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Podcast

#967: Mississippi’s secret? Twenty years of persistence and progress, with Rachel Canter

Rachel Canter Michael J. Petrilli Amber M. Northern, Ph.D. David Griffith, Ph.D.
4.30.2025
 

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Rachel Canter, the founding executive director of Mississippi First and the new director of education policy at the Progressive Policy Institute, joins Mike and David to discuss what really fueled Mississippi’s dramatic gains in student achievement. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber reports on a new study examining the impact of Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program on college enrollment and graduation rates.

Recommended content:

  • Rachel Canter, "Dear Democrats, Republicans Are Eating Your Lunch on Education. What Are You Going to Do About It?," Real Clear Education (May 1, 2025)
  • Rachel Canter, "The Truth About Mississippi’s NAEP Gains," Mississippi First (July 5, 2023)
  • Emily Freitag, “A bold state move to improve reading,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (February 20, 2025).
  • Aaron Churchill, “Ohio’s EdChoice scholarship program improved college outcomes,” Thomas B. Fordham Institute (April 25, 2025).
  • Matthew Chingos, David Figlio and Krzysztof Karbownik, The Effects of Ohio’s EdChoice Voucher Program on College Enrollment and Graduation, Urban Institute (2025)

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

Rachel Canter

Rachel Canter is the Director of Education Policy at the Progressive Policy Institute.

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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