Memos to the president on the future of U.S. education policy (Jon Valant, Michael Hansen, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2016/12/07/memos-to-the-president-on-the-future-of-u-s-education-policy/

What we need to know from candidates on education policy (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/2016/08/09/what-we-need-to-know-from-candidates-on-education-policy/

How much does it benefit a child to delay kindergarten entry for a year? (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/06/22-redshirting-delay-kindergarten-entry-hansen

A Memorial Day test: Are military children making the grade? (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

On Memorial Day, we take a collective step back in America to remember the brave men and women who died defending our country. As one who researches and writes about education policy, I'd like to take the past holiday as a chance to discuss how the most important people in the lives of our brave military fare in school. This topic hits close to home for me, as I have four brothers who have previously or are actively serving in the military who, with their spouses, have had to navigate schooling decisions for their kids – my nieces and nephew – in the context of all military life entails, including transfers to remote locales, temporary reassignments and deployments

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/06/01-memorial-day-test-military-children-making-grade-hansen

Teaching to the test: Hype or reality? (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

We’re in the thick of testing season here in the United States. If you know any kids in public schools, then chances are they are about to take or have recently taken some standardized test that feeds into state accountability systems, as required by federal education policy

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/05/16-teaching-to-the-test-hansen

Is quick expansion of career and technical education a viable policy? (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

Are we ready to expand career and technical education offerings as the next frontier in education policy? “College and career ready” has been an aspirational label in education for years, though many in the know recognize the label is generally used as a stand-in for the Common Core State Standards—and the focus there is decidedly tipped towards college readiness and away from career preparation. Yet in recent years, President Obama and the U.S. Department of Education have been promoting the career side of the label more, making the case that technical education is not at odds with academic preparation. With union leaders, industry groups, and researchers joining the list of those backing it, career and technical education appears to be well poised to gain steam as the next viable policy lever to help improve the plight of America’s youth.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/04/18-career-and-technical-education-new-viable-policy-hansen

Student data privacy and education research must be balanced (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

Last week, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on data privacy protections for students. At issue is whether and how Congress will update the decades-old Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly known as FERPA, for use in the modern age where big data is king. It's a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records, and which governs the state and local education agencies that collect and maintain data on their students.

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Michael Hansen is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Deputy Director of the Brown Center on Education Policy. A labor economist by training, he has conducted original research on the teacher quality, value-added measurement, teacher evaluation, and teacher responses to incentives and accountability using state longitudinal data systems. Other areas of research include school turnaround and STEM learning.

Improving the design of teacher evaluation systems (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

Weeks ago, researchers Matthew Kraft and Allison Gilmour released a new study demonstrating the “Widget Effect” is alive and well in our schools. Their study is a re-examination of TNTP’s influential 2009 study that coined the phrase, referring to the tendency to treat teachers as interchangeable widgets when they are known not to be.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/03/17-improve-design-teacher-evaluation-hansen

Designing accountability systems to avoid NCLB-era mistakes (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

I walked away from Fordham’s School Accountability Design Competition on February 9th pleasantly surprised—not only at the variety of fresh thinking on accountability, but also at how few submissions actually triggered the “I think that’s illegal” response. I left encouraged at the possibilities for the future.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/02/19-designing-accountability-systems-avoid-nclb-mistakes-hansen

Does football distract public schools from their mission? (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

As we recover from the weekend’s Super Bowl parties, now may be a good time to reflect: do our public schools have a healthy relationship with football? Or has our cultural fascination with football allowed our public institutions of learning—both in K-12 and the collegiate level— to drop the ball on their more urgent, core objectives?

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/02/09-football-distracts-schools-mission-hansen

How technology will change the demand for teachers (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/01/26-technology-demand-teachers-hansen

In search of the key to closing achievement gaps (Michael Hansen, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/01/18-closing-achievement-gaps-school-integration-hansen