EdNext Podcast

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/