The Harvard EdCast

Olivia Chi discusses the implications of "emergency teaching licenses," their impact on teacher diversity, and the ongoing efforts to ensure the quality and stability of the teaching workforce.

Jaime Peterson highlights the prevalence and harmful effects of corporal punishment in schools, underscoring the need for its abolition and the implementation of evidence-based disciplinary practices to ensure students' well-being and safety.

Eyal Bergman sheds light on chronic absenteeism and what family engagement has to do with it.

Heather Wathington discusses how FAFSA changes will impact first-generation, low-income students in accessing college.

Kentaro Iwasaki talks about the challenges and potential solutions to address inequality in math education, emphasizing the importance of dismantling tracking systems and promoting equitable practices.

Robin Stern and Janet Patti discuss the critical need for emotional intelligence among school leaders.

Journalist Laura Pappano shares the motivations, strategies, and implications that mom movements are having on public education.

Psychologist Peter Gray emphasizes the urgent need to reclaim independent play as a crucial tool for fostering resilient, self-reliant, and mentally healthy young individuals, countering children's declining mental health in a world dominated by structured routines and overprotection.

Harvard's Pamela Mason sheds light on the multifaceted journey of teaching and learning to read. In this episode, we explore the intersection of effective literacy instruction, cultivating joy in reading, and empowering educators and families to ignite a passion for lifelong learning.

Wade Morris discusses the evolution and significance of report cards in the American education system.

Superintendent Michael Hester shares the story behind the solar green initiative that raised teacher salaries.

Abigail Gewirtz shares strategies for addressing scary global events with children that build confidence and resilience.

Brian Rosenberg addresses the cultural and structural factors that impede significant transformations in higher education.

Andrea Hussong discusses the how and why of raising grateful children.

Tony DelaRosa discusses "Teaching the Invisible Race" and transforming how educators teach Asian American Pacific Islander narratives in the classroom.

Harvard's Nadine Gaab talks about dyslexia and the need to move from a wait-to-fail approach toward a preventative model.

Justin Cohen shares practices that lead to school transformation and what's standing in the way.

Rich Reddick talks about the impact of the Supreme Court's decision to end race conscious admissions and the future of diversity work on college campuses.

Anant Agarwal discusses how and why educators need to embrace AI.

Ten million children attend afterschool learning programs. Bianca Baldridge discusses how these programs are often misunderstood and exposes how valuable they truly are.

Why did 1.2 million students never enroll in public school? Stanford Economist Thomas Dee discusses where these students went and why it's important to understand the implications of the enrollment dip.

John Silvanus Wilson talks about how HBCUs represent a model of higher education desperately needed to save the future of democracy.

Language and Literacy pioneer Catherine Snow discusses the current state of literacy in America.

Melinda Mangin shares what it means to be a trans inclusive school.

Katie Davis discusses how children engage with technology at each stage of development and how they can best be supported.

Geoff Cohen discusses ways we can nurture belonging as educators, parents, and citizens.

Carola Suárez-Orozco discusses the social emotional needs of immigrant students.

Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire talk about parental rights movements and how these movements can impact education. They are the hosts of the education policy podcast, "Have You Heard."

Harvard's Chris Dede on how to use artificial intelligence in education.

Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade discusses why schools need to be equity-focused and how equality hasn't produced the results needed.

Harvard's Aysha Upchurch talks about the transformative power of hip-hop in education.

Noreen Naseem Rodríguez discusses anti-oppressive social studies and why we need it in elementary schools.

Laura Schifter talks about how schools contribute to climate issues and what needs to happen to change it.

Harvard's Heather Hill and Jon Star reflect on how COVID impacted math teaching and learning, and where do we go next.

Developmental psychologist Paul Harris talks about how children's imaginations can inform education and parenting.

Harvard Senior Lecturer Jennifer Cheatham and Claremont Graduate University Professor Carl Cohn discuss how extreme politicalization is affecting the role of the superintendent.

Ethan Chang details the strategies white parent activists used to challenge ethnic studies in California schools and why we need to understand how counter-curricular movements gain momentum and take hold.

Frank DeAngelis, retired principal of Columbine High School, talks about the lessons learned in leading through school shootings.

Harvard researchers Emily Weinstein and Carrie James tell us what teens are really doing while on their phones.

Harvard Professor Tom Kane shares what research tells us about planning COVID catch-up efforts in response to pandemic learning loss.

Stewart Kwoh talks about the need for Asian American history in the curriculum, how this can be done, and the challenges to making it a reality in education.

Associate Professor Sarah Dryden-Peterson talks about the ways we can better support refugee children and teachers in education around the world.

Harvard Professor Fernando Reimers discusses what global innovations made an impact in education during the pandemic and whether education can sustain them.

National Teacher of the Year Juliana Urtubey reflects on the importance of valuing all parts of a student’s identity and what that means for a teacher today.

Harvard Professor Dick Light shares what sets a great university apart from an okay one.

