reeducated

In this episode, I sit down with Christopher J. Lemons, Professor of Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, to explore how research can meaningfully improve outcomes for students with disabilities. We discuss the importance of evidence-based practices in special education, with a particular focus on literacy development and early intervention. Christopher explains how thoughtful i...

In this episode, I sit down with Rachel Elizabeth Williams, Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, to explore how education policy shapes opportunity and inequality. We discuss the ways in which policies are designed, implemented, and experienced by students and educators, and how these processes often reproduce systemic disparities. Rachel shares...

In this episode, I sit down with Peter T. Coleman, Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, to explore why some conflicts become deeply entrenched and so difficult to resolve. We examine the psychological, social, and structural dynamics that drive polarization, f...

In this episode, I sit down with Alex J. Bowers, Professor of Educational Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University, to explore how data can be used to better understand and improve schools. We discuss how educational leaders often rely on intuition and tradition, and how data science offers tools to make more informed, equitable, and effective decisions. Alex explains how patterns in at...

In this episode, I sit down with Deborah J. Stipek, Judy Koch Professor of Education, Emerita, at Stanford University, to explore what truly motivates students to learn. We examine how traditional classroom practices often rely on rewards, grades, and external pressures, and why these approaches can undermine intrinsic motivation. Deborah shares insights from decades of research on achievement mot...

In this episode, I sit down with Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University, to challenge some of the most persistent myths about math learning. We explore the idea of the “math person” and how fixed beliefs about intelligence shape students’ identities and trajectories. Jo explains how neuroscience and classroom research reveal that mathematical ability is far more flexi...

In this episode, I sit down with Howard C. Stevenson, Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education and Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, to explore the concept of racial literacy and why it matters deeply in schools. We discuss how students experience racial stress and how educational institutions often lack the tools to help young people navigate those moments wit...

In this episode, I sit down with Shashank V. Joshi, Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Education at Stanford University, to explore the growing youth mental health crisis and its profound implications for education. We discuss how anxiety, depression, and stress are shaping the lives of students today, and why schools have become critical spaces for identifying and addressing these challenge...

In this episode, I sit down with Thomas Hatch, Professor of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, to examine why education reform so often falls short of its ambitions. We explore decades of reform efforts, from accountability movements to large-scale innovation initiatives, and ask why promising ideas struggle to scale or sustain impact. Tom draws on his research in policy and schoo...

In this episode, I sit down with William A. Pasmore, Professor of Practice of Social-Organizational Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, to explore how institutions actually change. We move beyond surface-level reform conversations and into the psychological and structural dynamics that shape organizational transformation. Bill explains why many change initiatives fail, even when l...

In this episode, I sit down with Matt Villeneuve, Assistant Professor of History and American Indian & Indigenous Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison , to explore how history is constructed, taught, and contested in American education. We examine how national narratives often obscure Indigenous perspectives, and how curriculum decisions reflect deeper assumptions about land, soverei...

In this episode, I sit down with Daniel A. Wagner to explore one of the most urgent global challenges in education: the gap between schooling and actual learning. Around the world, enrollment rates have improved dramatically, yet millions of children leave school without basic literacy skills. Dan explains how international development efforts have historically focused on access, but access alone...

In this episode, I sit down with Alexander P. Karp to explore the history and evolution of mathematics education. Rather than treating math instruction as a static system, we examine how curriculum, pedagogy, and expectations have shifted across countries and decades. Alexander draws from his background in Russian and American mathematics education to show how teaching methods reflect deeper cultu...

In this episode, I sit down with Irina Lyublinskaya to explore how technology actually functions in science classrooms. Rather than assuming digital tools automatically improve learning, Irina emphasizes the importance of aligning technology with pedagogy and deep content knowledge. We unpack how frameworks like technological pedagogical content knowledge help teachers think critically about when...

In this episode, I sit down with Myra Strober to explore the economic roots of gender inequality. We trace how labor markets, educational systems, and public policy intersect to shape women’s opportunities over time. Myra reflects on decades of research examining occupational segregation, wage disparities, and the undervaluation of care work. Rather than treating inequality as an individual failur...

In this episode, I sit down with Dani Friedrich to explore how education policy moves across borders and transforms along the way. We examine how global reform agendas, often framed as technical solutions backed by evidence, are shaped by ideology, funding structures, and international institutions long before they reach classrooms. Dani explains how concepts like accountability, effectiveness, an...

In this episode, I sit down with Janine Remillard to unpack one of the most persistent problems in education: why so many people leave school convinced they are “not math people.” Janine argues that the issue is not students’ ability, but how we frame mathematics itself. Too often, math is taught as a rigid set of procedures and symbols rather than as a language for reasoning about the world. We e...

In this episode, I sit down with James Borland to question one of the most accepted ideas in American schooling: giftedness. We explore the history of gifted education, from its early roots in IQ testing and the idea of “supernormal” children to the present-day patchwork of definitions that vary from district to district. Jim argues that giftedness is not a fixed psychological trait but a social c...

In this episode, I sit down with Sharon Ravitch to explore what it really means to conduct responsible research. Rather than treating methodology as a technical checklist, Sharon argues that research is always shaped by values, assumptions, and relationships. We unpack how qualitative inquiry differs from purely quantitative approaches, and why studying human experience requires reflexivity, trans...

In this episode, I sit down with Nancy Kendall to explore why education policy so often fails to produce the outcomes its designers intend. We examine how reforms that appear rational and evidence-based can unravel when they meet political realities, local contexts, and competing interests. Nancy brings a global perspective to the conversation, drawing from her work in international education poli...

In this episode, I sit down with Michael Kamil to unpack one of the most debated topics in education today: the science of reading. Rather than treating literacy reform as a slogan, we explore what decades of research actually say about how children learn to read and why translating research into classroom practice remains so difficult. Michael reflects on his work in large-scale literacy studies...

In this episode, I sit down with Michael Kirst to unpack the machinery behind public education reform. While many conversations focus on classrooms, curriculum, or teachers, Michael pulls back the curtain to show how governance structures, political incentives, and institutional design quietly shape what is possible inside schools. We discuss why reform efforts often look promising on paper but fa...

In this episode, I sit down with Gerald Campano to explore a deceptively simple question: what is literacy actually for? We move beyond the idea of reading and writing as neutral technical skills and examine how literacy is deeply tied to identity, power, culture, and justice. Gerald challenges the assumption that literacy is merely about decoding text. Instead, he frames it as a social and politi...

In this episode, I sit down with Nobel Prize–winning physicist turned education reformer Carl Wieman to explore one fundamental question: what does it actually mean to think like a scientist? We begin with his origin story at MIT, where he discovered that real physics happened not in the classroom, but in the research lab. That experience shaped his entire career. What struck me most was his obser...

In this conversation, I sit down with Anne Pomerantz, Professor of Practice in Educational Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, to rethink what language actually is. We begin with her multilingual upbringing and how growing up in a household filled with Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and English shaped her curiosity about how language works. From there, we move into a powerful critiq...