The Learning Curve

This week on The Learning Curve , co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Dr. Helen Baxendale of Great Hearts Academies interview longtime public education champion and Learning Curve co-host Alisha Searcy . Alisha joins the show as a guest to share her story and insights into K-12 public education reform. Herself a product of public-school choice, she discusses how those early experiences shap...

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview University of Maryland Emeritus Professor of English Vincent Carretta . Prof. Carretta explores the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of the first African-American to publish a book of poetry in English, Phillis Wheatley Peters. He offers insight into Phillis’ early life in West A...

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy and Dr. Cara Candal of ExcelinEd interview former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education and co-founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI), Jim Blew . Mr. Blew reflects on his tenure in federal education leadership and his motivation for establishing DFI. He discusses the decades of rising federal K-12 sp...

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy and Helen Baxendale of Great Hearts Academies interview award-winning English historian and biographer,  Dr. Juliet Barker . She offers a rich portrait of the Brontë family, whose timeless contributions have widely impacted English literature and fiction writing. Dr. Barker explores the formative influences of their father, Patr...

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve , co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Walter Blanks interview Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick , who has served as superintendent-director of the Blackstone Valley Vocational Regional School District since 1994. A leader in vocational-technical education, Dr. Fitzpatrick reflects on his own educational journey and offers insights into leadership that puts...

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy and Massachusetts civics teacher Kelley Brown interview Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jack Rakove , Coe Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. Prof. Rakove explores the origins of the American Revolution and U.S. Constitution through the lives of the nation’s Founding Era figures. Reflecting on young John Adams’ vivid dep...

In this special episode of The Learning Curve , guest co-host  Ian Rowe  interviews  Steven Wilson , a senior fellow at Pioneer Institute and founder of the Ascend Charter Network. Their discussion centers on Wilson's new book,  The Lost Decade , which concerns education's shift away from liberal arts and toward social justice ideology and anti-intellectualism. They examine the impact of this shif...

In this week’s episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview  John Burt , the Paul Prosswimmer Professor of American Literature at Brandeis University. Prof. Burt offers rich insight into the life and work of one of the 20th century’s greatest American writers, Robert Penn Warren. Raised in rural southwestern Kentucky, Warren was deeply shape...

In this week’s episode of  The Learning Curve , co-host  Alisha Searcy  and guest co-host Walter Blanks interview  Shaka Mitchell , senior fellow at the American Federation for Children. Mr. Mitchell shares about his compelling personal and professional journey in education reform. Shaka discusses how his formative experiences shaped his passion for expanding charter public schools, school choice,...

In this week’s episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Alisha Searcy  interview  Amanda McMullen , President & CEO of the New Bedford Whaling Museum (NBWM). Ms. McMullen explores NBWM’s remarkable mission, collections, and economic impact on the Southcoast of Massachusetts. She discusses NBWM’s historical roots in the 19th-century Yankee whaling industry...

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Alisha Searcy  interview  Benjamin Moynihan , Executive Director, and,  William Crombie , Director of Professional Development, for the  Algebra Project, Inc . Mr. Moynihan and Mr. Crombie reflect on the life and legacy of Civil Rights era icon, and math educator, Bob Moses. They trace Moses’s journey from...

In this special episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Charlie Chieppo  interview  New York Times  bestselling American sportswriter, biographer, and author  Jane Leavy .  Ms. Leavy offers a vivid exploration of Babe Ruth’s life and towering legacy. Leavy sheds new light on Ruth’s difficult Baltimore childhood, his formative years at St. Mary’s Industrial Sc...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Ret. MN Justice Barry Anderson  speak with  Wilfrid Prest , Emeritus Professor and Visiting Research Fellow in History and Law at the University of Adelaide in Australia, and biographer of Sir William Blackstone, among the most influential figures in the history of English common law. Prof. Prest discusses Black...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng , speak with Michael Duffy , President of GO Tutor Corps, a nonprofit dedicated to closing achievement gaps through high-dosage tutoring in low-income communities. Mr. Duffy shares insights from his distinguished career in public service and education reform, beginning in Massachusetts state govern...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and  Kelley Brown , a Massachusetts U.S. history and civics teacher, interview Pulitzer Prize-winning historian  Rick Atkinson , author of  The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 . Mr. Atkinson explores the rise and fall of British imperial power in North America, the radical leadership of the...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Pioneer's Mary Connaughton  interview  Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon , Harvard Law professor emerita and former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. Ambassador Glendon reflects on her formative education, mentors, and how law and faith have shaped her worldview. She discusses her admiration for Western Civilization’s ...

In this episode of The Learning Curve , co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Alisha Searcy interview Steven Wilson , a senior fellow at Pioneer Institute and a leading voice in education reform. Mr. Wilson discusses his journey into K-12 education policy, reflecting on his early work with Gov. Bill Weld and the landmark 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA), which helped propel the...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview  Dr. Sheila Harrity , former Worcester Tech principal and nationally recognized vocational-technical education leader. Dr. Harrity shares insights from her distinguished career in voc-tech schooling. She discusses how Massachusetts voc-tech schools leveraged provisions of the 1993 Massach...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and  Kelley Brown , a Massachusetts U.S. history and civics teacher, interview Pulitzer Prize-winning historian  Prof. Gordon Wood . Prof. Wood explores the pivotal events and ideas that sparked the American Revolution. He discusses the political tensions of 1775, King George III’s imperial policies, and the colonists’ transformatio...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Dr. Helen Baxendale  interview noted literary biographer,  Dr. Jeffrey Meyers . Dr. Meyers discusses  The Great Gatsby  on its 100th anniversary. He explores F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragic life, his marriage to Zelda, and how their tumultuous relationship shaped his iconic novel. Dr. Meyers delves into the timeles...

In this episode of The Learning Curve , co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dr. James Lynn Woodworth , research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and former commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Dr. Woodworth discusses the role of data in shaping K-12 education policy. He explores the impact of assessments like NAE...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and  Helen Baxendale celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth with Dr. Paula Byrne , Lady Bate , a distinguished biographer and literary critic. Dr. Byrne explores the key influences that shaped Austen’s life, the major themes of her novels, and the enduring relevance of heroines like Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwo...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and  Alisha Searcy  interview  Robert Enlow , president and CEO of EdChoice. Mr. Enlow discusses his decades of leadership in school choice advocacy, from his early work with the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation to spearheading policy reforms nationwide. He examines the persistent stagnation in U.S. K-12 education...

In this episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng  and  Alisha Searcy  interview  Trish Schreiber , senior fellow in education at the Frontier Institute in Montana. Schreiber shares her journey from Silicon Valley to Montana and her passion for expanding educational opportunities. She discusses the impact of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Espinoza v. Mon...

In this week’s episode of  The Learning Curve , co-hosts  Alisha Searcy  and Dr. Helen Baxendale interview Robin Lane Fox , distinguished classicist and Emeritus Fellow at Oxford. Prof. Lane Fox offers profound insights into Homer’s Iliad and its enduring significance. He explores the epic’s historical and literary context, from its roots in oral tradition to its lasting influence on Western cultu...