Education policy maven Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute think tank (AEI), author of books like The Same Thing Over and Over, Letters to a Young Education Reformer, and A Search for Common Ground, offers straight talk on matters of policy, politics, research, and reform. Rick’s takes are his alone and do not represent AEI or Education Week. Follow Rick on Twitter at @rickhess99.
Social Studies
Opinion
What Did the House Speaker Fight Mean? An Education in Civics Can Explain
Teaching students why the House speaker fight mattered—and how to judge the stakes and claims—is the harder part of civics education.
Policy & Politics
Opinion
How the Pandemic Changed Coverage of K-12
Popular topics over the past three years were nowhere to be seen before then.
Policy & Politics
Opinion
2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence: Top 10 Lists
Where scholars rank within their discipline may be more telling than where they rank overall.
Policy & Politics
Opinion
The 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings
The rankings recognize the university-based scholars in the United States who did the most to shape educational practice and policy.
Policy & Politics
Opinion
The 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Scoring Rubric
Rick discusses the methodology used to generate the 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings.
Policy & Politics
Opinion
What It Takes to Be an Effective Public Scholar
On Thursday, Rick Hess will publish the 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. Today, he explains the purpose of those rankings.
Policy & Politics
Opinion
Coming Soon: 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings
Stay tuned for the 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, which will be released right after the new year.
Education
Opinion
The Top 10 Rick Hess Straight Up Columns of 2022
NAEP, pre-K, who decides what gets taught. Those are among the most popular or impactful posts of the year.
School & District Management
Opinion
Searching for Common Ground: How Education Leaders Can Navigate Divisiveness
Being a school board member used to be this anonymous job, but suddenly, the position is at the fulcrum of a lot of controversy.
Student Achievement
Opinion
Everyone Is Looking to Tutoring Right Now. But How Do We Make It Work?
The CEO of the nation's largest online tutoring platform talks about what the pandemic taught him about virtual tutoring.
Classroom Technology
Opinion
3 Guiding Principles for High-Quality Virtual Learning
What separates high-quality virtual programs from unsatisfactory experiences? A former state education CIO weighs in.
School & District Management
Opinion
Pursue School Improvement Through Persuasion, Not Vilification
Neither haranguing opponents nor talking solely to the like-minded is likely to change minds or locate common ground.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Linda Darling-Hammond Wins International Prize for Education Research
The recipient of the 2022 Yidan Prize talks about the divide between research and policy, teacher professional development, and equity.
Personalized Learning
Opinion
To Combat Learning Loss, Schools Need to Overhaul the Industrial-Age Paradigm
One educator-turned-entrepreneur argues that innovative content providers can—and should—do more to sustain learning for students and teachers.