Some say AI is the future of education, but there are reasons for skepticism, especially if we limit the conversation to the US and other wealthy countries. However, for many regions of the world—particularly for many low- and middle-income countries—there is strong reason to believe that AI has the potential to be transformative. At least in theory, AI can democratize access to higher-quality instruction in a wide range of subjects and provide individualized feedback in overly large classrooms.But does this reasoning hold up in practice? How much of a difference can AI make right now? And how can we ensure that AI produces the outcomes we want? On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Martín De Simone. Martín De Simone is an Education Specialist at the World Bank and, along with Federico Tiberti, Maria Barron Rodriguez, Federico Manolio, Wuraola Mosuro, and Eliot Jolomi Dikoru, is the author of From Chalkboards to Chatbots: Evaluating the Impact of Generative AI on Learning Outcomes in Nigeria.
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Education and the Second Trump Administration, 177 Days In
A lot has happened in education over the last few weeks. Among other things, Congress passed a national school choice program and reshaped the student loan system. The Justice Department pressured the University of Virginia’s president to step down. And the Trump administration began withholding nearly seven billion dollars in education funds that were set to go out by the beginning of July.On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these developments, and more, with Andy Rotherham and Rick Hess.Note: Since this episode was recorded, twenty-four states have sued the Trump administration for withholding education funds, and the Supreme Court blocked a May order ruling that the Department of Education must reinstate over one thousand employees who were fired earlier in the year.Andrew J. Rotherham is a co-founder and senior partner at Bellwether and the author of the Eduwonk blog.Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at AEI.Show Notes:The Impoundment Wars, Begun They Have. Plus, Wait, What Just Happened at UVA?
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Big Changes to Student Lending in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (with Preston Cooper)
About one month ago, the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a massive bill aimed at advancing President Trump’s domestic policy agenda. Now, the bill is with the Senate.Included in the bill are huge changes to student lending. In particular, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would make drastic changes to loan limits, repayment plans, and the rules for which programs are eligible to participate in the student loan program.What is the rationale behind these changes? How would these changes affect students and schools? And will the One Big Beautiful Bill Act become law?On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with Preston Cooper.Preston Cooper is a senior fellow at AEI, where he studies higher education policy. He also serves on the Board of Visitors for George Mason University.Show Notes:Senate Embraces “Do No Harm” for Higher EducationThe Senate’s Higher Education Reforms Are Strong (But Could Be Stronger)How The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” Would Hold Colleges Accountable For Outcomes
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The Unintended Effects of Increased Technology Access (with Jared Schachner)
When schools went remote during the pandemic, internet access became essential, but not all students had access to a high-quality connection. So, in the summer of 2020, Chicago launched Chicago Connected to provide free broadband for students in the city who needed it most. But, according to a recent paper, Chicago Connected did not help all students equally.In Heterogeneous Effects of Closing the Digital Divide During COVID-19 on Student Engagement and Achievement, authors Jared N. Schachner, Nicole P. Marwell, Marisa de la Torre, Julia A. Gwynne, and Elaine Allensworth find that participation in Chicago Connected actually “reduced engagement and achievement for low-performing pupils.” What might be going on here? Should this finding influence how schools approach technology more generally? And how can schools ensure that technology use doesn't increase inequality?On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions, and more, with one of the paper's authors, Jared N. Schachner.Jared N. Schachner is a research scientist at the USC Price School of Public Policy and an affiliated researcher with the UChicago Consortium on School Research and the Los Angeles Education Research Institute.
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Education and the Second Trump Administration, 135 Days In
A lot has happened over the past couple of weeks. The Trump administration announced that it would go after Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. A judge ordered the Department of Education to rehire the employees it had fired. And the Supreme Court split 4–4 on Oklahoma’s religious charter school. —And all of that was just on May 22.On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these developments, and more, with Andy Rotherham and Rick Hess. Nat, Andy, and Rick discuss the advantages and potential drawbacks of universities enrolling large numbers of international students; what the Trump administration stands to gain by going after Harvard; what we can expect at the Department of Education moving forward; whether religious charter schools will make their way back to the Supreme Court; TACO; pushback against equitable grading in San Francisco; and the Education Writers Association.Andrew J. Rotherham is a co-founder and senior partner at Bellwether and the author of the Eduwonk blog.Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at AEI.Show Notes:A Bit of Context on Trump v. Harvard“Equitable Grading” Deserves an F
The Report Card with Nat Malkus is the education podcast of the American Enterprise Institute. It is a hub for discussing innovative work to improve education – from early childhood to higher education – and the lives of America’s children. It evaluates research, policy, and practice efforts to improve the lives of families, schools and students. The Report Card seeks to engage with everyone who is interested in education in an accessible way. It brings guests that are doing compelling work across a spectrum from high level policy changes to innovations at the classroom level, work that will start conversations about improving education and the lives of children more broadly. Each episode lets listeners – policymakers, teachers, and parents –learn relevant information that they can use in their efforts to improve education.
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