The one, two punch is understand where kids are deficient. You need a bit of data and then small groups, high dosage on those things that they need support on. The grades where we did all five things, where we had the tutoring, the effects of like 0.60 deviations a year. It's huge. And so if you can do that, you'll have a huge impact.
The good news about educational reform, says Harvard economist Roland Fryer, is that we know what it takes to turn a school around. The bad news is that it's hard work--and implementing it won't win you any popularity contests. Listen as the MacArthur Genius Award Winner and John Bates Clark medalist speaks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how pizza parties revealed the potential of incentives to improve students' test scores, and why he's far more concerned about closing the racial achievement gap than keeping the love of learning pure. He also discusses the five best practices of successful schools, and why it's his failures far more than his successes that keep him in this fight.