Are teachers paid too much? It's a question that would ignite heated debate at the most mellow of cocktail parties. But it's a question that AEI took head-on this year.

For years, colleges of education have come under fire from critics on the left and right who have charged them with mediocrity, ideological agendas, and a failure to recruit and prepare excellent educators. Meanwhile, the national teaching landscape in the last decade has been altered by innovations like High Tech...

If education philanthropists want to influence policy, then they must open themselves to more public debate about their  plans and goals.

Steven Brill’s Class Warfare is an immensely readable take on a slice of the “school reform” movement and an intriguing look at some key individuals in that effort. But, as is shown by its treatment of philanthropy, the book is perhaps more revealing for what its author omits—and how its blinkered view can mislead readers on big questions.

When asked how to boost America’s educational competiveness, a staple response is the emphatic assertion that we need to be more like nation X.  But, just for a moment, let’s entertain the radical proposition that a better course is to tap into uniquely American strengths like federalism, entrepreneurial dynamism, and size and heterogeneity.

A century from now, observers may well identify the last months of 2011 as the start of higher education’s Great Disruption.

While the 1960s differentiated staffing movement fueled a new era of teacher quality consciousness, it failed to ignite the transformative reforms its leaders hoped for. If this innovative design is to take hold in 21st century schools, as we propose, then we should take a good long look in the rearview mirror before setting a new course.

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Researchers have long found that teachers with experience are more effective at raising student achievement than new teachers. Yet, high rates of teacher turnover, particularly among those in poorly performing schools, have obstructed this in practice. While pecuniary...