Search the Site

Search Results for: schools

Exam High Schools: Not As Great As We Thought

…high schools have a lower college attendance and graduation rate compared to other high schools. The study breaks down the numbers according to individual high schools. Students just eligible for…



Have D.C.'s "Best Schools" Been Cheating?

…the D.C. schools, the Chicago schools did not farm out grading of the test exams to a third party. What got the D.C. schools in trouble is that the third…



Episode 355

Where Does Creativity Come From (and Why Do Schools Kill It Off)?

Family environments and “diversifying experiences” (including the early death of a parent); intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations; schools that value assessments, but don’t assess the things we value. All these elements…

More Evidence on Charter Schools

(Photo: Alex Starr) Writing at Slate, Ray Fisman reviews the latest research on the efficacy of charter schools. The study focuses on students at six Boston schools that had previously…



In Praise of Smaller Schools

…I have bolded the most relevant conclusions: One of the most wide-ranging reforms in public education in the last decade has been the reorganization of large comprehensive high schools into…





Episode 16

Exit Interview: Schools Chancellor, NYC

Having already amassed an eventful resume — the Clinton White House, the Department of Justice, and Bertelsmann — Joel I. Klein spent the past eight years as chancellor of the…

Computers and Calculators in Schools

…countries, the system of public education is in crisis. Teachers’ pay — traditionally low — is falling rapidly because of inflation. The schools are dilapidated, and there is no money…



Episode 43

Arne Duncan Says All Kids Deserve a Chance — and Criminals Deserve a Second One

…Steve’s neighbor. The two talk about teachers caught cheating in Chicago public schools and Steve shares a story he’s never told Arne, about a defining moment in the educator’s life….

Better Schools, or Better Teachers?

…Times reports, “the best teachers were not concentrated in schools in the most affluent neighborhoods, nor were the weakest instructors bunched in poor areas. … The quality of instruction typically…



Are America's Schools Failing … or Thriving?

(Photo: Laurel L. Ruswwurm) An article published in the American Journalism Review last week by Paul Farhi argues that despite the popular narrative, America’s schools aren’t doing so badly. He…




A Better Way to Match Exchange Students and Schools?

Students in the Maastricht University exchange program provide an ordered list of their six most-preferred schools. Despite this, because their preferences matched many other students’ preferences and/or they were far…




Episode 501

The University of Impossible-to-Get-Into

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)…



Episode 17

Emily Oster: “I Am a Woman Who Is Prominently Discussing Vaginas.”

…of data about Covid-19 in schools. Steve and Emily discuss how she became an advocate for school reopening, how economists think differently from the average person, and whether pregnant women…

Episode 188

Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem? (Replay)

The gist: If U.S. schoolteachers are indeed “just a little bit below average,” it’s not really their fault. So what should be done about it?

Episode 188

Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem?

We’ve all heard the depressing numbers: when compared to kids from other rich countries, U.S. students aren’t doing very well, especially in math, even though we spend more money per…

Episode 431

Why Can’t Schools Get What the N.F.L. Has?

Thanks to daily Covid testing and regimented protocols, the new football season is underway. Meanwhile, most teachers, students and parents are essentially waiting for the storm to pass. And school…

Episode 517

Are M.B.A.s to Blame for Wage Stagnation?

New research finds that bosses who went to business school pay their workers less. So what are M.B.A. programs teaching — and should they stop?…

Episode 503

What Is the Future of College — and Does It Have Room for Men?

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 4 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to…

If Economists Ran the Schools

The third episode of Freakonomics Radio, out in a few days, asks the question: What would the world look like if economists were in charge? In the meantime, a charter…






Episode 514

Roland Fryer Refuses to Lie to Black America

The controversial Harvard economist, recently back from a suspension, “broke a lot of glass early in my career,” he says. His research on school incentives and police brutality won him…

Episode 7

Caverly Morgan: “I Am Not This Voice. I Am Not This Narrative”

…in Schools is part of the high-school curriculum in Portland, Ore. Steve Levitt finds out what daily life is like in a silent monastery, why teens find it easier than…