The Hoover Institution Education Summit features discussions with scholars, educators, activists, and other experts about the formulation and advancement of policies aimed at improving outcomes for American K–12 students. The idea for an education summit was conceptualized by Condoleezza Rice, who, since taking leadership of the Hoover Institution in 2020, has stressed the importance of quality education opportunities, especially in helping disadvantaged and minority youth overcome discrimination and achieve true social, political, and economic equality. The summit was organized by Macke Raymond, Hoover's distinguished research fellow and founder and director of Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO).
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Dinner
Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution, and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy
Convening Opening
Margaret “Macke” Raymond, Distinguished Research Fellow, Hoover Institution
Session 1: The Road to the Present: The Nation’s School Reform Journey
The 1983 report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform set in motion decades of policy and practice changes, giving rise to what we know today as the modern school reform movement. Looking back over the last 40 years, what has changed for students and schools in America? What has been the result of the efforts, attention, and resources deployed to improve schools? Are there “lessons learned” that can help guide post-No Child Left Behind improvement strategies?
Eric Hanushek, Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
Thomas S. Dee, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, and the Barnett Family Professor, Graduate School of Education
Michael Hartney, Bruni Family Fellow, Hoover Institution
Moderator: Stephen Bowen, Distinguished Policy Fellow, Hoover Institution
Session 2: Tectonics and the Shifting Landscape for US Education
School systems everywhere face shifting economic, demographic, and political pressures that will dramatically reshape the K-12 public school landscape as never before. Hoover scholars will share recent work from the “Tectonics Project,” data visualizations and analyses showing how the changes differ across locations and how the cumulative impact of multiple shifts will affect similar communities in strikingly different ways. The net implication for school systems is a need for adaptation that is likely to exceed current abilities. The project also guides leaders through self-study questions to consider for mid- and long-term plans and strategies.
Margaret “Macke” Raymond, Distinguished Research Fellow, Hoover Institution
James (Lynn) Woodworth, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution
Session 3: The Education Futures Council Report
In the fall of 2023, the Hoover Institution formed the Education Futures Council to review and analyze the state of public education in America. The Council’s report calls for a new approach that focuses on organizing for student-based results—flipping the system from top-down to bottom-up—minimizing mandates while embracing incentives, and cultivating and rewarding professional mastery in the education workforce. In this conversation, we will hear three Council members reflect on the need for dramatic change for our K-12 education system, the required imperatives to ensure student success, their experience working together, and the potential of the new model.
Jean-Claude Brizard, President and CEO Digital Promise Global
Andrew Luck, General Manager, Stanford Football, Stanford University
Frances Messano, CEO, NewSchools Venture Fund
Moderator: Sally Bachofer, Policy Fellow, Hoover Institution
Keynote
Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar, President of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Session 4: Proposed Change: “Flipping the System”
Over the past 40 years, the general approach to improving K-12 public school education involved directives that originated far from classrooms, imposed via regulation or mandate. Little consideration was paid to local conditions, and little attention was paid to successful examples.The push for rapid results produced frequent churn of reforms which limited local agency and adaptation. Looking forward, how can we rebalance responsibility and accountability for student learning? Who is best suited to manage the trajectory of student performance, and how can we ensure improvement will happen?
Manny Diaz, Commissioner, Florida Department of Education
Philip Howard, Author, and Chair of Common Good
Jeremy Tucker, Superintendent, Liberty Public Schools, Missouri
Moderator: Jim Peyser, Former Massachusetts Secretary of Education
Session 5: Towards a New Professionalism
Teachers and school leaders provide a critical public service. Their critical role in developing our upcoming generations deserves better general understanding as well as reinforcement for high performance.In The Education Futures Council’s report, the new design for K-12 education recasts the professional status and recognition for educators, and builds a path to a new professionalism. Drawing from current polling, research, and advocacy, this panel will share insights to help understand the current tensions surrounding, and demands placed on, educators, in addition to local-level efforts to re-frame teacher supports, performance, and compensation.
Patrick Kelly, Teacher, Richland School District 2, South Carolina
Mike Miles, Superintendent of Schools, Houston Independent School District
Evan Stone, CEO and Co-founder, Educators for Excellence
Jenn Vranek, Founding Partner and Managing Partner, Education First Consulting
Moderator: Holly Boffy, Principal, W.D. & Mary Baker Smith Career Center, Lafayette, Louisiana
