Rick Hess

1 week ago | edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess

In “Straight Talk with Rick and Jal,” Harvard University’s Jal Mehta and I examine the reforms and enthusiasms that permeate education. In a field full of buzzwords, our goal is simple: Tell the truth, in plain English, about what’s being proposed and what it means for students, teachers, and parents. We may be wrong and we will frequently disagree, but we’ll try to be candid and ensure that you don’t need a Ph.D. in eduspeak to understand us.

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

Teach For America is one of the most influential educational organizations of the past few decades. Starting 35 years ago as an undergraduate thesis, TFA’s aim was to bring high-performing college graduates to teach in high-need schools and create a generation of leaders. Since then, it has grown into a national enterprise with a vast web of alumni in educational leadership roles.

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

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress results had a lot of bad news, but there were some scattered bright spots. Louisiana was one of them. In fact, the Pelican State was the only state in the nation that outperformed its pre-pandemic 4th grade reading scores on the 2024 NAEP. Over the past two testing cycles, Louisiana led the nation in reading growth and is in the top five for gains in math.

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

Education policy can feel far removed from the real work of schooling. Why is that? What can we do about it? These are crucial questions, never more so than in 2025, and I can’t think of anyone better to help tackle them than Andy Rotherham, the author of the Eduwonk blog, co-founder of Bellwether, member of Virginia’s board of education, and former special assistant for education to President Bill Clinton at the White House.

1 month ago | edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess

This summer, in a hotly watched Oklahoma case, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on whether states can ban faith-based charter schools or whether such restrictions violate the First Amendment’s right to the free exercise of religion. The outcome of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond has big implications for charter schooling, of course, but some observers have argued it could also have wider implications for public education.