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Podcast

#971: A “Quality Check” on school accountability, with Tom Toch and Lynn Olson

Tom Toch Lynn Olson Michael J. Petrilli Amber M. Northern, Ph.D. #971: A “Quality Check” on school accountability, with Tom Toch and Lynn Olson
5.28.2025
 

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast, Tom Toch, director of FutureEd, and Lynn Olson, former deputy director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, join Mike and David to discuss Lynn’s new paper, “Quality Check: The New, Best Way to Measure School Performance.” Then, on the Research Minute, Amber shares a study on the economic effects of Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs, showing that UPK boosted workforce participation across nine states and cities.

Recommended content:

Quality Check
From the report, “Quality Check: The New, Best Way to Measure School Performance,” by Lynn Olson
  • “Quality Check: The New, Best Way to Measure School Performance” —Lynn Olson, FutureEd
  • “A New, Bipartisan Agenda for Raising Student Achievement” —Tom Toch, FutureEd
  • “The Full Measure of a School” —Erik W. Robelen, Education Next
  • “Ready or Not? A New Way to Measure Elementary and Middle School Quality” — Jing Liu, Seth Gershenson, and Max Anthenelli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
  • “Universal Pre-K as Economic Stimulus: Evidence from Nine States and Large Cities in the U.S” — C. Kirabo Jackson, Julia A. Turner, and Jacob Bastian, NBER (May 2025)

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

Policy Priority:
Standards & Accountability
Tom Toch
Tom Toch
Lynn Olson
Lynn Olson

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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