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Episode 119

Higher Education Is Broken. Can It Be Fixed?

Economist Michael D. Smith says universities are scrambling to protect a status quo that deserves to die. He tells Steve why the current system is unsustainable, and what’s at stake…

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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?


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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…


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Episode 574

“A Low Moment in Higher Education”

Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test of good sense and decency. It’s time…


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Episode 228

Does “Early Education” Come Way Too Late?

In our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of where most learning really happens — at home.

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Episode 228

Does “Early Education” Come Way Too Late? (Replay)

The gist: in our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of where most learning really happens — at home.

Can Customized Education Be Scaled Up?

…that he’s “departing the New York City Department of Education to launch an independent effort to take the School of One to scale.” Rick Hess, an Education Week blogger, explains…



Differential Pricing in Higher Education

…generated an outcry among people bothered by the pricing of education and was “indefinitely postpone[d].” But higher education requires resources; and if taxpayers refuse to pay taxes but insist on…




Does More Education Lead to Less Religion?

…schooling and later religiosity. I find that higher levels of education lead to lower levels of religious participation later in life. An additional year of education leads to a 4-percentage-point…




The "Big Three" of Education Reform

…exert a “decisive influence” on public-school education. “Whatever nuances differentiate the motivations of the Big Three, their market-based goals for overhauling public education coincide: choice, competition, deregulation, accountability, and data-based…



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Episode 143

Why Are Boys and Men in Trouble?

Boys and men are trending downward in education, employment, and mental health. Richard Reeves, author of the book Of Boys and Men, has some solutions that don’t come at the…




Can Single-Sex Education Make Women Less Risk-Averse?

…high-level corporate positions. A new essay by Alison Booth, Lina Cardona Sosa, and Patrick Nolen suggests that single-sex education may change women’s risk preferences. In a recent paper, the researchers…



Are Good Manufacturing Jobs Bad News for Education?

…gist: This paper presents empirical evidence that the growth of export manufacturing in Mexico during a period of major trade reforms, the years 1986-2000, altered the distribution of education. I…



U.S. Math Education Still in the Doldrums

…in real-world problems. Thirty-five years ago, the situation was similar. A large study of 13- and 17-year-old students across the United States, the second National Assessment of Education Progress (1977-1978),…



What’s Behind the Gender Gap in Education?

…contributed to a striking reversal of the gender gap in higher education over the last fifty years. Women now decisively outnumber men on the nation’s college campuses, and they graduate…



Immigrants Are Getting More Education

…school education (27.8%). In 1980, there were more than twice as many low-skilled immigrants living in the U.S. as high-skilled ones. The report focuses on demographic trends in the 100…







Education and Ambition

(Photo: USAG- Humphreys) When it comes to educational attainment, good intentions aren’t enough. New research, led by Liz Todd of Newcastle University, looks at schemes to increase the educational attainment…



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Episode 43

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

Former U.S. Secretary of Education, 3×3 basketball champion, and leader of an anti-gun violence organization are all on Arne’s resume. He’s also Steve’s neighbor. The two talk about teachers caught…