Month: July 2026

EdNext Podcast: Why Do Field Trips Matter? – by Education Next

Randomized experiments that send some students to visit art musuems and live theater performances find that these field trips help children develop critical thinking skills and values like empathy. In this episode of the podcast, Jay Greene talks with Marty West about why he studies field trips, why we shouldn’t focus only on boosting reading and math scores, and why kid...

Bush-Obama School Reform: Lessons Learned – by Frederick Hess

On Tuesday at AEI, along with my friend and colleague Mike McShane, I hosted a conference on “Bush-Obama School Reform: Lessons Learned.” The papers that were presented examined an array of issues, including lessons learned on accountability, standards, school turnarounds, teacher quality, research, state capacity, and more. You can check out the summary, read the p...

In the News: A Very Bad Bargain – by Education Next

Does collective bargaining by teachers help or hurt students? An editorial in the Wall Street Journal refers readers to a recent study that tries to answer this question. In “A Bad Bargain: How teacher collective bargaining affects students’ employment and earnings later in life,” the professors conclude: “We find strong evidence that teacher collective bargaining has a negativ...