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NH Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut on State-Driven K-12 Reform

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New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut joins "The Learning Curve" for a fascinating conversation about how to accelerate innovation in schooling and scale creative models, such as the New Hampshire Career Academy and the state's education tax credit scholarship program. Bob and Commissioner Edelblut also discuss the new NAEP results, the importance of objective measures of student performance, and the need to create learning environments that nurture students' curiosity.


Cara and Bob break down the newly released student performance results from NAEP, known as the Nation's Report Card. In Denver, will next week's school board election mean a setback for school choice and accountability? In Detroit, an "equity lawsuit" that could have national implications regarding students' “fundamental right” to a quality education is making its way through the court system.


Newsmaker Interview Guest:

Frank Edelblut is the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education. In his role as commissioner, Edelblut serves on a number of boards, including as a trustee for the University System of New Hampshire. He is a businessman who started his career as a certified public accountant with a large international accounting firm. Edelblut briefly worked as a chief financial officer for a public company, which was sold to a French firm in 2009. He was a Republican candidate for Governor of New Hampshire in 2016. Previously, Edelblut was a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. During his term in the House, he served on the Finance Committee, Special Committee on Pensions and the Child and Family Law Committee. Edelblut attended the University of Rhode Island where he earned a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration – Accounting. He also holds a Masters of Theological Studies from the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.

Commissioner Edelblut tweets at: @NHEdCommr

https://www.education.nh.gov/commissioner/index.htm

Commentary of the Week: Jonathan Butcher in the Chicago Sun-Times: "Tired of the teachers strike? Remember that charter schools are an option."
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/28/20937120/heritage-foundation-charter-schools-cps-strike

Tweet of the Week:

Story links:
The 74 million: A ‘Disturbing’ Assessment: Sagging Reading Scores, Particularly for Eighth Graders, Headline 2019’s Disappointing NAEP Results
https://www.the74million.org/a-disturbing-assessment-sagging-reading-scores-particularly-for-eighth-graders-headline-2019s-disappointing-naep-results/Wall Street Journal: "Denver's Education Stakes"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/denvers-education-stakes-11572391210

NBC News: "How a lawsuit over Detroit schools could have an 'earth-shattering' impact"

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/how-lawsuit-over-detroit-schools-could-have-earth-shattering-impact-n1072721

Next week's guest is Lindsey Burke, Director of the Center for Education Policy, and Will Skillman Fellow in Education Policy, at The Heritage Foundation.

Hosts:
Bob BowdonCara Candal