last-judgement-blaine-amendments/

Diane Tavenner, the cofounder and CEO of Summit Public Schools, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss her new book, "Prepared: What Kids Need for a Fulfilled Life," and a series of tips and questions for parents as their children begin the college application process.

Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new article and whether teachers are paid appropriately compared to similar professions. Read the full article, "The Truth about Teacher Pay," co-written with Jason Richwine, at National Affairs: https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-truth-about-teacher-pay