The Education Exchange

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 report, A Policymaker’s Playbook: Transforming Public School Teaching in the Nation’s Capital, which takes a close look those changes. Read the full report here: https://www.future-ed.org/a-policymakers-playbook-for-transforming-teaching/

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? Lisa Snell of the Reason Foundation joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the challenges faced by the district and its options. Snell is a co-author of A 2018 Evaluation of LAUSD’s Fiscal Outlook: Revisiting the Findings of the 2015 Independent Financial Review Panel. https://reason.org/policy-study/2018-evaluation-of-lausd-fiscal-outlook/

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.

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. Today, Marty West joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his testimony and these debates over charter schools Watch the full hearing here. http://educationnext.org/watching-hearing-power-charter-schools/

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. In this episode, Julian Betts of the University of California, San Diego joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his research on magnet schools in San Diego. Betts is the co-author of "The Long-Term Effects of Public School Choice: Lottery Evidence from San Diego," with Sam M. Young, Andrew C. Zau and Karen Volz Bachofer, available at https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/conferences/learning-from-longterm-effects-2018/papers/panel-i-betts-et-al.pdf

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. Read the full paper, co-written with Jonathan Schwartz, here: https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/conferences/learning-from-longterm-effects-2018/papers/panel-iii-sikkink.pdf

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. In this episode, 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. Read the full report here: http://educationnext.org/have-states-maintained-high-expectations-student-performance-analysis-2017-proficiency-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." http://educationnext.org/have-states-maintained-high-expectations-student-performance-analysis-2017-proficiency-standards/

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. Peter Bergman, Assistant Professor of Economics and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, is the co-author, with Magdalena Bennett, of "Better Together? Social Networks in Truancy and the Targeting of Treatment," available at http://papers.nber.org/conf_papers/f104327/f104327.pdf

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. In this episode, Paul Peterson is joined by the authors of a new study that examines 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. Stephanie R. Cellini and Lesley J. Turner, who are guests on the podcast, are the authors of "Where Do Students Go when For-Profit Colleges Lose Federal Aid?," along with Rajeev Darolia: http://papers.nber.org/conf_papers/f104339/f104339.pdf

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. The study, "'Teaching to Teach' Literacy," was co-written with Stephen J. Machin and Sandra McNally. It is available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2786039

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. Read the full article, "Influx of Haitian Refugees in Florida Didn’t Hurt Student Outcomes," co-written with Umut Ozek, here: http://educationnext.org/influx-haitian-refugees-florida-didnt-hurt-student-outcomes/

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

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.

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.

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.

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. Wolf is the co-author of a new report, "Do Impacts on Test Scores Even Matter? Lessons from Long-Run Outcomes in School Choice Research." The report was co-authored by Michael Q. McShane and Collin Hitt and was recently published by AEI. http://www.aei.org/publication/do-impacts-on-test-scores-even-matter-lessons-from-long-run-outcomes-in-school-choice-research/

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.

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. Chingos wrote about these studies in "What Have We Learned From Three Studies of Private School Choice?" http://educationnext.org/learned-three-studies-private-school-choice/ Read his latest report, The Effect of the DC School Voucher Program on College Enrollment, here: https://www.urban.org/research/publication/effect-dc-school-voucher-program-college-enrollment

Paul DiPerna, the vice president of research and innovation for EdChoice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his report, "The ABC's of School Choice," which can be ordered here: https://www.edchoice.org/what-we-do/research/get-copy-2018-abcs-school-choice/

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, and we now have a U.S. Secretary of Education who supports school choice. What will happen on the school choice front in 2018? In this episode, 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.

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.

Boston Collegiate Charter School is the most diverse school in Boston. Paul E. Peterson talks with Richard Whitmire, whose article, "Why Boston’s Most Racially Diverse School Could Also Be the Country’s Most Interesting School Integration Story," looks at what makes the school so special and how the school has managed to attract such a diverse population. Read his full feature in The 74 here: https://www.the74million.org/article/whitmire-why-bostons-most-racially-diverse-school-could-also-be-the-countrys-most-interesting-school-integration-story/

Ashley Jochim, a senior research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public 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. This is the topic of her new paper, “Collision Course: Embracing Politics to Succeed in District-Charter Collaboration." Jochim, a senior research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, co-authored the paper with Sarah Yatsko and Alice Opalka. https://www.crpe.org/publications/collision-course-embracing-politics-succeed-district-charter-collaboration

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 Peterson talks with Beth Schueler about her new report, “School District Turnaround: Learning from Leadership in Lawrence, Massachusetts." https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/rappaport/research-and-publications/policy-briefs/school-district-turnaround%3A-learning-from-leadership-in-Lawrence%2C-Massachusetts

Morris Fiorina, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of “Unstable Majorities: Polarization, Party Sorting, and Political Stalemate,” joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his new book, which aims to correct the widespread assumption that Americans today are more polarized than ever.

