Experts rank 30 ideas to fix U.S. schools
Shot: "We asked 37 top academics and researchers who study education to rate a range of ideas for both effectiveness and cost, on a scale of 1 to 7." Chaser: "The panel included: Dominique Baker..." LOL y'all I read so many papers to complete this survey on k12 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...
Ilana Horn20🙋♀️ Fellow homework-doer and "panelist" here
This skeet will self destruct9Fascinating! Some things (like high quality curriculum) are less straightforward than others, but overall a really good set of priorities. (Also wonder if something related to food ever made it into consideration)
Tobias Wilson-Bates5So excited once I saw your name!
Raoul Meyer3I have questions: How different is "small group tutoring," from "smaller class size"? Are the small group tutors teachers or something else? Is it only more cost effective (not a measure I'm fond of) because the tutors are paid less than teachers? How small is a small group?
John Flournoy1Okay, my tweet on this was snarky about inter-rater agreement and criterion validity re judgements but now I know you're one of the experts my trust is increased.
Max Kennerly125As someone with no expertise in this I am delighted to see many of my priors confirmed, including "private school vouches are expensive dogshit" and "banning cellphones is not a panacea." 🙏
Elizabeth Wrigley-Field52Fascinating Two things I'm (someone w zero expertise in ed research) surprised aren't more effective according to the panel: - improving HVAC (thus: air pollution & CO2, temperature control, *and* respiratory viruses leading to absences--3 mechanisms I'd expect to all matter) - teacher coaching
Alexander Manshel26"Require full books" is ranked 25th out of 30 here, only a few above "Private school vouchers" and "Allow A.I. use." The explanation? "Some experts saw this as common sense, though there is little existing research."
Judah Grunstein18Great reply threads here. (Professor Baker stuck around after class to answer questions.)
Laura Clawson3I really wish this was broken down by which people recommended which things, because this list is a real mix of people I follow/respect (as the post quoted) and people whose recommendations I would see as proof positive I should oppose a thing…
New @nytimes.com piece ranks 30 education interventions on both effectiveness & costs. For me, the key takeaway is NOT about what academics (including myself) rated as most effective or least costly. It is about the decision making process districts use. 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...
Jack Schneider43I don't disagree. But, as I wrote back to these reporters, I am most optimistic about projects that respond to the expressed concerns of students and teachers. These are the people who spend 180 days inside schools each year, and they're the key actors in the process of teaching and learning. 1/n
Mearn (postseason)15Vouchers aren't about effective education they're just another step in the long running effort to dismantle public education vote no on 3
Trevor Aleo10“30 Ideas for Raising Standardized Test Scores As Cheaply As Possible” Fixed the title.
Parkscope Joe6School voucher haters stand up
“It’s really obvious, so why do we not do it!" www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...
Dominique Baker21One of the things we don't have is a robust body of research evidence about reading whole books (due to a combination of things). I would bet, if we had research papers on this, reading books would have been rated higher.
Scary Mr. Olmec Man2So much discourse around academia is determined to actively ignore the actual material conditions of academia
Did anyone ask the experts if teachers are experts? Need to know if I know anything www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...
Erin Vanderhoof8I'm increasingly convinced that having these conversations about national K-12 and not about smaller age cohorts and regions is a total waste of time
Sam Ulmschneider4To be fair though, we mostly aren’t. We might know what works in our content area and classroom, or our building, but state or national level policy tradeoffs and cost estimation are a different matter entirely.
SarahWontVerifyLocation1This is a stupid list.
