Ednext Podcast

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. The poll found a sharp decline in support for charter schools. Marty and Paul consider some reasons why support has fallen among both Democrats and Republicans. See all results from the 2017 Education Next Poll here: http://educationnext.org/2017-ednext-poll-school-reform-public-opinion-school-choice-common-core-higher-ed/

Introducing the Education Exchange with Paul Peterson, an Education Next podcast. On this episode, Prof. Peterson discusses the Trinity Lutheran v. Missouri Supreme Court case with Stanford University professor Michael W. McConnell. Follow the podcast at: http://www.soundcloud.com/education-exchange-paul-peterson

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? Learn Better is reviewed by Robert Pianta in the new issue of Education Next. http://educationnext.org/learning-from-the-science-learning-book-review-learn-better-ulrich-boser/

From 1994 to 2003, Hugh Price served as president of the National Urban League, where he launched a national campaign to raise the academic achievement of black youth. He has written a new memoir, This African-American Life, in which he tells his own remarkable story. Hugh Price joins Marty West in this episode of the Education Next podcast. Read an excerpt of his new book here: http://educationnext.org/school-desegregation-washington-d-c-1950s-hugh-b-price-this-african-american-life-memoir-excerpt/

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. Smith, an assistant professor of economics at Georgia State University, is the co-author of "Boosting Hispanic College Completion" with Oded Gurantz and Michael Hurwitz, available here: http://educationnext.org/boosting-hispanic-college-completion-high-school-recruiting-graduate-nhrp-college-board/

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, where the district is now authorizing what it calls innovation network schools: districts schools that are run by outside contractors, with their own independent boards and full charter-style autonomy. In this episode of the Ed Next podcast, Marty West talks with David Osborne about what is happening in Indianapolis and how it could be a potential model for the reform of large city school districts. David Osborne's article on this topic can be found at http://educationnext.org/more-options-indianapolis-mayoral-charters-innovation-schools-expand-choice/

One 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. In this episode, Marty West talks with Robin Lake about pitfalls that charter school entrepreneurs and those who support them need to avoid. For more on this topic, please read http://educationnext.org/charters-must-avoid-recreating-failed-school-district-financial-model/

EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West recently moderated a debate between Thomas Carroll of Invest in Education and Neal McCluskey of the Cato Institute. The question was whether the federal government should launch a federal tax credit scholarship program. Is there a role for Uncle Sam here or will the feds inevitably muck this up? The audio here comes from that event. The video can be found at: http://educationnext.org/20-billion-federal-school-choice-tax-credit-program-yes-no-maybe-how-so-event/

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, author of "With New Data, School Finance is Coming Out of the Dark Ages," available at http://educationnext.org/new-data-school-finance-coming-dark-ages/

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 this week’s episode, Marty West talks with Diane Schanzenbach, about the down side of academic redshirting. Read her article, "Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?," co-written with Stephanie Howard Larson, here: http://educationnext.org/is-your-child-ready-kindergarten-redshirting-may-do-more-harm-than-good/

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. Marty West talks with Wayne D’Orio, a veteran education journalist and the author of the article “Hamilton Goes to High School,” which is available at: http://educationnext.org/hamilton-goes-high-school-how-students-learn-history-from-broadway-musical-lin-manuel-miranda/

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. Marty West talks with Bryan Hassel of Public Impact. Bryan is the co-author of a recent post on the EdNext blog with the provocative title “One More Time Now: Why Lowering Class Sizes Backfires," available at http://educationnext.org/one-time-now-lowering-class-sizes-backfires/

Marty West talks with Shep Melnick about how the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights works and what is likely to change under the Trump administration. Shep Melnick, the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Professor of American Politics at Boston College, is the author of a new post on the EdNext blog entitled “How civil rights enforcement got swept into the culture wars, and what a new administration can do about it.” You can read it at http://educationnext.org/how-civil-rights-enforcement-got-swept-into-the-culture-wars-and-what-a-new-administration-can-do-about-it/

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. For more, please read Kearns's article, “New Blueprints for K-12 Schools,” available at http://educationnext.org/new-blueprints-k-12-schools-innovative-design-supports-blended-learning

With a major winter storm closing schools up and down the East Coast this week, it seemed like a good time to revisit this 2016 discussion of snow days. In this episode, 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 Defense of Snow Days" is available at http://educationnext.org/defense-snow-days/

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. For more, read "Competency-Based Learning for Teachers," by Michael Horn and Thomas Arnett, here: http://educationnext.org/competency-based-learning-teachers-micro-credentials-professional-development/

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 Bolick has a new Education Next article on this topic, available here: http://educationnext.org/gorsuch-the-judicious-judge-supreme-court-education/

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 this episode of the podcast, Marty West is joined by Rick Hess, co-author of a new book, The Every Student Succeeds Act: What It Means for Schools, Systems, and States. An excerpt from the book, “The Long Path to ESSA,” is now available at http://educationnext.org/the-long-path-to-essa-every-student-succeeds-act-book-excerpt-hess-eden/

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. On this week's episode of the podcast, Marty West talks with Josh Dunn about the case. His new article on the Endrew F. case is available at http://educationnext.org/special-education-standards-supreme-court-raises-level-benefit-endrew-f-v-douglas-county/

More than half of college freshmen are told they must take remedial classes, most often in math, and these remedial math classes have low pass rates. Do these classes accomplish anything? A new study finds that allowing students to take a college-level statistics class instead of remedial algebra has long-term benefits, starting with higher student pass rates. Alexandra W. Logue, a research professor at CUNY’s Center for Advanced Study in Education, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss the study. The study is available at: http://educationnext.org/reforming-remediation-college-students-mainstreamed-success-cuny