Class Disrupted

Diane and Michael wade into the hot-button topic of teachers’ unions for the first time in Class Disrupted. What role are they playing in school closures and reopenings—and how they can help or hinder innovation in schools?

Diane and Michael dig into the debate among educators around requiring students to turn on their video cameras during live classes, and ask whether policies that punish students for not having their cameras on miss a bigger set of opportunities. Speaking of opportunities, they discuss if we’re missing a big one by not encouraging mastery Continue reading "Season 2, Episode 7: Turn on your vi...

Diane and Michael tackle the question of who the next secretary of education might be by starting with what the US Department of Education actually does. And in the wake of California’s announcement that it will shorten its annual tests by half, they debate how–and whether–annual testing should take place this spring.

Diane talks through the considerations and challenges in reopening schools – and what that term even means – to help all stakeholders think through the central purpose of schooling and how we might measure success in this strange school year.

Michael and Diane tackle the thorny – and often emotional – question of sports and schools in this latest episode, as well as how to think about a change GreatSchools made recently to its school rating formula to try and decouple a school’s rating from the income level and racial makeup of its students.