Education Next

The virtues promoted by a classical education are a subtle subversion in the modern context, argues Michael Rose. My first job out of college was as a teacher at Great Hearts Academies, the largest classical charter school network in the country. When people asked me what a classical school was, I would usually point to the practices that were most visibly different from your typical district school: the great books curriculum, Latin and Greek classes, school uniforms, seminar dis

FAFSA reform was one of Lamar Alexander’s last legislative achievements before retiring from the U.S. Senate in 2020. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is the main form that prospective college students use to qualify for federal grants, loans, and work-study assistance, as well as aid from many states and colleges. Roughly 17 million students and family members use the FAFSA system each year, and at least 6 million students use it as the gateway to paying fo

“Are you a good teammate or a lousy one?” Pete Paciorek, head of leadership and character development at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, asks the school’s baseball players. “I promise you, college coaches are watching.” On an unusually cold late January morning in Bradenton, Florida, a group of 35 middle schoolers in full uniform and cleats arrives at one of IMG Academy’s six baseball fields. While most kids their age are settling into desks for math or English, these 7th- and

The Education Exchange · Ep. 448 – June 22, 2026 – NAEP Scores Higher Among 9-Year-Olds Not Yet in School During Covid Martin R. West, the editor-in-chief of Education Next, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss the recent release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress Long-Term Trends. Follow The Education Exchange on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or here on Education Next. — Education Next TranscriptFull transcription

Rose and Milton Friedman (pictured in 1976) saw a future with universal school choice, and it had winners and losers. Now, 30 years after they established a foundation bearing their name—and five years after universal choice first became a reality—we can see how accurate their vision of the future was. Thirty years ago last month, Milton and Rose Friedman sat down with Gordon St. Angelo to establish what was first known as The Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation for Educational Ch

Public debate over gifted education tends to focus on fairness. Who gets to be called “gifted” and what sort of extras do they receive? Nationwide, more than 12 percent of Asian students and almost 8 percent of white students are enrolled in gifted programs compared to 3 percent of Black students and 4 percent of Hispanic students—differences that have prompted several large districts to rethink their gifted offerings. Seattle Public Schools is weighing plans to sunset its gifted and talented pr

I was recently back on the popular education podcast “(Dis)course or Dat Course” alongside S. Smug Snidely, the celebrity dean of Paymore U’s school of education. We were on with host Ima Fuller-Schlitz, social media stalwart and author of Love, Hate, Relate: The Case for Schools That Put Feelings First, to discuss what recent changes in federal graduate school lending mean for teachers and ed schools. I found the exchange pretty illuminating and thought it worth sharing the transcript.

The Education Exchange · Ep. 447 – June 15, 2026 – Higher Ed Has Withstood Past Innovative Shocks. AI Is Hitting Different. Jacob D. Light, a Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Light’s latest research, which looks into how artificial intelligence is gaining a foothold in higher education. Light’s paper, “How exposed is higher education to Artificial Intelligence?” is available now. Follow Th

The Law and Justice Building in Raleigh, home of the North Carolina Supreme Court, which earlier this year overturned a lower court’s public school funding decision that could have implications for education-funding disputes in other states In education circles, we pay a lot of attention to key U.S. Supreme Court decisions. But most education law plays out in state courts, where even major rulings can go overlooked. To help make sense of what’s been happening in state courts

Doug Walters begins the 2020–21 school year at Twentynine Palms Junior High School teaching students online from an empty classroom. Covid-era school closures exacerbated learning loss that had started years earlier. New results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress released on June 10 have offered what may initially appear to be a glimmer of sunshine on an otherwise gloomy landscape of U.S. education. Scores of 9-year-olds tested in 2025 as part of NAEP’s Long-Term

The policy debate over time in school has focused on the four-day school week. It is an arrangement formally adopted in approximately 850 districts, where schools operate for four slightly longer days per week instead of the traditional five, providing regular three-day weekends to students and teachers. When a district makes the decision to shutter its school doors every Friday or Monday, everyone recognizes that a consequential choice has been made. Researchers study its effects. Parents debat

I’m old-fashioned about public spending. I think we should pay our bills, that deficits are bad, and those spending taxpayer funds are obligated to do so wisely and well. This is how I’ve always approached education spending, especially in Washington. After all, it’s our students who’re going to get stuck with the tab for our borrowing today that subsidizes padded payrolls, bloated bureaucracies, and outsized employee benefits. When presidents Clinton and Obama championed new ed spending as a sm

The Education Exchange · Ep. 446 – June 8, 2026 – Why Cell Phone Bans Are Good for Students, Teachers David Figlio, the Gordon Fyfe Professor of Economics and Education at the University of Rochester, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Figlio’s recent article in Education Next, “Can Banning Cellphones Save Student Learning? Evidence from Florida, home of the first statewide mandate,” co-written with Umut Özek. Follow The Education Exchan

Joe is a 15-year-old who has been feeling “off” for several months. A tough quiz or an awkward social moment turns into something that he obsessively replays. He has trouble falling asleep and often wakes up at 3 a.m. worrying about the upcoming day. His score on the GAD-7, a clinical measure of anxiety, is 12; his pediatrician tells his mom that qualifies as “moderately anxious.” Mom decides to act. The pediatrician gives her a referral for therapy and tells her to check Psychology Today’

In April, Yale University released a report on the state of public trust in higher education. A year in the making, the report is a comprehensive document analyzing why trust in institutions of higher education has declined so precipitously and how Yale, as one such institution, should combat it. It identifies three factors behind this erosion of trust: the price of higher education, an opaque admissions system, and the campus environment for free speech. Underlying all of these is “widespread u

White House transcript of President Donald J. Trump’s remarks to Oakmont Middle School 8th graders during class trip to the White House to commemorate America’s 250th birthday, June 1, 2026. Good morning, children. Wow. Look at all these kids. Incredible, incredible. Are you Trump voters? I don’t see many red hats. That’s okay. My Secret Service let you in anyway. You’re very lucky to be here with the First Lady and me today. It’s a tremendous time to be here. You should be very honored. We’re c

The Education Exchange · Ep. 445 – June 1, 2026 – Growing Enrollment and Public Support for Charter Schools Can’t Break Through Partisan Divide Michael Henderson, associate professor at Louisiana State University, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Henderson’s paper, “Blowback or Buy-In: Public Opinion in Response to Charter School Penetration,” which was presented at “School Choice: Impacts on Participants, Non-Participants, Educators, and Entrepreneurs,” a confe

Sometimes called the Second American Revolution, the War of 1812 is significant both to the history of the United States and the nation’s narrative of forbearance. The bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, depicted in this engraving, inspired lawyer Francis Scott Key to write a poem that eventually became “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Narrative weaved in history is the kind of content the Knowledge Matters Campaign advocates be a part of history and civics curricula.

Lamar Alexander stumps in New Hampshire in 1996 during his first bid for the Republican presidential nomination. The former senator eschewed ideology, instead finding success as a consensus builder, especially in education. Most books about governing start with a theory of how the world works and how to solve its problems. Marxism. Capitalism. Communitarianism. Post-liberalism. The theory is the book’s throughline and takeaway. Works from the modern American right are no different

Since 2018, when the Supreme Court overturned the law that had confined sports betting to Nevada, gambling is far more visible and accessible. Most troubling, it has created a new cohort of at-risk gamblers: teenage boys. Ben is a 17-year-old high school senior who’s experimented with all the classic vices. He’s drunk alcohol a few times—“I like the confidence boost but don’t like feeling out of control”—and twice tried marijuana, which he says only made him paranoid. He vapes on