The Harvard EdCast

00:00 – Rethinking the “Best Years” Narrative 01:30 – Are Students in Crisis—or in Transition? 03:00 – What the Data Really Says 05:00 – Loneliness as a Normal Developmental Experience 07:00 – The Expectation Gap 09:00 – When Language Gets Complicated 11:30 – The Institutional Dilemma 13:30 – Meeting Students Where They Are 15:00 – The W-Curve Explained 17:30 – Why the W-Curve Matters 19:00 – Beyo...

00:00 The case for rethinking how we challenge advanced math students 00:49 Why focus on high-performing students during a time of learning recovery 01:09 The tradeoff: prioritizing struggling students vs. supporting advanced learners 02:51 Inside the classroom: the real challenge of differentiation 03:17 Why accelerating students can make teaching more difficult 05:21 The downside of treating mat...

00:00 Why families fixate on elite colleges—and the rise of the “panicking class” 01:15 How rankings shape decisions (and why they mislead) 03:10 The truth about differences between top-ranked schools 04:45 Why choosing a college feels so confusing 06:15 How test-optional, early decision, and the Common App changed everything 08:20 Inside the “black box” of holistic admissions 10:05 Who makes up t...

0:25 — Why reading scores still struggle 2:15 — Rise of the science of reading 5:00 — Aligning leadership to drive reform 7:30 — Consistency and long-term commitment 10:00 — Implementation matters more than policy 12:30 — Where literacy efforts break down 14:30 — What teachers need to do 17:00 — From percentages to individual students 19:00 — Why some states lose momentum . 20:30 — “Mays vs. shall...

0:00 — Introduction 1:05 — The three types of sex education most people receive 3:20 — What comprehensive sexuality education actually means 5:10 — Why consent alone isn't enough 7:00 — Why sexuality education shouldn't be siloed in health class 9:20 — Why conversations about sexuality should start early 11:30 — Teaching body awareness and safety 13:30 — Why kids ask questions about where babies c...

Harvard Graduate School of Education ProfessorKaren Brennan sees classrooms as magical spaces when we begin with curiosity, not just content. “When I think about design process, from the initial moments of young people working on projects, all the way to the end where they've gone through the highs, the lows, the emotional vicissitudes of bringing their ideas into the world, the messy middle throu...

When Doug Larkin and Suzanne Poole Patzelt set out to study the relationship between teacher pay and retention, what they found surprised them. “Without fail, no matter what school we went to, what state we were in, that was always the number one response,” Poole Patzelt says. “We did nothing to put that at the top. That was far and beyond the number one reason why teachers stayed was because of w...

Disagreement is a part of everyday life, yet most of us avoid it whenever possible. Harvard Kennedy School Professor Julia Minson knows where and why our conversations often go wrong and how we can learn to disagree better. Minson, whose research focuses on how people engage with opposing viewpoints, says fear drives avoidance. “Most of these conversations are a pleasant surprise, but people don't...

As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, how should schools teach this foundational document? Harvard lecturer Eric Soto-Shed joins The Harvard EdCast to discuss how civics education is evolving from patriotic education and action civics to media literacy and reflective patriotism. He explains why students should engage not only with the Declaration...

With about one in four children in the U.S. now living in immigrant families, Harvard Associate Professor Gabrielle Oliveira argues that supporting their wellbeing should be a national priority – not just for the children themselves, but for the strength of society as a whole. Yet for many Americans, migration is often seen as risky or even reckless, especially when it involves bringing children a...

Looking back at the early history of U.S. education, Harvard Professor Jarvis Givens says we’ve long told the story in fragments: Native education in one lane, Black education in another, and the rise of white common schools somewhere else. But in his latest research, he shows just how deeply interconnected these histories actually are, particularly how the development of public schools was entang...

Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Jal Mehta knows that education research matters – it has the power to shape schools, classrooms, and policy. Yet, today, in increased political polarization, many may question whether education research can be neutral. “As a researcher, you have a lot of choices about what topics you study. Those choices are driven by a whole variety of things. They'r...

