This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of a landmark trilogy on the Civil Rights era, America in the King Years. They discuss the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday the nation observed on Monday. They review Dr. King’s powerful, moving oratory, drawing on spiritual and civic ideals to promote nonviolent protest against racial injustice, and how, as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he shared leadership of the movement with organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. They also discuss the pivotal role that school-aged children played in the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, and how to talk with schoolchildren today about those heart-wrenching images such as six-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted by U.S. marshals as she desegregated the New Orleans Public Schools, and young students facing Bull Connor’s dogs and fire hoses in Alabama. Branch shares thoughts on how to ensure that the women involved in the movement, including Septima Clark, Ella Baker, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Diane Nash, receive due credit for their contributions. He concludes with a reading from one of his books.
Stories of the Week: President-elect Biden is backing up his pledge to get kids back to school with a proposed $130 million in stimulus funds to cover the costs of reconfiguring K-12 classrooms, improving ventilation, personal protective equipment, and other social distancing requirements. Will the cash infusion work, and will support be offered to income-eligible private school students? A U.S. Government Accountability Office study takes a close look at school improvement efforts across all states, with some promising findings.
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Mandatory Credit: Photo by Taylor Jewell/ Invision/ AP/ REX/ Shutterstock (9330925k) Executive Producer Taylor Branch 2018 Sundance Film Festival – “King in the Wilderness” Portrait Session, Park City, USA – 22 Jan 2018
This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and Gerard are joined by Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of a landmark trilogy on the Civil Rights era, America in the King Years. They discuss the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday the nation observed on Monday. They review Dr. King’s powerful, moving oratory, drawing on spiritual and civic ideals to promote nonviolent protest against racial injustice, and how, as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he shared leadership of the movement with organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Organic-Collage-Food-Facebook-Cover-1.png9241640Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2021-01-20 10:45:282021-01-20 10:45:28Pulitzer Winner Taylor Branch on MLK, Civil Rights History, & Race in America
This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and Gerard talk with Ignat Solzhenitsyn, a pianist, conductor laureate of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, principal guest conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and son of the Nobel Prize-winning Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. They discuss his father’s legacy, his courageous work to debunk the Soviet Union’s utopian myths, and key lessons American educators and students should draw from his life, writings, and battle with Soviet communism.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/CarA-Candal-Gerard-Robinson-8.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2021-01-13 11:07:522021-01-13 11:08:56Ignat Solzhenitsyn on His Father’s Nobel Prize-Winning Fight with Communism
This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and Gerard kick off the new year with Eva Moskowitz, CEO & Founder of Success Academy Charter Schools, a network of 47 schools enrolling 20,000 K-12 students in New York City. Eva shares her own education path, and how it influences her leadership and philosophy.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/CarA-Candal-Gerard-Robinson-7.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2021-01-06 11:20:242021-01-06 11:20:24Eva Moskowitz of Success Academy on Charter Schools, Achievement Gaps, & COVID-19 Learning Loss
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Jim Blew, the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development at the U.S. Department of Education. Assistant Secretary Blew shares lessons from leading and implementing K-12 public education reform efforts in often contentious policy environments, and the unique challenges of the current partisanship and gridlock in Washington, D.C.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/CarA-Candal-Gerard-Robinson-6.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-12-16 09:29:072020-12-16 09:31:52USED Asst. Sec. Jim Blew Talks Sec. DeVos, School Choice, & K-12 Politics
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Daniel Walker Howe, Rhodes Professor of American History Emeritus at Oxford University in England and Professor of History Emeritus at UCLA. Drawing from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848, he provides background information on Horace Mann, the first secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, founder of the common school movement in public education, and a prominent abolitionist in Congress.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/CarA-Candal-Gerard-Robinson-5.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-12-09 11:30:372020-12-09 11:30:37Oxford & UCLA Pulitzer Winner Prof. Daniel Walker Howe on Horace Mann, Common Schools, & Educating for Democracy
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Caroline Hoxby, the Scott and Donya Bommer Professor of Economics at Stanford University and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/CarA-Candal-Gerard-Robinson-4.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-12-02 07:17:132020-12-02 07:18:06Stanford’s Prof. Caroline Hoxby on Charter Schools, K-12 Ed Reform, & Global Competitiveness
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Carl Bistany, the president of SABIS® Educational Systems, an education company founded over 130 years ago that serves young women in the Middle East, and poor and minority students in the U.S.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/CarA-Candal-Gerard-Robinson-1.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-11-25 10:06:312020-11-25 10:06:31SABIS® President Carl Bistany on International Education, Charter Public Schools, & At-Risk Students