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. Robinson, who has served as secretary of education in Virginia and Florida, is now executive director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity, which supports research-based solutions to the challenges faced by fragile communities throughout the United States.

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.

Albert Cheng of the Harvard Kennedy School sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss his research that looks into whether students with a career and technical education diploma do better than students with a traditional diploma.

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.

Daniel Hamlin of Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss his paper, "Are Charter Schools Safer in Deindustrialized Cities With High Rates of Crime? Testing Hypotheses in Detroit," which investigates whether there's any difference in student perception of safety between district and charter schools in Detroit. Read his full paper here: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0002831217705060

Michael Podgursky, Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the role of public sector unions in negotiating and sometimes even selling health care and other benefits to its members.

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. Read the full paper, co-written with Julia Melkers, and Amanda Pallais, here: https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/workingpapers/citation.aspx?PubId=11348&type=WPN

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.

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.

The U.S. Department of Education is urging states and school districts to expand their school voucher programs. In this episode of the podcast, Paul talks with Dennis Epple, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon and one of the co-authors of a paper that reviews the literature on voucher programs and comes up with recommendations for practitioners.

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. Modern States presents a set of high-quality online courses, taught by real college professors, that students would typically take in their freshman year of college. Students access the courses and textbooks for free online and earn course credit by taking a College Board-certified exam upon completion—and Modern States will pay the testing fee for the first 10,000 students who take an end-of-course exam. Klinsky detailed the organization’s mission in a blog post here: http://educationnext.org/free-college-is-now-here-really-modern-states-education-alliance/

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. Read the full report here: https://credo.stanford.edu/pdfs/nyc_report%202017%2010%2002%20FINAL.pdf

While serving as chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, Michelle Rhee developed an innovative system of teacher evaluation to incentivize high performance and teacher improvement. In this episode of the podcast, she talks with Paul Peterson about how the IMPACT system promotes teacher retention and performance through pay.

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. Read more about the study here: http://educationnext.org/public-schools-teacher-absenteeism

Diane Tavenner, CEO of Summit Schools, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss how Summit is changing how schools are run, and why they've had so much success in student achievement.

n many sectors of our economy, there are serious shortages of applicants with the right skills for the available jobs. Many of these jobs do not require a college degree. Are too many students choosing four-year universities rather than getting a useful credential from a two year college? What happens to people who get specific job training rather than academic training when the job market changes? In this episode of the Education Exchange, Paul E. Peterson talks with economist Eric Hanushek about the challenges of ensuring that people get the skills they need for the jobs we have now and the jobs we'll have in the future.

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. Overall, people are quite pleased with the quality of teachers in their local school, but the public sees 15 percent of teachers as unsatisfactory, and even teachers believe 11 percent are ineffective. EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West joins Paul E. Peterson on this episode of the Education Exchange to discuss these findings from the 2017 Education Next Poll and more. Read the full poll here: http://educationnext.org/2017-ednext-poll-school-reform-public-opinion-school-choice-common-core-higher-ed/

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. You can read the study at https://ced.ncsu.edu/elphd/research/the-impact-of-the-north-carolina-opportunity-scholarship-program/

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. Read more on the 2017 EdNext poll here: http://educationnext.org/2017-ednext-poll-school-reform-public-opinion-school-choice-common-core-higher-ed/

Former New Mexico Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss some of her accomplishments in the state.

The new federal education law requires states to determine whether ineffective teachers are concentrated in schools with disadvantaged students. But how will states identify ineffective teachers? In this episode of the Education Exchange, Paul E. Peterson is joined by Stanford’s Eric Hanushek to discuss how states have identified qualified teachers and effective teachers and how they plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act.

This week, Paul speaks to Gregorio Caetano and Vikram Maheshri during a break in the National Bureau of Education Research conference in Cambridge, Mass., to discuss their paper, "Explaining Recent Trends in US School Segregation: 1988-2014," and how segregation has changed in the past 30 years.

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.

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 charter schools in New York City.