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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.
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3 weeks ago | 
edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess
The winds of educational change are blowing. Tim Knowles is the 10th president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the 120-year-old organization that birthed the Carnegie Unit and the Educational Testing Service. Knowles is intent on steering into the teeth of that gale, working to retool the Carnegie Unit and intent on assessing the promise of innovations like the three-year college degree or micro-credentials.
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1 month ago | 
edweek.org | Rick Hess |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.
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1 month ago | 
edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess
This year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress results were mostly grim, but there was one bright spot: The impressive growth in performance by a handful of Southern states. I recently chatted with Louisiana state chief Cade Brumley about what’s driving his state’s success. That conversation prompted a note from Matthew Levey, a charter school founder with an abiding interest in curriculum and instructional materials.
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1 month ago | 
edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess
In recent years, the academic struggles of America’s boys have gained heightened visibility. The leading scholar on this count may be Richard Reeves, Brookings Institution scholar and the founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men. His book Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to do About It was named one of 2022’s best books by The New Yorker and The Economist and a summer reading selection last year by former President Barack Obama.
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1 month ago | 
edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess
Mike Goldstein, the founder of Match Education and 1Up Career Coaching, is one of my favorite education thinkers. Over the years, he’s often been decades ahead of the pack when it comes to rethinking tutoring, teacher pay, professional development, school models, and more. He’s occasionally shared glimpses of his thinking here at RHSU. Well, he wrote recently, after his nonprofit 1Up Career Coaching was featured in best-selling author Dan Heath’s new book RESET: How to Change What’s Not Working.
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1 month ago | 
edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess
President Donald Trump’s early months in office have featured an unprecedented burst of executive activity. Amid all the directives, cuts, and pyrotechnics, it’s been tough to make sense of what it all means. Well, I recently offered my two cents. But I was curious to get a second opinion from a veteran insider.
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1 month ago | 
edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess
President Donald Trump’s second first 100 days have already felt like being trapped inside a Russian novel—and we’re barely underway. Here’s my take on what we’ve seen in K-12. Be forewarned, you’ll need to look elsewhere for a blistering denunciation or an exercise in cheerleading. That’s because I’m feeling pretty conflicted. On the one hand, I support Team Trump’s priorities and vision.
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2 months ago | 
edweek.org | Rick Hess |Frederick M. Hess
There’s a familiar divide between practice and policy. When it comes to grading, devices, equity, choice, student behavior, and much else, the views from inside and outside the schoolhouse are very different. That’s a big part of why educators and policy types tend to talk past one another. To delve into this disconnect, I reached out to Alex Baron, the director of academic strategy at a District of Columbia charter school, an Oxford Ph.D., and a former early-childhood and high school math teacher.
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2 months 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.
