Many school choice proponents today focus on what choice does for the students who use it to leave traditional public schools. But one of the original arguments for choice was that, through competition, it would spur traditional public schools to improve.

So: Has it?

Do choice programs make traditional public schools better? Does the size of these competitive effects depend on the type of choice program? And what other factors might matter for the amount of competitive pressure that choice programs exert on traditional public schools?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Sarah Cordes. Nat and Sarah discuss ESAs and the new federal tax credit scholarship program, why school transportation matters so much for competitive effects, whether choice programs can be too large, how competition affects school principals, and what effect declining public school enrollments might have on school choice in the coming years.

Sarah Cordes is an associate professor of policy, organizational, and leadership studies at Temple University.

Show Notes:

Competition in Education Markets: Impacts, Perceptions, and Policy Contexts

The Effects of Charter Schools on Neighborhood and School Segregation: Evidence from New York City

In Pursuit of the Common Good: The Spillover Effects of Charter Schools on Public School Students in New York City

Over the past decade, schools increasingly have become a battleground for political fights and culture wars that distract from student learning. But, according to a new book, these political fights and culture wars are just one aspect of a much larger and more longstanding problem: schooling is often shaped by the interests of adults. From school boards to partisan identity, from teacher employment to property values, in No Adult Left Behind, Vlad Kogan traces the many ways in which the concerns of adults get in the way of student outcomes.

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these problems, and what to do about them, with Vlad Kogan. Nat and Vlad discuss school boards and state takeovers, how political identity shapes education debates, what the public gets wrong about the Scopes trial and the early twentieth-century push against teaching evolution in schools, why parents seem to undervalue education quality, closing schools with falling enrollments, how racial equity concerns for adults can conflict with racial equity concerns for children, what charter schools can teach us about district governance, and more.

Vladimir Kogan is a professor of political science at The Ohio State University and the author of No Adult Left Behind: How Politics Hijacks Education Policy and Hurts Kids.

Some say AI is the future of education, but there are reasons for skepticism, especially if we limit the conversation to the US and other wealthy countries.

However, for many regions of the world—particularly for many low- and middle-income countries—there is strong reason to believe that AI has the potential to be transformative. At least in theory, AI can democratize access to higher-quality instruction in a wide range of subjects and provide individualized feedback in overly large classrooms.

But does this reasoning hold up in practice? How much of a difference can AI make right now? And how can we ensure that AI produces the outcomes we want? On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Martín De Simone.

Martín De Simone is an Education Specialist at the World Bank and, along with Federico Tiberti, Maria Barron Rodriguez, Federico Manolio, Wuraola Mosuro, and Eliot Jolomi Dikoru, is the author of From Chalkboards to Chatbots: Evaluating the Impact of Generative AI on Learning Outcomes in Nigeria.

A lot has happened in education over the last few weeks. Among other things, Congress passed a national school choice program and reshaped the student loan system. The Justice Department pressured the University of Virginia’s president to step down. And the Trump administration began withholding nearly seven billion dollars in education funds that were set to go out by the beginning of July.

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these developments, and more, with Andy Rotherham and Rick Hess.

Note: Since this episode was recorded, twenty-four states have sued the Trump administration for withholding education funds, and the Supreme Court blocked a May order ruling that the Department of Education must reinstate over one thousand employees who were fired earlier in the year.

Andrew J. Rotherham is a co-founder and senior partner at Bellwether and the author of the Eduwonk blog.

Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at AEI.

Show Notes:

The Impoundment Wars, Begun They Have. Plus, Wait, What Just Happened at UVA?

About one month ago, the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a massive bill aimed at advancing President Trump’s domestic policy agenda. Now, the bill is with the Senate.

Included in the bill are huge changes to student lending. In particular, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would make drastic changes to loan limits, repayment plans, and the rules for which programs are eligible to participate in the student loan program.

What is the rationale behind these changes? How would these changes affect students and schools? And will the One Big Beautiful Bill Act become law?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Preston Cooper.

Preston Cooper is a senior fellow at AEI, where he studies higher education policy. He also serves on the Board of Visitors for George Mason University.

