In this episode, Michael brings Diane a puzzle. A reader recently pushed back on an assertion in his upcoming book, From Reopen to Reinvent, that “fixed grouping of children by perceived ability… narrows opportunities,” by suggesting that older students are in fact relatively fixed in their abilities. In turn, Diane unpacks what’s behind the statement and why the traditional education system perpetuates this flawed belief.
Season 3, Episode 18: Revisiting the promise and potential of charter schools 30 years later
As charter schools face challenges in the Beltway, Diane and Michael go back to first principles around the purpose of charter schools by revisiting the original 1992 California Act that created charter schools in the state and assess how they’ve done. They then do a deep dive into innovation theory to revisit the promise and potential of charter schools and discuss how the reality lived up to the theory. Finally, they project forward to thinking about what the future might hold for charter schools.
Season 3, Episode 17: Never Forget: Lessons America’s education debates can learn from Germany
Having returned from Germany, Diane shares what she learned about how Germany remembers the Holocaust and what it teaches its children about it so that it does not repeat its past. Michael and Diane reflect how the way Germany approaches the conversation could offer a new starting point to help America move past its polarizing conversations about teaching race and racism.
Season 3, Episode 16: Rethinking college for all
In their final episode exploring the themes of meritocracy and education, Diane and Michael describe the rethinking that has gone on in education around the college-for-all movement and suggest a path forward that learns from the past.
Season 3, Episode 15: Meritocracy and selective college admissions
Diane and Michael work to dispel the myths around selective college admissions, dissect whether they are in fact meritocratic, and architect what they see as a better path forward.
Season 3, Episode 14: Exam schools and meritocracy
Diane and Michael dive into the fierce debate around selective exam schools as a case study to not only identify the problems in implementation that meritocracy-based ideas have created, but also to suggest solutions that retain and amplify the benefits of meritocracy.
Season 3, Episode 13: Meritocracy and education
In this episode, Diane details the discussion of the history, pluses, and minuses with meritocracy through the prism of three recent books on the topic. Michael and Diane then discuss how this intersects with our K–12 education system—and set up two episodes to come about exam schools and selective college admissions.
Season 3, Episode 12: Is there a teacher exodus or not? Digging into the dispute
There are two dominant narratives in education right now about teachers. On the one hand, many media stories and educators say loudly that teachers are leaving in droves, which is making it hard to manage schools. On the other hand, researchers are observing that the numbers of quits don’t appear much different from how it’s been in education for a while. In this episode, Michael and Diane dig into the data and stories to try to explain the two narratives and find some common ground.
Season 3, Episode 11: What is driving parent frustration with schools?
Michael and Diane explore what’s driving parent—and educator—frustration with schools, and how misalignment between different groups may actually create a path toward a more personalized school system where grace and gratitude return.
Season 3, Episode 10: The unworkable burden on schools
Michael asks Diane to explain what expectations are unrealistic for schools to fulfill. Diane discusses how the layering of requirements and regulations on schools have stretched them in unintended and burdensome ways that require a redesign—not a bolted-on approach.
Season 3, Episode 9: As 2022 dawns, the state of Covid and schools
John Bailey, education policy expert and writer of the nightly COVID-19 Policy Update on Substack, joins Diane and Michael to talk about the current state of COVID and schools, Omicron, vaccinations, testing, and more.
Season 3, Episode 8: Three wishes for 2022
In this final episode of 2021, Diane and Michael share three wishes for schooling in the new year that focus on personalization, grace, and renewing ESSA.
Season 3, Episode 7: Why is there more physical violence than usual in schools this year?
Diane and Michael engage in a frank conversation about the challenges students and schools are experiencing this year. Headlines have noted an increase in physical altercations. The two discuss why this is and what solutions do or don’t exist.
Season 3, Episode 6: Who are America’s teachers?
With large numbers of teachers resigning from schools, Diane and Michael dive into what exactly is happening right now in schools, explore how it’s different from past teacher shortages, and ask bigger questions about who is a teacher and the system of preparing and developing our teachers—and suggest a hopeful path that might emerge from the current moment of struggles and shortages for schools.
Season 3, Episode 5: Where are students learning this year?
In this episode, Diane interviews Michael about exactly where students are learning formally this year, what’s driving the change in enrollment in public schools, and what will be the longer term impact.
Class Disrupted 