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Podcast

#953: From Biden to Trump: Rank punditry, with Rick Hess

Frederick M. Hess Michael J. Petrilli Amber M. Northern, Ph.D. David Griffith, Ph.D.
1.22.2025
 

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rick Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss education reform (or the lack thereof) during former President Biden’s term and what we might expect from President Trump. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reviews a study on the implementation of college- and career-readiness policies, focusing on the alignment between career and technical education courses and industry-based certifications.

Recommended content:

  • Rick Hess, “Miguel Cardona Is America’s Worst Education Secretary,” American Enterprise Institute (October 25, 2024)
  • Dale Chu, “Fault lines in the MAGA coalition and what they mean for education,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (January 16, 2025).
  • Matt S. Giani, Madison E. Andrews, Tasneem Sultana, Fortunato Medrano, Curricular-Credential Decoupling: How Schools Respond to Career and Technical Education Policy, Annenberg Institute at Brown University (2025)

Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our podcast? Send them to Stephanie Distler at [email protected].

Policy Priority:
Standards & Accountability
Topics:
Governance

Frederick M. Hess is director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The Great School Rethink (Harvard Education Press 2023).

President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Michael J. Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, executive editor of Education Next, editor in chief of the Education Gadfly Weekly, host of the…

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Amber Northern is senior vice president for research at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where she supervises the Institute’s robust research portfolio and…

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David Griffith is the National Research Director at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where he manages or authors reports on various subjects including charter schools, …

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