Show Notes:

Senate Embraces “Do No Harm” for Higher Education

The Senate’s Higher Education Reforms Are Strong (But Could Be Stronger)

How The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” Would Hold Colleges Accountable For Outcomes

When schools went remote during the pandemic, internet access became essential, but not all students had access to a high-quality connection. So, in the summer of 2020, Chicago launched Chicago Connected to provide free broadband for students in the city who needed it most. But, according to a recent paper, Chicago Connected did not help all students equally.

In Heterogeneous Effects of Closing the Digital Divide During COVID-19 on Student Engagement and Achievement, authors Jared N. Schachner, Nicole P. Marwell, Marisa de la Torre, Julia A. Gwynne, and Elaine Allensworth find that participation in Chicago Connected actually “reduced engagement and achievement for low-performing pupils.”

What might be going on here? Should this finding influence how schools approach technology more generally? And how can schools ensure that technology use doesn't increase inequality?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with one of the paper's authors, Jared N. Schachner.

Jared N. Schachner is a research scientist at the USC Price School of Public Policy and an affiliated researcher with the UChicago Consortium on School Research and the Los Angeles Education Research Institute.

A lot has happened over the past couple of weeks. The Trump administration announced that it would go after Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. A judge ordered the Department of Education to rehire the employees it had fired. And the Supreme Court split 4–4 on Oklahoma’s religious charter school. —And all of that was just on May 22.

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these developments, and more, with Andy Rotherham and Rick Hess. Nat, Andy, and Rick discuss the advantages and potential drawbacks of universities enrolling large numbers of international students; what the Trump administration stands to gain by going after Harvard; what we can expect at the Department of Education moving forward; whether religious charter schools will make their way back to the Supreme Court; TACO; pushback against equitable grading in San Francisco; and the Education Writers Association.

Andrew J. Rotherham is a co-founder and senior partner at Bellwether and the author of the Eduwonk blog.

Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at AEI.

Show Notes:

A Bit of Context on Trump v. Harvard

“Equitable Grading” Deserves an F

Kids spend hours a day on their phones scrolling through social media. Many have debated whether all this social media use is bad for mental health, but there’s a more basic question that needs to be asked: Does all this social media use promote healthy development?

Does it help kids develop into well-formed adults? Does it help kids become resilient to the challenges they will face in their lives? And does it help kids learn how to interact constructively with their peers?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions and more with Jonathan Haidt. Nat and Jon discuss the importance of imaginative and unstructured play; why parents are so restrictive when it comes to what their children can do in the real world yet so permissive when it comes to what they can do online; what the ideal playground looks like; why a little danger in play is important; whether technology use can explain recent test score trends; whether the social feedback kids get online helps them mature; and what parents and schools can do to push back against the encroachment of technology into kids’ lives.

Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the author of The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.

Show Notes:

After Babel

Let Grow

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus, Andy Rotherham, and Rick Hess break down the latest on the education policy landscape. Nat, Andy, and Rick discuss budget reconciliation, what the creation of a national tax credit scholarship program would mean for school choice, how potential changes to student lending would affect borrowers and schools, why Republicans are interested in increasing the endowment tax, whether DOGE is done for, and why the education research establishment is struggling to adapt to a changed political landscape.

Andrew J. Rotherham is a co-founder and senior partner at Bellwether and the author of the Eduwonk blog.

Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at AEI.

Show Notes:

All the President’s Ivy League Presidents

And You Thought AERA Couldn’t Get Any More Vacuous?

Why Medicaid Matters for Schools

Massive Changes Are Coming for Student Loans

Five years ago, schools shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic. Schooling was remote for the rest of the year, and many schools would remain remote for much of the following year.

Europe took a different approach.

In many European countries, schools reopened that first pandemic spring, only weeks after closing. Schools, officials determined, were safe to reopen.

So: Why did American schools stay closed so long? Why did America not follow Europe’s lead? And why did Europe and the US respond so differently to the same evidence?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with David Zweig.

David Zweig is a journalist and the author of An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions.