In the education world over the past few years, a lot of attention has been paid to phonics and balanced literacy and the ways in which reading instruction practices often don’t align with what we know about how students learn to read.

Are there any obvious parallels in math instruction?

Are there bad ideas about how students learn math that prevent students from learning more? Is there a disconnect between math education research and classroom practice? And what does the evidence say about what good math instruction looks like?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Anna Stokke. Nat and Anna discuss common math myths, the quality of math textbooks, whether evidence-based practice is just common sense, mandatory times table tests, the concept of math anxiety, what math professors get wrong about teaching math, and why fads in math education catch on.

Anna Stokke is a mathematics professor at the University of Winnipeg and the host of Chalk & Talk, a podcast about math education.

Last week, more than 1,300 individuals at the Department of Education were laid off, including over 300 at Federal Student Aid, nearly 250 at the Office for Civil Rights, and over 100 at the Institute of Education Sciences. All told, since Trump took office, the workforce at the Department of Education has been cut nearly in half.

What is the operating strategy behind these cuts? What effect will these cuts have on schools? And what do these cuts tell us about the Trump administration’s plans? On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Andy Rotherham and Rick Hess.

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:

Wednesday's Department Of Education Is Full Of Woe. SCOTUS Religious Charter Schools Action. It's OK To Say Diversity. Plus Frozen Fish Pics!

The Incredible Shrinking Department of Education

Running Down DOGE’s Department of Education Receipts

Since the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in NCAA v. Alston paved the way for universities to pay student-athletes, college sports have changed dramatically. Now, the NCAA is asking for an antitrust exemption to help navigate these changes.

The NCAA is surely facing a complex set of challenges, but an antitrust exemption is a big ask. This raises the question: Is an antitrust exemption a reasonable response to the current challenges facing college sports, a uniquely American institution?

Val Ackerman is the commissioner of the Big East Conference. Previously, she was the founding president of the WNBA.

Jim Cavale is the founder of Athletes.org.

Ross Dellenger is a senior college football reporter at Yahoo Sports.

Matthew Mitten is the executive director of National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University.

Katherine Van Dyck is the founder of KVD Strategies.

Note: This episode is adapted from the most recent installment of the American Enterprise Institute’s Education Policy Debate Series, which was held at AEI on February 27. A video recording of the debate can be found here.

Graduation rates have been rising for over a decade. Indeed, even during the pandemic, as students learned less and chronic absenteeism exploded, graduation rates continued to rise.

One important part of this story might be the rise of credit recovery programs. Each year, credit recovery programs help students who have failed a course continue their schooling without repeating a year. But what exactly are credit recovery programs? How do students who participate in online credit recovery programs fare later in life? Can credit recovery courses be improved? And if so, how?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Carolyn J. Heinrich.

Carolyn J. Heinrich is a University Distinguished Professor of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations and Political Science and the Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy, Education and Economics at Vanderbilt University.

Show Notes:

Design Principles for Effective Online Credit Recovery

Failing to Learn from Failure: The Facade of Online Credit Recovery Assessments

Does Online Credit Recovery in High School Support or Stymie Later Labor Market Success?

Mapping the Inequity Implications of Help-Seeking in Online Credit-Recovery Classrooms

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus speaks with Marty West and Mark Schneider about 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results in 4th and 8th grade reading and math. Nat, Marty, and Mark discuss why math scores went up or stayed flat while reading scores declined; potential bright spots in the 2024 results; whether recent score declines should be attributed to factors external to schooling; what makes NAEP the gold standard assessment of US students; what the Florida Commissioner of Education’s recent critique of NAEP gets wrong (and right); how NAEP compares to state assessments; NAEP Proficiency and the increasing number of students performing Below Basic; potential lessons from 2024 NAEP results; and more.

Martin West is the vice chair of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees NAEP. He is also the academic dean and Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the editor-in-chief of Education Next, and a member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Mark Schneider is a nonresident Senior Fellow at AEI. Previously, he was commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which administers NAEP, and was later the director of the Institute of Education Sciences, which houses NCES.

