How Can the Achievement Gap Be Closed? A Freakonomics Quorum
…have no doubt that educational entrepreneurs could create a wide range of new educational options for urban youth that would improve their life chances. However, I do have doubts about…
Education is the surest solution to a lot of problems. Except when it’s not.
…really need in the modern era: data fluency. Originally broadcast on Freakonomics Radio, this episode includes an update from Steve about a project he launched to revamp the education system….
Educational messaging looks good on paper but kids don’t respond to it — and adults aren’t much better.
…changing in a multi-billion-dollar corner of the Department of Education. It’s an experiment, which takes cues from the likes of Google and millionaires who hope to go to the moon….
Our take: maybe the steps aren’t so easy, but a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had great success in turning around kids who were headed for…
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…
…have no doubt that educational entrepreneurs could create a wide range of new educational options for urban youth that would improve their life chances. However, I do have doubts about…
…columnist of The New York Times. He is the author of Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right, and lectures widely about education policy issues. The fatal flaw in education merit pay…
America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)…
College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?
College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?
O.K., maybe the steps aren’t so easy. But a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had great success in turning around kids who were headed for trouble.
…the National Council of Economic Education (N.C.E.E.) are doing good work to raise awareness and introduce financial education in school. Q: If you were president of the U.S. for a…
(Photo: Martin Lopatka) If you are the sort of person who worries that the U.S. is not producing enough college graduates with science degrees, it’s worth wondering exactly why that…
A new study finds that the students who are least likely to go to college (based on family background, abilities, and friend group) are the ones with the most to…
Levitt’s skepticism notwithstanding, it seems there may be a good reason for some people to get tattoos. David B. Wiseman, a psychologist, showed 128 undergraduate students photographs of tattooed and…
Enrollment is down for the first time in memory, and critics complain college is too expensive, too elitist, and too politicized. The economist Chris Paxson — who happens to be…
Psychologist Thomas Curran argues that perfectionism isn’t about high standards — it’s about never being enough. He explains how the drive to be perfect is harming education, the economy, and…
Khan Academy grew out of Sal Khan’s online math tutorials for his extended family. It’s now a platform used by more than 115 million people in 190 countries. So what…
…marginal income tax on the top five percent. For the longer term, invest in education for lower income communities, starting with early-childhood education and extending all the way up to…
It’s one of the ultimate chicken or egg questions: Does democracy lead to increases in education and income, or do education and higher income lead to democracy? It’s a tricky…
Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack…
…comparing a Chronicle of Higher Education report on the collective education level of each state’s legislature, to Stateline.com’s list of state budget deficits from March seems worthwhile. And the results…
What do you do when smart people keep making stupid mistakes? And: are we a nation of financial illiterates? This is a “mashupdate” of “Is America Ready for a “No-Lose…
Most high-school math classes are still preparing students for the Sputnik era. Steve Levitt wants to get rid of the “geometry sandwich” and instead have kids learn what they really…
…example) and socio-economic factors such as wealth, race, and parental education. The estimated benefits of education are significant, but unfortunately these studies are still too coarse to quantify the remarkable…
Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack…
We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate their products to win market…
Online education is seriously on the rise, garnering praise from congressmen and even gaining share among elementary school students. In the realm of higher education, more and more schools are…
…high-stakes testing — already a key element in the reform of primary and secondary education – has become a standard feature of the “let’s reform higher education” industry. Testing raises…
