When remote learning started up this spring, a number of school districts initially forbade teachers from introducing new content in an effort to prevent achievement gaps from widening. Instead of teaching new knowledge, teachers were told to focus on maintaining previously learned skills. In subjects like reading, this focus on skills over content has long been the norm. Indeed, “teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” was the operating theory most schools followed long before the pandemic struck. But what if schools have it all wrong? What if it’s not a disparity in skills that’s behind the achievement gap, but a disparity in knowledge? That’s the argument that Natalie Wexler makes in her book, The Knowledge Gap: The hidden cause of America’s broken education system — and how to fix it.

Wexler joined Nat Malkus on The Report Card last year to explain why background knowledge—the sort of thing many schools stopped teaching back in March—is more critical to reading comprehension than disembodied skills.

To say that the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most significant disruptions our education system has ever faced is hardly an understatement. Back in March, without a warning, 50 million students were shut out of school buildings and asked to engage in new modes of learning. Now, with less than a month left of school in many districts, students, parents, and educators are wondering what school will look like in the fall. Will the once familiar routine of taking the bus to school at 8:00 AM and back home at 3:00 PM return? Will students be eating in the cafeteria—or at their kitchen table?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus speaks with former Tennessee Commissioner of Education and current National Institute for Excellence in Teaching CEO Candice McQueen, as well as AEI resident scholar and director of education policy studies Rick Hess, about what it will take to reopen schools in the fall. McQueen and Hess, co-authors of AEI’s recently released “Blueprint for Back to School,” weigh in on the many considerations that school leaders should keep in mind when drafting back-to-school plans, from staffing to assessments to transportation.

In mere weeks, coronavirus toppled a longstanding pillar of our education system: students receiving in-person instruction from teachers. In the face of this turbulent change, teachers around the country have stepped up to help their students—and their colleagues—adapt to these constraints.

Today, Nat talks with three teacher-leaders who are forging a path for successful distance learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. Joining are Jodie Jantz, a science teacher at Goodrich Middle School in Lincoln, Nebraska; Megan Helberg, Nebraska’s 2020 Teacher of the Year and an English teacher at Burwell Junior-Senior High School in Burwell, Nebraska; and Kansas’s 2013 teacher of the year, Dyane Smokorowski, an innovation and technology lead teacher in Andover Public Schools in Andover, Kansas.

Coronavirus has forced the closure of nearly all schools in America. In this unprecedented situation, school districts are confronting a host of immediate and long-term concerns, from making sure that students still have access to food to shifting whole systems to online learning. At the helm of these embattled school districts are superintendents.

Nat Malkus talks with two former superintendents about the issues superintendents are dealing with amid the coronavirus pandemic. Joining Nat are Josh Starr, who previously oversaw of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland and Stamford Public Schools in Connecticut, and Duncan Klussmann, who served as superintendent of Spring Branch Independent School District in Texas.

The world of higher education has increasingly come under fire in the past few years. As concerns about rising tuition costs, workplace readiness of graduates, and inequitable admissions practices have become widespread, criticisms of colleges have become more vehement.

Minerva is taking these challenges head-on. Founded by former Snapfish CEO Ben Nelson in 2011, the San Francisco based educational venture aims to disrupt the status quo of higher education, create the world’s premiere university, and bring its model to colleges and universities around the country.

On February 14^th, 2018, a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, killing 17 students and staff members. It was the deadliest school shooting in American history. In the following weeks and months, debates raged about what could have prevented the tragedy, and conversations about gun control and mental health policy took center stage.

For Andrew Pollack, father of 18 year old victim Meadow Pollack, and education researcher Max Eden, Parkland was the most avoidable mass shooting in American history. In their book published last year, “Why Meadow Died: The People and Policies that Created the Parkland Shooter and Endanger America’s Students,” they offer their take on how the shooting could have been avoided. Max joins host Nat Malkus to discuss the book and school safety lessons he hopes everyone will learn from Parkland.

No charter school network has generated as much controversy as New York City’s Success Academy. Founded in 2006 by Eva Moskowitz, the schools have gained renown for their unprecedented success on standardized tests. At the same time, some critics have forcefully criticized Moskowitz and aspects of the schools’ culture.

In this episode, Host Nat Malkus talks to Robert Pondiscio, author of “How the Other Half Learns: Equality, Excellence, and the Battle Over School Choice”. Pondiscio spent a year embedded in a Success Academy school, observing what makes Moskowitz’s model so distinctive. Pondiscio not only offers a fascinating window into Success, but discusses vital political questions surrounding public education and school choice.

The practice of vaping—or smoking e-cigarettes—has risen dramatically in recent years among American high school students. And schools are trying to figure out how to stop this troubling trend.

Host Nat Malkus talks to former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb to explore how teen vaping affects students and schools. Substance abuse counselor Milagros Vascones-Gatski and Evie Blad, a reporter from Education Week, also join Nat to discuss ways to address the problem.

Social emotional learning – explicitly teaching students skills such as managing their emotions, showing empathy, and building positive relationships – has gained ground in American schools. After all, time management, conflict resolution, and other social skills are essential to success in life and career.

Host Nat Malkus talks to Jackie Jodl and Robert Pondiscio about the benefits (and possible pitfalls) of social emotional learning. What does social emotional learning look like in practice? How is it distinctive from the natural relationship-building that has always taken place in schools?

Earlier this fall, the annual US News & World Report college
rankings were released. Princeton and Harvard again topped the list, followed by a handful of other elite institutions. Do these rankings give students valuable information? How do students approach the process of choosing a college? How should they go about it?

In this episode, host Nat Malkus talks to Michael Horn about his new book Choosing College: how to make better learning decisions throughout your life. They discuss how students can be better consumers in the college process, and what role parents, guidance counselors, colleges, and policymakers can play in facilitating students’ college decision-making journey.