Education has become an economic imperative for American workers. On September 27th The Hamilton Project at Brookings hosted a forum to discuss new approaches to promoting attainment and achievement in K-12 education. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan delivered featured remarks, highlighting recent progress on education reform, the difficult work still ahead, and the need for innovation to help advance reform efforts.
The Hamilton Project released a series of economic facts about K-12 education in addition to three new discussion papers by outside authors— “Staying in School: A Proposal to Raise High School Graduation Rates,” “Learning from the Successes and Failures of Charter Schools,” and “Harnessing Technology to Improve K-12 Education.” Harvard University Professor Roland Fryer, a recent MacArthur Foundation Genius Award Winner; Terry Grier, Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District; Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Education Association; and Democracy Prep Schools Founder and Superintendent Seth Andrew were among the panelists to discuss the new proposals.
Agenda
Welcome and Introductions
Robert E. Rubin
Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
Staying in School: A Proposal to Raise High School Graduation Rates
Author: Phil Oreopoulos
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Toronto
Discussant: Terry Grier
Superintendent, Houston Independent School District
Discussant: Elena Silva
Senior Associate, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Discussant: Dennis Van Roekel
President, National Education Association
Moderator: Michael Greenstone
Senior Fellow and Director, The Hamilton Project
The Brookings Institution
Learning from the Successes and Failures of Charter Schools
Author: Roland Fryer
Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics, Harvard University
Faculty Liason, EdLabs
Discussant: Seth Andrew
Superintendent and Founder, Democracy Prep Public Schools
Discussant: Terry Grier
Superintendent, Houston Independent School District
Discussant: Richard Rothstein
Research Associate, Economic Policy Institute; Senior Fellow, Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, University of California (Berkeley) School of Law
Moderator: Roger C. Altman
Chairman, New Visions for Public Schools
Founder and Chairman, Evercore Partners
Harnessing Technology to Improve K-12 Education
Author: Aaron Chatterji
Associate Professor, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Author: Benjamin Jones
Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Discussant: Karen Cator
Director of the Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education
Discussant: William Tucker
Deputy Director, Policy Development, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Discussant: Dennis Van Roekel
President, National Education Association
Discussant: Eric Westendorf
Founder and CEO, LearnZillion
Moderator: Michael Greenstone
Senior Fellow and Director, The Hamilton Project
The Brookings Institution
Featured Remarks
The Hon. Arne Duncan
Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
