The Education Exchange

In this episode, David L. Leal, professor at the University of Texas, sits down with Paul E. Peterson to discuss how Latinos vote, what Latinos think of their kids’ schools, and whether the views of Latinos differ significantly from the views of other Americans.

Three new studies released by the Urban Institute look at how private school choice has affected nearly 13,000 students in three different states. Matt Chingos of the Urban Institute joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss what we're learning about how school choice participants do when it comes to college enrollment and graduation. Chingos wrote about these studies in "What Have We Learned From Three Studies of Private School Choice?" http://educationnext.org/learned-three-studies-private-school-choice/ Read his latest report, The Effect of the DC School Voucher Program on College Enrollment, here: https://www.urban.org/research/publication/effect-dc-school-voucher-program-college-enrollment

Paul DiPerna, the vice president of research and innovation for EdChoice, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his report, "The ABC's of School Choice," which can be ordered here: https://www.edchoice.org/what-we-do/research/get-copy-2018-abcs-school-choice/

The number of states with school choice programs and the number of students who are able to take advantage of these programs have roughly doubled since 2010, and we now have a U.S. Secretary of Education who supports school choice. What will happen on the school choice front in 2018? In this episode, Paul E. Peterson talks with John Schilling of the American Federation for Children, which promotes school choice by promoting legislation and trying to help elect candidates who support choice.

Do teens need a sense of purpose? William Damon of the Stanford Center on Adolescence says that developing a sense of purpose is one of the most important but overlooked aspects of adolescent development. He talks with Paul Peterson about his his work on how we develop a sense of purpose and what schools can do to help.

Boston Collegiate Charter School is the most diverse school in Boston. Paul E. Peterson talks with Richard Whitmire, whose article, "Why Boston’s Most Racially Diverse School Could Also Be the Country’s Most Interesting School Integration Story," looks at what makes the school so special and how the school has managed to attract such a diverse population. Read his full feature in The 74 here: https://www.the74million.org/article/whitmire-why-bostons-most-racially-diverse-school-could-also-be-the-countrys-most-interesting-school-integration-story/

Ashley Jochim, a senior research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Conflict between school districts and charter schools is not inevitable, argues Ashley Jochim. Paul Peterson talks with Jochim about the factors that allow some school districts to collaborate with charter schools. This is the topic of her new paper, “Collision Course: Embracing Politics to Succeed in District-Charter Collaboration." Jochim, a senior research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, co-authored the paper with Sarah Yatsko and Alice Opalka. https://www.crpe.org/publications/collision-course-embracing-politics-succeed-district-charter-collaboration

State interventions to improve struggling local school districts have a mixed record, but in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a state takeover seems to be turning things around. Paul Peterson talks with Beth Schueler about her new report, “School District Turnaround: Learning from Leadership in Lawrence, Massachusetts." https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/rappaport/research-and-publications/policy-briefs/school-district-turnaround%3A-learning-from-leadership-in-Lawrence%2C-Massachusetts

Morris Fiorina, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of “Unstable Majorities: Polarization, Party Sorting, and Political Stalemate,” joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his new book, which aims to correct the widespread assumption that Americans today are more polarized than ever.

Gerard Robinson joins Paul Peterson to reflect on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King and the work of improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged children. Robinson, who has served as secretary of education in Virginia and Florida, is now executive director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity, which supports research-based solutions to the challenges faced by fragile communities throughout the United States.