The Report Card with Nat Malkus – Details, episodes & analysis

There’s a popular narrative according to which the financial benefits of going to college aren’t what they once were. College is increasingly unaffordable. College doesn’t pay off like it used to. And college is only worth it if you go to the most selective schools.

But is this narrative right? Are college costs going up? How do college costs in the US compare with college costs in other countries? What is the return on investment (ROI) like for students at different schools? How does ROI differ by major? And is there a student loan crisis?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Preston Cooper.

Preston Cooper is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies ROI in higher education, student lending, and higher education reform.

Show Notes:

ROI in Higher Education (Estimates ROI for 53,000 different degree and certificate programs.)

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus speaks with Brian Jacob about the ways in which the pandemic changed the grammar of schooling. Nat and Brian discuss the pandemic’s effects on student technology use, parent-teacher communication, and individualized instruction; why pandemic-era changes seem more durable in high schools and middle schools than in elementary schools; whether charter schools changed as much during the pandemic as conventional public schools did; what the pandemic’s effects on schools can teach us about how schools will use AI; whether changes to schooling are driven by students’ needs or by other factors; whether teachers are optimistic about the state of schooling; hybrid education, ESSA, and the juvenile detention system; and more.

Brian Jacob is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy and Professor of Economics at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Show Notes:

Did COVID-19 Shift the “Grammar of Schooling”? (coauthored with Cristina Stanojevich)

The Lasting Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on K-12 Schooling: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Teacher Survey

Over the past couple weeks, as campus protests and crackdowns on campus protests have captured the nation’s attention, it has become increasingly clear that something is wrong with the civic culture at universities.

But how do we change course? How do we create a healthier civic culture on campus? And how can we train the next generation of Americans both to respect freedom of speech and be respectful in disagreement?

On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Paul Carrese. Nat and Paul discuss the proper content and aims of civic education, why civic education matters, whether civic education is too boring, how individuals benefit from civic education, whether civic education is conservative, why universities have turned away from civic education, whether civic education is indoctrination, Arizona State University's School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, when it is appropriate for state governments to get involved in deciding what courses college students should take, why private universities should create schools of civic thought, and more.

Paul Carrese is a professor in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University and served as its founding director from 2016–2023.

Show Notes:

How Civics Can Remedy Higher Education’s Decline

A New Birth of Freedom in Higher Education: Civic Institutes at Public Universities

Civic Thought and Leadership: A Higher Civics to Sustain American Constitutional Democracy

Now that the 2020 elections have (mostly) wrapped up, what’s the education policy forecast for next year and beyond? Will education be a top priority for the Biden administration? Have voters changed the outlook for expanded private school choice? What should accountability look like in 2021? Tony Bennett, who served as Florida and Indiana’s education chief, and Joanne Weiss, who served as Chief of Staff to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, discuss these questions and more on this episode of “The Report Card with Nat Malkus.”

Despite pollsters’ predictions, this election has turned out to be a nail biter. Amid this uncertainty, what’s the post-election outlook for education? On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus moderates a discussion with Third Way’s Lanae Erickson, Donna Harris-Aikens of the NEA, Roberto Rodriguez of TeachPlus, and AEI’s own Rick Hess and Jason […]

The post What will the 2020 elections mean for education? appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

As most schools pass the halfway point of this tumultuous semester, one question continues to loom large: Should schools be reopening for in-person learning? That contentious question was the topic of a recent AEI web event featuring Report Card host Nat Malkus; Emily Oster of Brown University; Sarah Cohodes of Columbia University; Susan Enfield of Highline Public Schools; and Marla Ucelli-Kashyap of the American […]

The post Should we be sending K–12 students back to school in person? appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

As schools confront massive budget shortfalls in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it is critical that they examine how they might use existing funding more efficiently. On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus talks with Byran Hassel about how districts might rethink their staffing models in a way that will increase students’ access to excellent teachers […]

The post Rethinking School Staffing appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

Now, more than ever, it’s critical that school districts examine how to make the most of each and every dollar they receive. On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus talks with Chad Aldeman about ways states and districts might rethink two of their most significant costs—pensions and healthcare. Chad is a senior associate […]

The post Rethinking Teacher Benefits appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

As K-12 classrooms remained shuttered in many parts of the country, childcare and early learning centers are reopening—or, in some cases, never closed in the first place. What lessons might they offer to school administrators and policymakers working to bring kids back to school? On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus talks COVID […]

The post Reopening K-12 Schools: Lessons from Childcare appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

Nat Malkus talks with three superintendents about the planning that went into students’ return to learning and the challenges that lie ahead

The post Inside School Reopening Plans: Superintendent Perspectives appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.