The Education Exchange

Scott Imberman, a Professor in the Department of Economics at Michigan State University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss a new paper which uses data from Florida to explore how the identification of childhood disabilities varies by race and school racial composition. The paper, "School Segregation and Racial Gaps in Special Education Identification," is co-written with Todd E. Elder, David N. Figlio and Claudia I. Persico, and is available from NBER.org: https://www.nber.org/papers/w25829.pdf

Richard Vedder, an Independent Institute Sr. Fellow and a Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus at Ohio University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his new book, "Restoring the Promise: Higher Education in America," and how rising college tuition costs have changed the dialogue around higher education. https://www.independent.org/store/book.asp?id=129

Howard Fuller, a Distinguished Professor of Education, and Founder/Director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University, joins Paul E. Peterson on the 100th episode of the Education Exchange to discuss the state of school choice and it's contentious standing in current politics.

Wilfred McClay joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his new book, Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Society, which he describes as a narrative account of the American story that could be used as a high school history textbook.

There is new interest in giving adult prisoners greater access to education while they are behind bars. One bill in Congress would allow prisoners access to Pell Grants to pay for higher education, something which has not been possible since 1994. Gerard Robinson, Executive Director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the importance of education for men and women in prison and some different kinds of programs that could be offered. Robinson and Elizabeth English Smith are the editors of a new book, Education for Liberation: The Politics of Promise and Reform Inside and Beyond America’s Prisons. The book is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Education-Liberation-Politics-Promise-Americas-ebook/dp/B07L7H2XFN

Americans may like to buy things online, but people who live in neighborhoods with stores, libraries, restaurants, schools, and parks nearby have higher levels of community satisfaction and lower levels of social isolation. That's the finding of a new survey on community and society conducted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Daniel Cox, a research fellow in polling and public opinion at AEI, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his paper, "The Importance of Place: Neighborhood amenities as a source of social connection and trust," co-written with Ryan Streeter. The paper is available at https://www.aei.org/publication/the-importance-of-place-neighborhood-amenities-as-a-source-of-social-connection-and-trust/

Students attending school in big cities made significant gains on NAEP in the years between 2003 and 2013 but those trend lines have flattened in recent years. Paul Peterson talks with Kristin Blagg, a research associate in the Center on Education Data and Policy at the Urban Institute, about what the data show, and about which districts made the greatest gains. In "Making the Grade in America's Cities: Assessing Student Achievement in Urban Districts," Blagg explains how the NAEP data for students can be adjusted for changes in student demographics to better understand test score growth. The paper is available at: https://www.urban.org/research/publication/making-grade-americas-cities-assessing-student-achievement-urban-districts

In the most recent ratings put out by the state of Florida, Miami-Dade County Public Schools earned an "A" designation and had no "F" rated schools, unusual achievements for a large urban district. Ron Matus, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Step Up For Students, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss some factors behind the school district's success: dynamic and stable leadership, an understanding of how to intervene in and support the most struggling schools, and many different options for families if they are not satisfied.

Families in Milwaukee gained access to the nation's first private school vouchers nearly three decades ago. Today the educational landscape in Milwaukee also includes charter schools and many other forms of public school choice. But standardized test scores are still low and the achievement gap between black and white students remains large. Alan Borsuk of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Marquette University talks with Paul E. Peterson about some of the challenges Milwaukee has faced despite the long history of school choice in the city.

Robin J. Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss what Indianapolis has done to make charter schools work.