Show Notes:

NAEP Math Results

NAEP Reading Results

States’ Demographically Adjusted Performance on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress

Make the National Assessment of Educational Progress Great Again

In 2022, Sold a Story debuted, bringing renewed attention—and scrutiny—to literacy instruction. Indeed, since Sold a Story came out, at least 25 states have passed reading laws.

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus speaks with Emily Hanford, host of Sold a Story. Nat and Emily discuss why Sold a Story took off, the impact Sold a Story has had on the literacy landscape, the state of investigative journalism in 2025, the pros and cons of podcasting, common misunderstandings of Sold a Story, and more.

Emily Hanford is a senior correspondent and producer at APM Reports and the host of Sold a Story, which was the second most shared show on Apple Podcasts in 2023. New episodes of Sold a Story will be coming out in February.

Show Notes:

Sold a Story

'There's a thoughtfulness about reading in the country today'

New Reading Laws Sweep the Nation Following Sold a Story

This past spring, protests over the war in Gaza roiled college campuses across America. But what sort of effect has the war in Gaza had on college campuses in Israel? What is the mood like on campus when many students are called up to fight? Do courses in the liberal arts feel less relevant in the middle of a war? And how do the practicalities of war affect day-to-day academic operations?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions—and more—with Russ Roberts, president of Shalem College in Jerusalem. Nat and Russ discuss how higher education in Israel is different than higher education in America; what makes Shalem College unique; how the war has affected academic life at Shalem College; whether older students are more receptive to a liberal arts education; what it’s like running a startup college; studying under Gary Becker; how campus protests in America appear from Israel; the effects of Israeli dynamism on campus life; the state of economics; educating leaders; and more.

Russ Roberts is the president of Shalem College, the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, the author of several books, and the host of EconTalk: Conversations for the Curious.

Show Notes:

The New Normal

A Little Light Amid the Darkness

The Sirens of Israel

We are now coming to the end of another year. What were the biggest stories in education this year? What stories didn’t get as much attention as they should have? And what can we expect from the coming year?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with three education journalists: Dana Goldstein of The New York Times, Linda Jacobson of The 74, and Eric Kelderman of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Show Notes:

The Youngest Pandemic Children Are Now in School, and Struggling

The Death of School 10

Texas Has Big Goals for College Completion. In Places Like the Coastal Bend, How to Get There Is Still Murky.

The Distortions of Joan Donovan

When a Department Self-Destructs

In a State With School Vouchers for All, Low-Income Families Aren’t Choosing to Use Them

Exceptional students often become exceptional adults who help drive scientific progress and economic growth. But without mentors to identify and develop their talents, many of these exceptional students will not make good on their potential. So: How can we make sure that more exceptional students have access to the mentors they need? How exceptional do these mentors need to be? And how many exceptional students are we currently missing out on? On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Ian Calaway.

Ian Calaway is a PhD candidate in Economics at Stanford University and the author of the recent paper Early Mentors for Exceptional Students. He is currently on the academic job market.

Show Notes:

Early Mentors for Exceptional Students

Many education researchers spend a lot of time studying how students learn, but if their findings don’t make their way into the classroom, they are only so useful. For example, researchers have known about the benefits of phonics for decades, but despite these benefits, many teachers were not using phonics in their classrooms.

So: Why don’t research-based practices make their way into the classroom? What research-based practices that aren’t currently well-known among teachers should teachers try to implement? And if a school wants to promote a research-backed approach among its teachers, how should it go about doing that?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Greg Ashman. Nat and Greg discuss why many teachers in education programs learn about learning styles, but not phonics or behavior management; the many different meanings of explicit teaching and direct instruction; cognitive load theory and the importance of understanding the constraints of working memory; how schools can approach curriculum and teacher training more systematically; field trips, group work, and spaced repetition; the importance of creating a coherent school culture; and how to get interventions to stick.

Greg Ashman is the Deputy Principal at Ballarat Clarendon College in Ballarat, Australia, and the author of three books on instructional practice. His Substack is Filling the Pail.

Show Notes:

Filling The Pail

A Little Guide for Teachers: Cognitive Load Theory

The Power of Explicit Teaching and Direct Instruction

The Truth About Teaching: An Evidence-Informed Guide for New Teachers

Principles of Instruction: Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know

Putting Students on the Path to Learning: The Case for Fully Guided Instruction