On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Francis Pearman, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University, joins Mike and David to debate the impact that budgets, enrollment, and race play in closing schools. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber examines a new study investigating the efficacy of learning-loss-recovery interventions across eight districts.

Recommended content: 

• "Enrollment down. Achievement lackluster. Should this school close?” —Francis Pearman, Education Week
• “Schools will have to start closing again” —Michael Petrilli, Wall Street Journal
• “Doing educational equity right: School closures” —Michael Petrilli, Fordham Institute
• Maria V. Carbonari et al., “Impacts of Academic Recovery Interventions on Student Achievement in 2022-23,” CALDER Working Paper (July 2024).

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Daniel Buck at [email protected].