Murphy Education Research Program Director Featured in The New York Times

Murphy Institute Center for Public Policy Research's Education Research Program Director Douglas Harris was recently featured in an article titled "These Three Red States Are the Best Hope in Schooling" by The New York Times. The Education Policy Research Program aims to advance our understanding of how educational policy impacts student outcomes through evidence-based and applied research.

Doug Harris is also the Director of the Education Research Alliance at Tulane University and Professor and Chair of Tulane's Economics Department.

Read an excerpt from the article by reporter Nicholas Kristof below: 

Douglas N. Harris, an economist and education expert at Tulane University, said that the three states’ [Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi] success is based in large part on demanding accountability and raising expectations. “Expectations for students, teachers and schools are central,” he said.

“The debate in education is often framed as a tension between excellence and equity,” Harris added. “I reject that. The system already has lower expectations for disadvantaged students. We need high expectations and standards to give them a better chance.”

In retrospect, I’m afraid that in some parts of the country — particularly blue states — we succumbed to the idea of lowering standards in hopes of improving equity. With warm and fuzzy hopes of reducing race gaps, for example, Oregon reduced graduation requirements and San Francisco for a time stopped teaching algebra to eighth graders. Some schools embraced equitable grading practices such as refusing to give zeros, ending penalties for turning in assignments late and allowing repeated retakes of tests.

To read the full article, visit The New York Times.