Description:

Young people who graduate from high school, get a job, and get married before they have children are less likely to live in poverty later in life. Given the importance of this information, some have suggested that this ordering of milestones—known as “the success sequence”—be taught in K-12 schools.

In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Nat Malkus, a senior fellow and deputy director of education policy at AEI. Using data from the August 2021 American Perspectives Survey, which asked over 2,500 American adults about a range of opinions on education, Nat finds overwhelming support among the public for teaching the success sequence. He argues that schools should not only teach students the success sequence but also how to “think statistically” so students can understand the relationship between their actions and their life outcomes.

Resources:

Uncommonly popular: Public support for teaching the success sequence in school | Nat Malkus | American Enterprise Institute

Creating an Opportunity Society | Ron Haskins and Isabel V. Sawhill | Brookings Institution Press

How can the success sequence help kids beat any obstacle? | Ian Rowe and Chris Stewart | Education is Power podcast

Show notes:

01:10 | What is the success sequence and what does this new survey ask?

04:00 | Survey samples include the general public and parents of school-aged children

06:40 | Even the most opposed group were in support of teaching the success sequence by a two to one margin

09:25 | Prescriptive vs. descriptive messaging

14:15 | Non-adherents to the success sequence still support teaching it