Ednext Podcast

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." Read the full article here: https://www.educationnext.org/private-colleges-peril-financial-pressures-declining-enrollment-closures/

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. Read the full results here: https://www.educationnext.org/public-support-climbs-teacher-pay-school-expenditures-charter-schools-universal-vouchers-2018-ednext-poll

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. On this week's podcast, Marty West talks with Rebecca Friedrichs, the lead plaintiff in that case, about agency fees, unions, and what to expect after Janus.

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, an associate professor in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss the new study, "Did Tenure Reform in Florida Affect Student Test Scores?," which she co-authored with David Figlio and Tim Sass The study is available here: http://educationnext.org/tenure-reform-florida-affect-student-test-scores/

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," available at http://educationnext.org/case-for-holding-students-accountable-how-extrinsic-motivation-gets-kids-work-harder-learn-more/

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. Paul von Hippel joins Marty West to discuss his study, "Rating Teacher-Preparation Programs: Can value-added make useful distinctions?," co-authored with Laura Bellows. The article is available at: http://educationnext.org/rating-teacher-preperation-programs-value-added-make-useful-distinctions/

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. In this episode, Chad Aldeman of Bellwether Education Partners 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. Chad Aldeman is the author of "Teachers Have the Nation’s Highest Retirement Costs. But They’ll Never See the Benefits," available at http://educationnext.org/teachers-have-nations-highest-retirement-costs-never-see-benefits/

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?" available at http://educationnext.org/higher-ed-lower-spending-as-states-cut-back-where-has-money-gone

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. The article is available at: http://educationnext.org/strengthening-roots-charter-school-movement-how-mom-and-pops-help-sector-diversify-grow/

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." In this episode, Dan Willingham speaks with Marty West about this problem with preservice teacher training and how it could be fixed. Read the full article here: http://educationnext.org/unlocking-science-how-kids-think-new-proposal-for-reforming-teacher-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. Education Next has published a series of blog entries analyzing the 2017 NAEP results here: http://educationnext.org/interpreting-2017-naep-reading-math-results/

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. Goodman, an associate professor of public policy at Harvard University, writes about the new degree program in “An Elite Grad-School Degree Goes Online,” co-written with Julia Melkers and Amanda Pallais. http://educationnext.org/elite-grad-school-degree-goes-online-georgia-tech-virtual-masters-increase-access-education/

Michael Podgursky, professor of economics at the University of Missouri–Columbia, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss how charter schools are developing their own retirement plans for teachers. Podgursky, along with Susan Aud Pendergrass and Kevin Hesla, is the author of "Pensions Under Pressure" from the Spring 2018 issue of EdNext. http://educationnext.org/pensions-under-pressure-charter-innovation-teacher-retirement-benefits/

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. Michael Horn is the author of "Hey Alexa, Can You Help Kids Learn More? The next technology that could disrupt the classroom," available at http://educationnext.org/hey-alexa-could-voice-activation-help-kids-learn-technology-disrupt-classroom/

"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. Read the full article, "The New Mexico Reform Story: Will Hanna Skandera's legacy last?" from the Spring 2018 issue of EdNext, here: http://educationnext.org/new-mexico-reform-story-hanna-skandera-legacy/

A new meta-analysis documents a half-century of “strong positive results” for Direct Instruction. In this episode, 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." Pondiscio is the author of "Meta-Analysis Confirms Effectiveness of an Old School Approach: Direct Instruction," available at: http://educationnext.org/meta-analysis-confirms-effectiveness-old-school-approach-direct-instruction

Josh Dunn, an associate professor of political science at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court Monday, February 26, in Janus v. AFSCME. The case “could overturn decades-old precedent and deal a potentially crippling blow to public sector unions.” The case was brought by Mark Janus, an Illinois government employee. He argues that he should not be required to pay a fee to the public sector union he has chosen not to join. He sees the required agency fee as a violation of his First amendment rights since the union takes positions he opposes, positions which he views as political.

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. Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, is co-author of "Why Is Charter Growth Slowing? Lessons from the Bay Area" with Trey Cobb, Roohi Sharma and Alice Opalka, available at http://educationnext.org/why-is-charter-school-growth-slowing-lessons-from-bay-area/

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. In this episode, Marty West talks with Naomi Schaefer Riley, the author of a new book, Be the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat, about the challenges of limiting screen time for our kids and why parents might want to try harder. Read an excerpt of the book here: http://educationnext.org/educating-independent-children-technologically-dependent-world-be-the-parent-please-riley-excerpt/ ... And a review of her book here: http://educationnext.org/parenting-in-the-iphone-age-book-review-art-of-screen-time-kaentz-be-the-parent-please-riley/

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. Ladner, a senior research fellow at the Charles Koch Institute, is the author of “In Defense of Education’s ‘Wild West." Read the full article here: http://educationnext.org/in-defense-educations-wild-west-charter-schools-thrive-four-corners-states/