Elizabeth Steiner talks about job-related stress, reflecting on teachers' intentions to stay or leave the field.

Chris Gabrieli talks about the drop in college enrollments, what this means, and what higher education can do to change it.

Gloria Ladson-Billings discusses how Critical Race Theory became the umbrella term for all things race in schools and the current tension around teaching and talking race in the classroom.

Harvard's Stephanie Jones and Emily Hanno discuss how remote learning and the pandemic has affected children's behavior and well-being. They talk about how educators and families need to invest in social emotional learning before addressing learning loss or lost classroom time.

Traci Baxley talks about social justice parenting and raising socially aware children.

Economist Jeff Denning explains why college completion rates have gone up in the past few decades.

Claudia Costin talks about how COVID has impacted education in developing countries like Brazil.

Michael Fauteux talks about how gratitude practice shifted teaching and learning and impacted students.

Christopher Emdin discusses a new educational model and how to be ratchetdemic.

Journalist Katie Worth shares what she discovered about how climate change is taught in America.

Maleka Donaldson shares different ways teachers frame mistakes in kindergarten and how mistakes can impact lifelong learning.

Paul LeBlanc, president of Southern New Hampshire University, talks about how higher education needs to change and some of the innovative efforts his institution has taken to be more accessible to all students.

Linda Mendonca discusses the impact of COVID on school nurses and why every school needs a nurse.

Michael Casserly discusses the role of school boards and the current debates playing out at school board meetings.

Catherine Augustine discusses what summer school can do for children and how to think about using the summer as a tool for lost time.

Educator and writer Jessica Lahey shares what she discovered about preventing substance abuse in kids.

DC Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee shares how COVID has impacted leading for the district.

Jennie Weiner explains how women face bias while working in education -- no matter which part of the sector -- and how to push back against it.

Nancy Hill and Alexis Redding discuss generational changes in adolescent development and how to offer better supports to emerging adults.

Bree Picower discusses how educators can push back against whiteness embedded in the curriculum and classroom.

Professor Andrew Ho explains why standardized testing must go on in the face of COVID and what it can offer in targeting support to districts.

Renee Hobbs, director of the Media Education Lab at University of Rhode Island, discusses the need for propaganda education in our classrooms to help navigate complex digital media.

Developmental Psychologist Susan Engel shares what it means to nurture young children's interests and why it's so important in their lives.

Robert Franek, of the Princeton Review, discusses how COVID has altered college admissions and what future college students need to take into consideration before applying and choosing a school.

Jarvis Givens, assistant professor at Harvard, defines fugitive pedagogy and its powerful role in Black education.

Harvard Professor Meira Levinson discusses how lack of trust in schools has hindered school reopenings during COVID.

Introducing the new podcast Pivot Out Loud -- stories of education and life in a year of disruption. In this episode, Harvard EdCast host Jill Anderson recounts what it's like staying and working from home with a young child. She shares the struggle of trying to balance her child's academics and play along with working full-time.

Harvard Lecturer Jackie Zeller discusses the importance of educator self-care and ideas on how educators can incorporate it in their professional lives. Disclaimer: This piece is meant to be solely informational in nature. It is not meant to provide professional care or recommendations. This piece includes general considerations, but people should contact their own providers for individualized advice and recommendations.

Anindya Kundu explains the importance of student agency and how educators can teach students to be more engaged in their own learning.

Professors Megan Bang and Carrie Tzou discuss the need for change in science education.

Kristi Nelson, the executive director of a Network for Grateful Living, shares ideas for teaching and learning gratitude during challenging times.

How much has college teaching really changed in 150 years? Not very much, according to Jonathan Zimmerman, an education historian and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In his latest book, The Amateur Hour, Zimmerman traces the history of undergraduate teaching practices in the United States and how it has yet to reach a level of professionalization. In this episode of the EdCast, Zimmerman discusses how colleges and universities got to where they are today, and what it might take to change the future of college teaching.

America seems more divided than ever. Paula McAvoy, an assistant professor at North Carolina State University, has long focused her work on helping educators teach young people how to live together in this world. Educators can use the recent presidential election as a tool. In this episode of the EdCast, McAvoy discusses how to make the most of your "political" classroom.

Education research is often disconnected from the reality of practitioners in the field. Carrie Conaway, a senior lecturer at Harvard and an expert on how to apply education research in practice, gets into the details of how to bridge the gap between education research and practice. In this episode, she discusses the way education leaders can use existing education research and also begin to implement their own evidence-based research to figure out what works.

Tony Jack, author of The Privileged Poor and assistant professor at Harvard, discusses the experiences of low income students as colleges try to diversify student population, and ways we can change it for the better.

We don't often hear about the 15% of students who attend rural schools. It seems this population is often left out of national conversations about the impact of COVID on education. Mara Tieken, an associate professor at Bates College, is an expert on rural schools and has been helping many rural school districts cope throughout the pandemic. In this episode, Tieken talks about some of the ways rural schools are getting through the pandemic and ideas on how to include rural schools in the national conversation.

