Frederick M. Hess

Washington, D.C.

Education Policy Studies Director, American Enterprise Institute and Contributor at Education Next

Senior Contributor at Forbes

Opinion Contributo at Education Week

Educator. Author. Director @AEIeducation. Blogger @educationweek. Executive editor @educationnext. Contributing editor @NRO. Mean-spirited SOB.

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Articles

We Need a Post-BS Civics Education

1 week ago | aei.org | Frederick M. Hess

We need a post-BS civics. In 2025, public officials seem unhealthily consumed by social media celebrity while longstanding civic norms are casually shattered. I don’t believe the problems are because of civics education but a post-BS civics could be part of the solution. I mean, the U.S. owes $36 trillion in debt, is borrowing $2 trillion a year, and is spending $1 trillion a year just on interest payments.
We Need a Post-BS Civics Education

1 week ago | educationnext.org | Frederick M. Hess

We need a post-BS civics. In 2025, public officials seem unhealthily consumed by social media celebrity while longstanding civic norms are casually shattered. I don’t believe the problems are because of civics education but a post-BS civics could be part of the solution. I mean, the U.S. owes $36 trillion in debt, is borrowing $2 trillion a year, and is spending $1 trillion a year just on interest payments.
school districts Archives

2 weeks ago | aei.org | Nat Malkus |Frederick M. Hess |Robert Pondiscio |Cory Brewer

Report American Enterprise Institute Lingering Absence in Public Schools: Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2024 Op-Ed The Junk Science of Pandemic School Closure Report Schools and the Law: First Amendment US Supreme Court Decisions That School Board Members Should Know Op-Ed Parents Rebel against School Board Ideologues in Virginia’s Toniest Precincts Op-Ed Biden’s Department of Education: Segregation Is Sort of OK Op-Ed The Hill That Public Education Dies On: Transgender...
The School Choice Landscape Is Shifting

2 weeks ago | aei.org | Frederick M. Hess

Education savings accounts, tax-credit scholarships, vouchers, charter schools, hybrid home-schooling, tutoring, course choice, dual degrees, and microschools are transforming K–12 in profound ways. In “Talking Choice,” Ashley Berner and I seek to help make sense of the shifting landscape.
The School Choice Landscape Is Shifting

2 weeks ago | edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess

Education savings accounts, tax-credit scholarships, vouchers, charter schools, hybrid home-schooling, tutoring, course choice, dual degrees, and microschools are transforming K–12 in profound ways. In “Talking Choice,” Ashley Berner and I seek to help make sense of the shifting landscape.
Five Thoughts on Reforming the Institute of Education Sciences

2 weeks ago | aei.org | Frederick M. Hess

Months after DOGE gutted the federal Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Linda McMahon’s Department of Education is pivoting to the work of reforming it. That won’t be easy. DOGE reduced IES to rubble, laying off almost every IES staffer and canceling pretty much every contract while making little obvious effort to distinguish the good from the bad or the useful from the useless. The upside is a chance to rebuild a more agile, cost-effective, valuable agency. But again, not easy.
education research Archives

2 weeks ago | aei.org | Frederick M. Hess |Robert Pondiscio |Nat Malkus |Anna Stokke
Five Thoughts on Reforming the Institute of Education Sciences

2 weeks ago | educationnext.org | Frederick M. Hess

Months after DOGE gutted the federal Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Linda McMahon’s Department of Education is pivoting to the work of reforming it. That won’t be easy. DOGE reduced IES to rubble, laying off almost every IES staffer and canceling pretty much every contract while making little obvious effort to distinguish the good from the bad or the useful from the useless. The upside is a chance to rebuild a more agile, cost-effective, valuable agency. But again, not easy.
Student outcomes Archives

3 weeks ago | aei.org | Frederick M. Hess |Beth Akers |Robert Pondiscio |Preston Cooper

Event What’s Next for K–12 School Reform? Report A Template for Considering New University Accreditors Post To Improve Student Outcomes, Focus On Classroom Practice, Not Policy Post How Many Administrators Do Colleges Have?
Which Books Belong in Classrooms? Which Don’t?

3 weeks ago | educationnext.org | Frederick M. Hess

A big frustration with policy is that it can feel far removed from the real work of schooling. Why is that? What can we do about it? Such questions seem well worth digging into today, and I can’t think of anyone better to dig with than Andy Rotherham, the author of the Eduwonk blog, big-time education consultant, a member of Virginia’s board of education, and a former special assistant for education to President Bill Clinton.