Great teachers and great schools have the ability to transform the living standard of Americans. Over the past century, investments in education have boosted the productivity and earnings of American workers, forged a path out of poverty for many families, and developed a productive and innovative workforce. However, those gains have stagnated and even declined in recent years. Despite one of the highest rates of per-pupil spending among industrialized countries, the United States ranks as mediocre on most measures of student achievement.
On September 27, 2011, The Hamilton Project at Brookings held a forum to highlight new policy ideas and perspectives on how to improve student performance in K-12 education. The Hamilton Project released a new strategy paper and three new policy proposals by outside experts focusing on the use of incentives in education, opportunities for organizational changes to improve performance, and a new approach to accountability for teachers and students. The program concluded with a discussion on the path forward in education reform with Teach for America Founder and CEO Wendy Kopp and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, moderated by David Leonhardt, D.C. bureau chief of the New York Times.
Agenda
Welcome
Robert E. Rubin
Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
Overview of Hamilton Project Strategy Paper
Roger C. Altman
Founder and Chairman, Evercore Partners
Panel I: The Power and Pitfalls of Education Incentives
Author: Roland Fryer
Professor of Economics, Harvard University
CEO, EdLabs
Moderator: Michael Greenstone
Director, The Hamilton Project
Discussant: Peter Gorman
Senior Vice President of Education Services, News Corporation
Former Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Discussant: Robert L. Hughes
President, New Visions for Public Schools
Discussant: Michael Mulgrew
President, United Federation of Teachers
Panel II: Organizing Schools to Improve Student Achievement: Start Times, Grade Configurations, and Teacher Assignments
Author: Brian Jacob
Professor of Education Policy, University of Michigan
Author: Jonah Rockoff
Professor of Business, Columbia University
Moderator: Michael Greenstone
Director, The Hamilton Project
Discussant: Peter Gorman
Senior Vice President of Education Services, News Corporation
Former Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Discussant: Robert L. Hughes
President, New Visions for Public Schools
Discussant: Michael Mulgrew
President, United Federation of Teachers
Panel III: New Assessments for Improved Accountability
Author: Derek Neal
Professor of Economics, University of Chicago
Moderator: Michael Greenstone
Director, The Hamilton Project
Discussant: Peter Gorman
Senior Vice President of Education Services, News Corporation
Former Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Discussant: Robert L. Hughes
President, New Visions for Public Schools
Discussant: Michael Mulgrew
President, United Federation of Teachers
Roundtable Discussion: Lessons Learned from Education Reform and the Path Forward
Wendy Kopp
Founder and CEO, Teach for America
Randi Weingarten
President, American Federation of Teachers
Moderator: David Leonhardt
D.C. Bureau Chief, New York Times
