The Learning Curve
Pioneer Institute
Join The Learning Curve every Wednesday for insight and perspective on education, learning trends, school choice, and public policy. Our hosts and guests offer a mix of provocative commentary as they interview school leaders, innovators, bestselling authors, policymakers, and more. Send any suggestions, tips, and fan mail to pioneer@pioneerinstitute.org.Listen to all episodes of The Learning Curve at Ricochet.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 25, 2019 • 40min
Andrew Campanella, President of National School Choice Week
Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week and author of the new book, The School Choice Roadmap: 7 Steps to Finding the Right School for Your Child, is the Newsmaker Interview guest this week on The Learning Curve. Bob talks with Andrew about the many school choice options available to parents, and the steps they can take to find the right educational environment for their... Source
Oct 18, 2019 • 39min
Dr. Howard Fuller on School Choice & Presidential Politics
Cara and Bob talk with the great Dr. Howard Fuller, Distinguished Professor of Education, in this week’s Newsmaker Interview, about his passionate activism on behalf of education reform, his concerns about the lack of support among Democratic presidential candidates for charter schools, the power of teacher unions, and recognition of the need to continue organizing and advocating for school choice... Source
Oct 11, 2019 • 42min
Wilfred McClay on his new book, Land of Hope
In the Newsmaker Interview, Cara talks with Wilfred McClay, University of Oklahoma Professor and author of Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story, a new high school history textbook that seeks to provide an account of this nation’s rich and complex story that puts it in proper perspective, and that is both honest and inspiring. Stories of the Week: Are retirement benefits that are... Source
Oct 4, 2019 • 37min
Natalie Wexler on her new book, The Knowledge Gap
In their Newsmaker Interview, Bob & Cara talk with Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System–And How to Fix It, about the shift in K-12 education, even in the Common Core era, from an emphasis on academic content to empty skills and strategies. Stories of the Week: 35,000 teachers and staff in Chicago’s three unions voted to go on strike on... Source
Sep 27, 2019 • 49min
Max Eden, Education Researcher, on School Policies & Mass Shootings
In our Newsmaker Interview, Bob talks with Max Eden, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, on the gravely misguided policies that he believes are contributing to shocking tragedies such as the Parkland school shooting, the subject of his new book, Why Meadow Died: The People and Policies That Created The Parkland Shooter and Endanger America’s Students. Stories of the Week: At Edison High... Source
Sep 19, 2019 • 50min
Nina Rees, National Charter Leader, on Education Policy & the 2020 Election
In our Newsmaker Interview, Cara & Bob talk with Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Charter Public Schools on what Election 2020 presidential candidates are saying about charters, the diverse families being served by these schools, and the quest for excellence & equity. Stories of the Week: In Pennsylvania’s capital, protesting Governor Wolf’s crackdown on charter schools... Source
Sep 12, 2019 • 39min
Charter Approval in CA, Online Learning in OK, Outsourcing Teachers?, SCOTUS School Choice Case, NYT on Success Academy
ChoiceMedia‘s Bob Bowdon and Pioneer Institute‘s Cara Candal talk about charter school authorizing in California and a recent bill that gives school districts rather than the state the authority to approve charter schools; good news for online learning programs in Oklahoma; and is there a shortage of teachers in American schools? Plus, Bob calls out Dale Russakoff for a selective New York Times... Source
Sep 5, 2019 • 39min
Introducing The Learning Curve: Student Discipline, Teacher Diversity, School-to-Prison Pipeline, Presidential Politics & School Choice
In the inaugural episode of the new, national education podcast, “The Learning Curve,” co-hosts Bob Bowdon of Choice Media & Cara Candal of Pioneer Institute review the stories of the week – teacher pushback on school discipline reform in California, teaching hot-button social issues in Illinois and New Jersey schools, and scrapping gifted and talented programs in New York City. Source
Aug 23, 2019 • 34sec
Learning Curve
“The Learning Curve” is where you’ll find straight talk about the nation’s hottest education stories – news and opinion from the schoolyard to the 2020 campaign trail. Co-hosts Bob Bowdon and Cara Candal serve up provocative commentary on the issues that impact parents and kids, teachers and students, political leaders, policymakers and taxpayers all across the country. “The Learning Curve”... Source
