The Educate Podcast

The Educate podcast is all about education. We care about equity and opportunity and how people learn. We dig deep into education research. We're curious about how research translates into policy — or not. We think good teaching is hard. We think history has a lot to tell us about why things are the way they are. We believe in vivid storytelling.

Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Google

Follow and send feedback: Twitter | Facebook | Email

June 9, 2016

How do we learn better: digital or print?

Do you understand facts better online or in print? New research has massive implications for teaching in the 21st century.

June 2, 2016

Theological schools feel the squeeze

Theological schools are straining for cash as they suffer from drops in enrollment over the past few years. Our guest tells us how they are dealing with it.

May 26, 2016

The ‘invisible tax’ on teachers of color

Our guest says the so-called 'invisible tax' on teachers of color leads to burnout at a time when teachers of color are already leaving the profession more quickly than their white colleagues.

May 5, 2016

Should colleges teach men how to be men?

Should colleges have men's studies majors or men's resource centers? Our guest this week tells us that male college students would get better grades if they rejected stereotypes of hyper-masculinity.

April 28, 2016

‘My frain is bried’: shadowing a student

"Welcome to our world." Educators take an entire school day to shadow a student and walk in their shoes. We find out how it went for one teacher.

April 21, 2016

High school job prep

Want a job? So does every student ever! Maybe career and technical education classes are the way to go. Shaun Dougherty says you could be more likely to graduate and earn more if you do.

April 14, 2016

How tutoring helps students

Private tutoring is no longer just for the rich kids. Our guest tells us how the individual attention improves student learning and graduation rates.

April 7, 2016

Is advanced math necessary?

In our last episode, Andrew Hacker argued that math courses like algebra are unnecessary for most high schoolers. This week's guest couldn't disagree more.

March 31, 2016

Decoding the math myth

Politicians and economists say people need advanced math skills to be successful in the highly technical jobs of the 21st century. But the author of a new book says that's just not true.

March 24, 2016

Writing discipline reform into law

We're working on a documentary that explores the backlash against harsh school discipline practices across the country. This week we talk about state laws that seek to push back against the "zero tolerance" policies of the past.

March 17, 2016

The science gap starts early

A new study shows that what a child knows about science in kindergarten can strongly predict how he or she scores on an eighth-grade science test.

March 10, 2016

Minnesota’s graduation gap

Minnesota has a reputation for having great public education. But if you're Hispanic, black, Asian-American or Native American, your chances of completing high school are worse in Minnesota than in almost any other state.

March 3, 2016

A brief history of school discipline

Research shows suspensions aren't effective at changing kids' behavior. And kids of color are more likely to get kicked out than white kids. This week, we examine the history of harsh discipline in school.

February 25, 2016

Colleges want smart AND nice

The college application process has come under scrutiny in a new report by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It recommends that schools ask students to demonstrate they're making a civic contribution to their local communities, even if that means taking fewer AP courses.

February 18, 2016

What students in remedial english can teach us about K-12 education

Nearly two-thirds of all students who enroll in community college are not "college-ready" in math and/or English. This week we hear from a remedial writing teacher who says many of his students have been traumatized by past K-12 educational experiences.

February 12, 2016

Making sure learning sticks

If you want to really learn something before a big test, put your books down. Research shows that the traditional method of "cramming" for an exam by reading the same thing over and over again, doesn't work. (Rerun from Oct. 2014)

February 4, 2016

When school vouchers are not a leg up

School voucher programs are controversial because they allow students to use public funds to pay for private school. A new paper is one of the first to show a school voucher program actually lowering student test scores.

January 28, 2016

Learning financial literacy

Most teenagers are not learning about personal finance in school, according to an annual survey on financial literacy. Our guest this week says that needs to change.

January 21, 2016

Questioning inequalities in higher ed

College was once considered the path of upward mobility in this country, and for many people, it still is. But research shows that the higher education system can actually work against poor and minority students, because they often end up at colleges with few resources and low graduation rates.

January 15, 2016

Learning as a science

What does research say about how students learn best? A group of deans from schools of education around the country has united to make sure future teachers are armed with information about what works in the classroom.

January 7, 2016

Where are the student voices in ed reform?

A growing coalition of young people claims that student voices are largely missing from discussions of education reform.

December 24, 2015

Most likely to succeed

In most modern work places employees are expected to be self-directed and also work collaboratively. But do conventional public schools do enough to encourage creative and critical thinking?

December 17, 2015

Siblings and the education gender gap

The gender gap in education disproportionately affects poor children. New research looks at siblings to find out why boys born into poverty are less likely to succeed than girls.

December 10, 2015

Where budding chefs learn philosophy, too

Despite what you may have heard about the death of the liberal arts, leaders of one of the nation's top cooking schools, and one of the most prominent military academies say courses in subjects like English, history and philosophy are are key to preparing their students for the professional world.

December 3, 2015

Letting kids fail

A few years ago, writer Jessica Lahey started noticing something troubling about many of her students: they were afraid of making mistakes in the classroom. She writes about this in her new book, "The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed."

« Previous Page