Promoting K-12 Education to Advance Student Achievement
Great teachers and great schools have the ability to transform the living standard of Americans. Over the past century, investments in education have boosted the productivity and earnings of American workers, forged a path out of poverty for many families, and developed a productive and innovative workforce. However, those gains have stagnated and even declined in recent years. Despite one of the highest rates of per-pupil spending among industrialized countries, the United States ranks as mediocre on most measures of student achievement.
On September 27, The Hamilton Project at Brookings hosted a forum to highlight new policy ideas and perspectives on how to improve student performance in K-12 education. The Hamilton Project released a new strategy paper and three new policy proposals by outside experts focusing on the use of incentives in education, opportunities for organizational changes to improve performance, and a new approach to accountability for teachers and students. The program concluded with a discussion on the path forward in education reform with Teach for America Founder and CEO Wendy Kopp and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, moderated by David Leonhardt, D.C. bureau chief of the New York Times.
Following each panel, the participants took questions from the audience.
Strategy Paper:
Improving Student Outcomes: Restoring America’s Education Potential – Michael Greenstone, Adam Looney, and Paige Shevlin
Policy Papers:
The Power and Pitfalls of Education Incentives – Bradley M. Allan and Roland Fryer
New Assessments for Improved Accountability – Derek Neal
Organizing Schools to Improve Student Achievement: Start Times, Grade Configurations, and Teacher Assignments – Jonah Rockoff and Brian Jacob
Agenda
9:00 AM -- Welcome
Overview of Hamilton Project Strategy Paper
Roger C. Altman
Founder and Chairman
9:15 AM -- Panel I: The Power and Pitfalls of Incentives in Education
Michael Greenstone
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Economic Studies
Author: Roland Fryer
Professor of Economics, Harvard University
Discussant: Peter Gorman
Senior Vice President, Education Services, News Corporation
Discussant: Tom Boasberg
Superintendent
Discussant: Robert L. Hughes
President
Discussant: Michael Mulgrew
President
10:05 AM -- Panel II: Picking the Low-Hanging Fruit in the Public School System
Michael Greenstone
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Economic Studies
Brian A. Jacob
Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy; Professor of Economics, and Professor of Education - University of Michigan
Former Brookings Expert
Discussant: Peter Gorman
Senior Vice President, Education Services, News Corporation
Discussant: Tom Boasberg
Superintendent
Discussant: Robert L. Hughes
President
Discussant: Michael Mulgrew
President
11:10 AM -- Panel III: A Different Approach to Accountability in American Education
Michael Greenstone
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Economic Studies
Discussant: Peter Gorman
Senior Vice President, Education Services, News Corporation
Discussant: Tom Boasberg
Superintendent
Discussant: Robert L. Hughes
President
Discussant: Michael Mulgrew
President
12:00 PM -- Roundtable Discussion: Lessons Learned from Education Reform and the Path Forward
Moderator: David Leonhardt
D.C. Bureau Chief
Wendy Kopp
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder - Teach For All
More Information
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