Episode Details

Mike Petrilli takes the mic to consider whether America’s schools need a renewed sense of urgency around raising achievement and closing gaps. He revisits the test-based accountability era, debates whether its biggest contribution may have been less about policy mechanics and more about shifting the national “vibes,” and argues that today’s education leaders may need to be much clearer about what it means to put students first.

Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern reviews a new American Enterprise Institute report tracking post-pandemic chronic absenteeism and warning that elevated absence rates may be turning into a long-term condition.

Recommended content:

• The one where Ross gets rebuked by reformers —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
• On NCLB, Wiener and Petrilli fight to a draw —Robert Pondiscio, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• The Impact of No Child Left Behind on Student Achievement —Thomas S. Dee and Brian A. Jacob, NBER
• From Attendance Crisis to Chronic Condition? Tracking Post-Pandemic Chronic Absenteeism into 2025 —Nat Malkus, American Enterprise Institute (2026)

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