How should policymakers decide how to shape the education system? Research should be a critical starting point, says Heather Hough, executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education. On this episode, she discusses Getting Down to Facts II, which is a new report that provides an analysis of what’s working and not working in California schools.

Karin Forssell, director of the Learning, Design and Technology program at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, explains the purpose of maker spaces and how technology is used in the classroom.

Michael Frank, associate professor of psychology at Stanford, discusses research on how children learn language and develop speech skills. He shares some tips on what parents and educators can do to provide kids with an excellent environment for learning and understanding language.

Shelley Goldman, associate dean for faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and Piya Sorcar, CEO of the nonprofit TeachAIDS,

Dan Schwartz, Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Education, talks with his co-host, Senior Lecturer Denise Pope, about college rankings, how they are determined, and whether it is important to choose a school that is high on one of the many lists create college hierarchies.

Teresa LaFromboise, professor of education in Development and Psychological Sciences at Stanford, talks about the challenges facing schools with a predominantly Native American population and how those communities are addressing those problems.

Francisco Ramirez, professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, tells us about the politics behind textbooks and how changes in textbooks reflect a national outlook.

Amika Guillaume of East Palo Alto Academy gives us insight into the daily life of a principal. She also discusses some of the challenges in helping first generation students get into college and the importance of professional development for teachers aiming to improve education outcomes.

Keith Devlin, Stanford mathematician and NPR Weekend Edition “Math Guy," talks about how learning math in the classroom is evolving and why it is more important for students to understand math concepts than it is to repeatedly solve equations.

Kenji Hakuta, professor emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, talks about how the Common Core educational standards were set and why standards exist in the first place.