The Education Exchange

A Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and co-author of "Learning in the Fast Lane: The Past, Present and Future of Advanced Placement," Chester E. Finn, Jr., joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss standardized testing, and how higher education is moving away from requiring tests as part of the application process amid the Covid-19 pandemic. "Favoritism, rich parents getting new kinds of advantages for their kids, the lacrosse coach and the speech coach and the trip to Bhutan will end up counting for more rather than less, because there won't be an SAT score," Finn warns.

A senior fellow and vice president for external affairs at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Robert Pondiscio, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Thomas Sowell's new book, Charter Schools and Their Enemies, and the heavy criticism that charters currently face. Pondiscio's review, "Charter Schools and Their Enemies: At 90, Thomas Sowell reminds charter schools how to fight. And why," is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/charter-schools-and-their-enemies-thomas-sowell-book-review/

The 66th Secretary of State and The Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at Stanford University, Condoleeza Rice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how school choice can help lower-income families get more of out the public education system, and how systemic change will be necessary to improve racial equality in America. Rice's op-ed in the Washington Post, "This moment cries out for us to confront race in America," is available now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/04/condoleezza-rice-moment-confront-race-america/

The Editor in Chief of Education Next, Marty West, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss findings from the 2020 Education Next survey, which reveals what American parents and teachers think of quality of the instruction their children received after schools closed their doors in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. "What American Families Experienced When Covid-19 Closed Their Schools, by Michael B. Henderson, David Houston, Paul E. Peterson and Martin R. West, is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/what-american-families-experienced-when-covid-19-closed-schools-2020-survey

A professor of political science at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Joshua Dunn, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, and the implications it could have for school choice and religious-school parents. Dunn's analysis of the decision, "In Supreme Court Case, a Far-Reaching Win for Religious-School Parents," is available now. https://www.educationnext.org/supreme-court-case-far-reaching-win-religious-school-parents-espinoza-montana/

The CEO of Public Prep, a nonprofit charter school network, Ian Rowe, joins Paul Peterson to discuss the "common struggle" for civil rights in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in police custody. Rowe, who is also a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, also discusses his charter network's early childhood work: "starting at 18 months old, every younger sibling of a Boys' Prep or Girls' Prep scholar has, two times per week, 30 minutes per visit, an early learning specialist comes into the home, sits with the caregiver and the toddler to help begin building their vocabulary. They bring a book each week to build a library at home." Rowe's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, "The Power of Personal Agency," is available now. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-power-of-personal-agency-11592770867

Marcus WintersAn associate professor in Boston University and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Marcus Winters, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Winters' new study, which presents test-score evidence about whether charter schools harm traditional public schools. "We haven't seen big negative effects really for anyone," Winters says. "It puts the burden back on the side that would say that expanding charter schools harms public schools or harms kids in public schools." The study, "Do Charter Schools Harm Traditional Public Schools? Years of Test-Score Data Suggest They Don’t," is available now. https://www.manhattan-institute.org/charter-school-growth-doesnt-harm-public-schools

A senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Niall Ferguson, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the 1957-58 "Asian Flu" pandemic, how governments reacted to its outbreak and how it compares to the modern-day response to the Covid-19. In the conversation, Ferguson says that, "we've created one of the deepest recessions in American history." He adds that, "there are two pandemics going on at the moment. There's the real one involving a real virus. And then there's the pandemic online of disinformation and misinformation."

The President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Nina Rees, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how charters have responded to the Covid-19 school shutdowns, and how they can continue to adapt going forward.

The Director of the Public Policy Research Lab at LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication, Michael Henderson, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Louisiana's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and how the public is responding to the state's stay-at-home order. The full survey results are available here. https://www.lsu.edu/manship/news/2020/may/la-survey-stay-at-home-order.php