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Wayne Franklin, professor of English at the University of Connecticut and definitive biographer of the American literary figure James Fenimore Cooper. As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, Prof. Franklin reviews Cooper's background and major works, especially the "Leatherstocking Tales," including The Last of the Mohicans, which are distinguished for their enlightened and sympathetic portrayal of the disappearing tribes.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/CarA-Candal-Gerard-Robinson.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-11-18 11:37:222020-11-18 11:37:22UConn’s Prof. Wayne Franklin on James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans, & American Democracy
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Jason Riley, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Jason shares insights on the 2020 election, its implications for the next two years, and assuming Vice President Biden becomes president, how he may govern on K-12 education.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/TLC-3.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-11-09 10:28:352020-11-09 11:43:38Wall Street Journal Columnist Jason Riley on the 2020 Election, School Choice, & Race in America
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Tara Ross, the nationally recognized author of Why We Need the Electoral College. On the eve of the 2020 election, they discuss the critical and controversial role of the Electoral College in determining which candidate will become the next President of the United States.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/TLC-2.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-11-04 11:17:422020-11-04 11:20:07Nationally Recognized Author Tara Ross on the Importance of the Electoral College
In our special Halloween edition of “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Pulitzer-Prize winner Stacy Schiff, whose most recent book is The Witches: Salem, 1692. They discuss why, in Schiff’s view, the Salem witch trials are the “the best known, least understood chapter” of American history, and why the trials, false charges, and finger pointing, remain relevant today in our Internet culture.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Cream-Halloween-House-Party-Instagram-Post-1.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-10-30 10:31:032020-10-30 10:31:35Pulitzer-Winning Author Stacy Schiff on the Salem Witch Trials
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Andrew Burstein, the Charles P. Manship Professor of History at Louisiana State University, and author of The Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving, and with Nancy Isenberg, The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/TLC-1.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-10-28 11:27:512020-10-28 11:27:51LSU’s Prof. Andrew Burstein on Washington Irving, the Headless Horseman, & the Presidency
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. They discuss the qualifications of those who enter the teaching profession, explore teacher preparation, and key differences between teacher preparation, accreditation, and job prospects in the U.S. and other countries. They also speculate about what a Biden presidency might mean for K-12 education policymaking, and discuss how to diversify the teaching pipeline.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/TLC.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-10-21 11:13:582020-10-21 11:13:58NCTQ’s Kate Walsh on the Crisis in K-12 Teacher Prep, Quality, & Evaluation
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Cheryl Brown Henderson, president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Research. She shares her experience as the daughter of the lead plaintiff in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, and thoughts on how the historic decision contributed to advancing civil rights in our country.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/School-Choice-Civil-Rights-Espinoza-10.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-10-14 10:00:562020-10-14 10:02:43Cheryl Brown Henderson, Daughter of Lead Plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Ed., on Race & Schooling
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Paul Peterson, the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government and Director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/School-Choice-Civil-Rights-Espinoza-9.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-10-07 11:05:492020-10-07 11:05:49Harvard PEPG’s Prof. Paul Peterson on Charter Schools, Digital Learning, & Ed Next Polling
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Brenda Wineapple, author of the award-winning Hawthorne: A Life and The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation. They discuss her definitive biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the 170th anniversary of the publication of his classic novel, The Scarlet Letter.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Gray-Chic-Self-Care-Social-Media-Post.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-09-30 10:47:102020-09-30 10:47:10Award-Winning Writer Brenda Wineapple on the 170th Anniv. of The Scarlet Letter & Pres. Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Dr. Jung Chang, author of the best-selling books Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China; Mao: The Unknown Story; and Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/TLC51-Devery-Anderson-4.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-09-23 11:35:512020-09-23 11:35:51International Best-Seller Dr. Jung Chang On Wild Swans, Mao’s Tyranny, & Modern China
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Kelly Smith, founder and CEO of Prenda, a company that helps create flexible learning environments known as microschools. Often described as the “reinvention of the one-room school house,” microschools combine homeschooling, online education, smaller class sizes, mixed age-level groupings, flipped classrooms, and personalized learning.
https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/TLC51-Devery-Anderson-3.png5121024Editorial Staffhttps://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.pngEditorial Staff2020-09-16 09:51:212020-12-10 16:15:22Kelly Smith, Prenda CEO, on Microschooling & the Future of K-12 Learning