Times are troubling for many higher education institutions around the country. With many enrollments down and huge drops in student applications for federal financial aid, it's not just institutions struggling but low-income college goers are facing major disruptions as well. Bridget Terry Long -- the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an economist -- is concerned about every student and how the pandemic may impact their education and futures. In this episode, she speaks candidly about the many challenges facing higher education institutions, college goers, and what it's like to lead an institution during a pandemic.

Many people question the state of democracy in America. This is especially true of young people, who no longer share the same interest in democracy as the generations before them. Harvard's Danielle Allen has long studied what citizens need in order to succeed in democracy and how our social studies and civics education can impact this. In this episode, Allen discusses how we got where we are today, the unique role of education, and what it takes to reinvest in education for democracy.

With many children learning remotely this fall, Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy – a leader in online learning – knows that it’s a daunting task for everyone involved to deliver the best and most high quality experience. In this episode of the EdCast, Khan shares some of the most effective teaching strategies for remote learning, and how parents can help support online learning at home. He also gives practical tips for how to manage teaching young children online.

Only about 14 percent of Native Americans attend college and many often leave before graduating. TaraJean Yazzie-Mintz has spent much of the past three decades working to improve access to education for Native people. In this episode of the Harvard EdCast, she addresses the barriers to higher education for Native people, and how higher education institutions can do a better job at welcoming and keeping Native people in this space.

The pandemic set off a race for schools to launch remote learning and to keep children from falling behind. But at what cost? In this episode of the EdCast, Harvard Lecturer Uche Amaechi discusses the tension that exists for schools trying to find a balance between continuing education in equitable ways among all students.

With more than 55 million children out of school due to the pandemic, school leaders are facing the adaptive challenge of all time. The challenges go far beyond closures. Harvard Professor Deborah Jewell-Sherman shares what is on the minds of school leaders throughout the country, and advises how they can stay grounded and plan in such a difficult time.

What is the role of schools in teaching students, especially students of color, how to face oppression and develop political agency? Are there ways that some educators succeed in doing this in one school but not in another school? Professors Daren Graves and Scott Seider were eager to find the answers and set out to research five mission-driven high schools over four years. In this episode of the EdCast, they share the ways that educators and school leaders can help young people better understand and challenge racial injustices.

Despite family meal times being hugely beneficial to kids, only about 30% of families manage to eat together regularly. Anne Fishel, executive director of the Family Dinner Project, knows it's not always easy to find that time but it also doesn't have to be so hard. Through her work, she helps families find fun, creative, and easy ways to make meals a reality. As many families adjust to stay-at-home orders from the Coronavirus, there is a silver lining in that now there is time to enjoy a family meal or two.

With many schools closed around the country due to the Coronavirus, educators and parents may have growing concerns about how long students can go without formal instruction. Jennifer McCombs, a senior policy researcher for the RAND Corporation, has long studied the effects of summer break on learning -- particularly for at risk students from low-income families or students performing below grade level. In this episode of the EdCast, McCombs discusses how what we know from summer learning loss might guide educators, districts, and parents as they set forth on learning when school is closed.

This newest generation of college students know that algorithms tend to skew the truth online, but many feel it is par for the course. Alison Head, a researcher and director of Project Information Literacy, explores how algorithmic-driven platforms are shaping the ways college students access news and information and its potential to change the college landscape.

Many school districts are facing challenging decisions about how to prepare and respond to the novel Coronavirus including whether to close and try distance learning. Harvard Epidemiologist Bill Hanage and Education Ethicist Meira Levinson explore the public health issue and its potential impact on schools and families. They also offer guidance for practitioners and parents.

Harvard Lecturer Laura Schifter explains disproportionality and why so many students of color are placed in special education, often in separate classrooms from their peers. While income status is sometimes accepted as the reason behind this phenomenon, Schifter says that doesn't tell the full story. In this EdCast, Schifter shares recent research into this issue and discusses the challenges facing special education.

There's much debate in the literacy world about what's the best way to teach children to read. With two out of three children struggling to learn to read, the nation is questioning what actually works. Harvard Professor James Kim discusses why learning to read is so challenging and shares how his latest model called MORE offers another way.

Drew Faust, president of Harvard University, discusses her time as president, the opportunities and challenges currently facing the university, and how she reflects on her own journey.

Eve Sullivan, founder and president of Parents Forum discusses how raising children connects all families, regardless of background or social status, and that all families can be strengthened by improving communication and increasing emotional awareness.

Eric Schwarz, co-founder and CEO of Citizen Schools, discusses the importance of extended learning time and the vision for his service based organization.

Richard Elmore, professor of educational leadership at HGSE, provides insight into the people and programs attempting to strengthen the quality of leadership in the education sector.

In this edition of the Harvard EdCast, Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) discusses LGBT issues in K-12 education.