EdNext Podcast

When teachers open their classroom doors and allow trained coaches to observe them and offer feedback, the teachers' instruction improves.

But can this form of teacher professional development be taken to scale?

Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University, sits down with EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his article, “Taking Teacher Coaching To Scale,” co-written with David Blazar.

Read the full article here:

https://www.educationnext.org/taking-teacher-coaching-to-scale-can-personalized-training-become-standard-practice/

Private colleges currently enroll 30 percent of students attending four-year colleges, but they face declining enrollment and mounting deficits. Is a crisis on the horizon?

Stephen Eide, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins Education Next editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his article "Private Colleges in Peril."

Read the full article here:

https://www.educationnext.org/private-colleges-peril-financial-pressures-declining-enrollment-closures/

What does the public think about teacher strikes, teacher salaries, agency fees, and more? And what do teachers think?

The EdNext Podcast returns from vacation this week so editor-in-chief Marty West and senior editor Paul E. Peterson can discuss the results of the 2018 Education Next poll.

Read the full results here:

https://www.educationnext.org/public-support-climbs-teacher-pay-school-expenditures-charter-schools-universal-vouchers-2018-ednext-poll

Later this month, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in Janus v. AFSCME on whether public sector unions should be allowed to collect agency fees from employees who choose not to join the union.

The Court heard a similar case two years ago, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.

On this week's podcast, Marty West talks with Rebecca Friedrichs, the lead plaintiff in that case, about agency fees, unions, and what to expect after Janus.

In 2011, a Florida law eliminated tenure for teachers hired on or after July 1, 2011. A new study looks at the impact of that change on student achievement in the state.

Celeste Carruthers, an associate professor in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss the new study, "Did Tenure Reform in Florida Affect Student Test Scores?," which she co-authored with David Figlio and Tim Sass

The study is available here:

http://educationnext.org/tenure-reform-florida-affect-student-test-scores/

In the United States, we don’t expect most kids to work very hard, and they don’t. So write Mike Petrilli and Adam Tyner of the Fordham Institute in a new EdNext article about student motivation.

Should we try to make schools more engaging? Use external exams to hold students accountable for their learning?

Adam Tyner sits down with Marty West to discuss some options that he and Mike Petrilli explore in their article, “The Case for Holding Students Accountable," available at

http://educationnext.org/case-for-holding-students-accountable-how-extrinsic-motivation-gets-kids-work-harder-learn-more/

For a brief period, states were required to rank their teacher education programs based in part on how much their graduates were boosting student test scores.

But when Paul von Hippel and Laura Bellows took a close look at the evaluations of teacher education programs in six states, they found that the differences between the programs in their graduates' impact on student learning were negligible.

Paul von Hippel joins Marty West to discuss his study, "Rating Teacher-Preparation Programs: Can value-added make useful distinctions?," co-authored with Laura Bellows.

The article is available at:

http://educationnext.org/rating-teacher-preperation-programs-value-added-make-useful-distinctions/

In many states, teacher pay has stagnated or even declined in recent years. The rising cost of maintaining teacher retirement systems is part of the problem.

In this episode, Chad Aldeman of Bellwether Education Partners joins Marty West to discuss the increasing cost of teacher benefits, how this affects teacher take-home pay, and what teachers gain and lose under the current system.

Chad Aldeman is the author of "Teachers Have the Nation’s Highest Retirement Costs. But They’ll Never See the Benefits," available at

http://educationnext.org/teachers-have-nations-highest-retirement-costs-never-see-benefits/

The cost of college is rising, in part because of declines in state support for higher education. But what explains those declines?

Douglas Webber, associate professor in the Temple University Department of Economics, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his article, "Higher Ed, Lower Spending: As States Cut Back, Where Has the Money Gone?" available at http://educationnext.org/higher-ed-lower-spending-as-states-cut-back-where-has-money-gone

As the charter school sector grows, there is more emphasis on replicating school models with a track record of success and less emphasis on single-site schools that increase the variety of schooling options. So argues Derrell Bradford in a new article for Education Next, "Strengthening the Roots of the Charter-School Movement."

This week, Derrell Bradford joins EdNext editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his article, what can be done to support single-site schools, and why it matters.

The article is available at:

http://educationnext.org/strengthening-roots-charter-school-movement-how-mom-and-pops-help-sector-diversify-grow/