Have You Heard

Teachers unions are the biggest impediments to fixing schools and improving student achievement. That mantra has been at the heart of school reform efforts for more than a decade - but is it true? Education researchers Adam Kirk Edgerton and Mimi Lyon both started their teaching careers at a time of peak hostility to unions. (Remember Waiting for Superman?) When they left the classroom to go back to school, both were intent on researching unionization in order to better understand its impact—on teachers, students, and on progressive policies in states where unionization has been hindered. Oh, and did we mention that Adam and Mimi are the runners up in the 2020 Have You Heard Graduate Student Research Contest?

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Private pandemic “pods” are the latest edu-craze to sweep the land. But turns out there’s nothing new about privileged parents fleeing the public school system—or using the threat of departure as leverage. Special guests Jessica Calarco, L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy and Jon Hale help us understand the implications of pods for public education.

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When the pandemic shuttered schools, it also put grades on hold. But suspending A-F grading also exposed the underlying flaws of a high-stakes system. Historian Ethan Hutt joins us to discuss the origins and often conflicting purposes of grading, and some possible fixes.

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Recommended reading:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/opinion/coronavirus-school-grades.html

Teach Like a Champion, the best-selling guide to effective teaching by Doug Lemov, has sold millions of copies. But is it racist? Have You Heard hears from teachers and researchers who argue that Lemov’s approach embodies “carceral” pedagogy. And because we have a thing about education history, we trace the concept all the way back to 1895. Special guests: Ilana Horn, Joe Truss and Layla Treuhaft-Ali.

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Recommended reading: “Teach Like it’s 1895,” by Layla Treuhaft-Ali: https://haveyouheardblog.com/teach-like-its-1895/

How exactly did cops end up in US schools in the first place? Our quest for answers takes us to three cities—Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago—and back 60 years to another era wracked by mass social protest: the 1960’s. Special guests: Matt Kautz, Judith Kafka and Louis Mercer.

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Students flailing without real teachers. Sky-high dropout rates. Aggressive sales pitches. Sound familiar? Have You Heard revisits America’s first great love affair with distance learning, the learn-by-mail craze that swept the nation 100+ years ago. The case for distance learning made by the original (for profit) edu-preneurs was virtually identical to what we’re hearing today. Special guests: education historian Bob Hampel and “Young Jack.”

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A looming budget calamity worse than the Great Recession could mean mass teacher layoffs and deep cuts to school spending. Have You Heard previews the bleak budget forecast, how it can be averted, and why the GOP seems intent on forcing states to go broke. Experts Bruce Baker, Sarah Reckhow and Jesse Rothstein weigh in. And in a sign of what’s to come, we meet a teacher whose alternative school is going online and for-profit next year.

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Have You Heard digs into the recent - and surprising - decision by a federal court declaring that there is in fact a constitutional right to education. One catch: the court defined that right very narrowly, as a “basic minimum education.” Jennifer and Jack explore the ruling and its implications with the help of an all star cast, including Noliwe Rooks, author of Cutting School; Michael Rebell, executive director of the Center for Educational Equity; and former Detroit teacher Stephanie Griffin.

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The gaps between the Internet haves and have-nots have never been more glaring. Christopher Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance helps us understand the origins of our digital divide and how to get to a system of high quality affordable internet for all.

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Have You Heard opens the proverbial phone lines to hear what listeners want to know about education in a time of pandemic. And an all-star cast of experts steps up to provide the answers.

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