The coming decade holds immense potential for dramatic improvement in US education and in the achievement of American children—provided that we seize the opportunities at hand and are not deterred by the obstacles to change. In this volume, members of the Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K–12 Education examine both the potential gains and the pitfalls that lie ahead, informed by where US education has been, what changes—some, but not all, for the better—have been made in recent years, and what’s still required for the comprehensive overhaul that this vital enterprise so urgently needs.
Chester E. Finn Jr. is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and chairman of the task force. A former assistant US secretary of education, he also serves as president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Richard Sousa, senior associate director and research fellow at the Hoover Institution, is an economist who specializes in human capital, discrimination, labor market issues, and K–12 education.
In the media
April 24, 2014
Has Ed Reform Failed?
by Terry M. Moe
Real change won’t come until we strip teachers unions of their power.
April 1, 2014
We Need Better Teachers
by Eric Hanushek
For the sake of K–12 students, we need to validate and reward our best instructors and get rid of our worst ones.
March 24, 2014
Evidence-Based Debates on Teacher Quality
by Eric Hanushek
The world of education is moving steadily toward reliance on evidence, even with the possibility for misinterpretation. Moreover, the evidence on teacher quality issues is beginning to win the day.
March 20, 2014
The Curriculum Wars
by Tom Loveless
For years, progressives and traditionalists have been battling out what our children learn.
March 10, 2014
Rewarding and Employing Teachers Based on Their Value-Added
by Caroline M. Hoxby
In recent years, researchers have demonstrated that individual teachers differ substantially in their value-added—their propensity to raise students' achievement...
March 5, 2014
The Global Achievement Gap
by Caroline M. Hoxby
American students are falling behind in the international economy. Here’s how they can catch up.
March 5, 2014
The Curriculum Wars Live On: Two Contemporary Flash Points
by Tom Loveless
Two powerful changes lie ahead that have the potential to provoke controversy by inflaming the old progressive-traditionalist philosophical debates.
February 25, 2014
No (Gifted) Child Left Behind
by Chester E. Finn Jr.
Though we’ve made enormous strides in K–12 education, we are neglecting our smartest and often poorest kids.
