Marc Tucker was president of the National Center on Education and the Economy. For two decades, his research focused on the policies and practices of the countries with the best education systems. This blog is no longer being updated.
Federal
Opinion
Looking for a Good Education Planning Model? Consider Shanghai's
Marc Tucker gives an inside look at how Shanghai developed an education reform agenda that was inclusive, thoughtful and effective.
Student Achievement
Opinion
Preparing Students for the Gig Economy, Automation, and Uncertainty
If you could design an education system for an entire state or nation, what would it look like? Marc Tucker details some important considerations for building an education system to prepare students for a changing global economy.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
High Poverty, High Achievement in Hong Kong
Marc Tucker details a recent visit to a school in a high-poverty Hong Kong neighborhood and asks: Could such a success story happen in the United States?
School & District Management
Opinion
Hong Kong: In the Crosshairs of the Future
Hong Kong's high-performing education system faces new challenges, but if its history of successful reforms is continued, Marc Tucker argues it is more than capable of making the needed changes.
Education Funding
Opinion
Support Those Who Want to Work, Not Those Who Don't
Following up on his previous piece on the potential pitfalls of a universal basic income, Marc Tucker explains the types of income and education supports that can help workers coping with the impacts of advancing automation and economic globalization.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Paying People Not to Work
Interest in creating a so-called universal basic income is gaining popularity from Switzerland to Silicon Valley. Marc Tucker explores the serious questions this raises about the type of society and economy we want.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Making Youth Apprenticeships Work
Marc Tucker explains why apprenticeship rates in the U.S. have lagged those of other developed economies and what the world's best apprenticeship systems can teach us about how to build a system that works for our students.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Reauthorizing the Perkins Act: Setting States Up to Succeed
Marc Tucker explains how the reauthorization of the Perkins Act presents an opportunity to address the urgent need to greatly improve our career and technical education system.
Student Achievement
Opinion
Let's Get Serious About Career and Technical Education
In the second part of a series on career and technical education, Marc Tucker argues that CTE should be both academically demanding and result in a meaningful credential for graduates.
Education Funding
Opinion
Career and Technical Education: What's the Goal?
Career and technical education is gaining much-needed attention, but are we building the kind of system that will deliver the skills our students need to compete?
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
The Wisdom of Old Books
Marc Tucker shares and discusses some of the books that have over the decades informed, shaped, challenged and broadened his thinking on education.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
ESSA: Time for the States to Seize the Initiative
Marc Tucker explains that giving states more authority through ESSA is an invitation to think big, to reinvent state education systems to meet the enormous challenges states are facing. And he issues an invitation to states willing to meet that challenge.
Professional Development
Opinion
How to Get a First-Rate Teacher in Front of Every Student
Marc Tucker discusses insights on teacher quality from a recent panel discussion with researchers from Linda Darling-Hammond's upcoming NCEE-funded international study
Federal
Opinion
A Presidential Agenda for the Americans Left Behind
Marc Tucker on how and why the next President of the United States should make education and workforce training his or her top priority.