Episode Details

Mike Miles, superintendent of Houston Independent School District, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about his new book, By Design: How to Transform School Systems, and how districts can use systemic thinking and accountability with support to improve schools.

Then, on the Research Minute, Brian Fitzpatrick reviews new research on how classroom context can affect teacher evaluations, and how schools can use the logic of value-added models to develop better evaluations.

Recommended content:

• By Design: How to Transform School Systems —Mike Miles
• State takeovers are back —Michael J. Petrilli, SCHOOLED
• Texas’s controversial takeover of Houston’s schools—Daniel Buck, for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• Classroom Composition Affects Teacher Performance Ratings —William Delgado and Lauren Sartain, EdWorkingPapers (April 2026)

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