In the wake of the pandemic, tutoring has become a central strategy for helping students recover academically but not all tutoring is created equal. Liz Cohen, vice president of policy at 50CAN, has been closely studying the rapid rise of tutoring programs across the country, especially the emergence of high-impact tutoring as the gold standard. “There's a funny thing about tutoring is that there'...

In an era when many Americans believe the country is too divided to come back together, Tufts University political scientist Eitan Hersh believes higher education has a crucial role to play in bridging divides and he’s putting that belief into practice through a new university center devoted to viewpoint diversity. “What do we want from students when they graduate high school or college,” Hersh sa...

Curiosity is one of our most powerful, yet often overlooked, human drives, especially in education. Elizabeth Bonawitz , associate professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, explains that while there’s no single definition of curiosity, it’s best understood as an internal desire to resolve gaps in our knowledge or a wondering about how the world works. That innate drive begins in infan...

Dreama Gentry grew up in Appalachian Kentucky, in a community often defined by outsiders for what it lacked. But what she saw was strength, connection, and possibility. Today, as the founder and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact, she’s working to make sure the 14 million young people growing up in rural America can see those same possibilities for themselves. “What I see in Appalachia is that a lot...

When educators talk about artificial intelligence, the conversation often begins with excitement about its potential. But for Stephanie Smith Budhai and Marie Heath, that excitement must be matched with caution, context, and critical awareness.  “AI is a piece of technology. It's not human, but it's also not a neutral thing either,” says Budhai, an associate professor in the educational technology...

Congress has passed the nation’s first federal school voucher–style program, set to begin in 2027. Supporters call it a landmark expansion of parental choice, while critics fear it will divert billions from public schools. Harvard Professor Marty West says the program raises important questions about the future of American schooling and even how the program will operate. The new program, part of t...

Schools around the world are cracking down on student cell phones, with many turning to outright bans as a fix for distraction, bullying, or mental health struggles. But as University of Birmingham Professor Vicky Goodyear and Harvard’s Carrie James explain, the story is more complicated than a simple “phones are bad.” “School phone policies alone are not enough to tackle some of the issues that w...

Strategic leadership may be one of the hardest — and most vital — skills for school leaders to master. Liz City , senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a long-time coach to school and system leaders across the country, says strategic leadership is not innate but a skill that can be learned and strengthened over time . “We're in a context which, over the last five years, h...

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the statistics on global education — millions of children, especially in low- and middle-income countries, are spending years in school without mastering foundational skills. But as Harvard Lecturer Robert Jenkins reminds us, we can't afford to stay stuck in what we think we know about the learning crisis. Innovation is not just possible — it’s essential, he says....

Texas and California often appear to be worlds apart when it comes to politics and culture, but the education students are getting – as far as their textbooks go, at least – may not be so different. University of Chicago Assistant Professor Anjali Adukia investigated more than 260 textbooks used in both public and religiously affiliated schools in the two states, analyzing their portrayal of race,...

As a third-grade teacher, Lily Howard Scott noticed how she spoke to students impacted more than just their experience in the classroom. How teachers speak to their students and intentional shifts in language can nurture children’s inner lives, foster self-regulation and reduce perfectionism, she says, and become their inner voice. “The thing about teachers, particularly elementary school teachers...

To succeed in school, in life, and as contributors to a more equitable society, students must be able to recognize, analyze, and challenge systemic injustices, say Harvard Lecturer Aaliyah El-Amin and Boston College Professor Scott Seider. Through their research, they are examining what it truly means to pursue education for justice in K–12 schools. “The kids who are in classrooms right now are ou...

In today’s digital landscape, schools face growing cybersecurity threats that can disrupt learning, compromise sensitive data, and leave administrators scrambling to recover. With cybercriminals becoming more sophisticated, understanding these risks and being prepared is more critical than ever, says Lisa Plaggemier, the executive director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance. “The vast majority...