Progress Report: Education Leaders Sound Off

Federal Education Policy Shifts

• Despite over $200 billion in federal funding since 1965 (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), national assessments indicate nearly half of Black and Hispanic fourth graders cannot read, and one-third lack basic math skills.
• The 2002 "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act introduced mandatory accountability and subgroup testing but faced bipartisan frustration for federal overreach in prescribing specific solutions when targets were missed.
• The 2009 "Race to the Top" program provided $100 million in competitive grants (later increased to $400 million) to incentivize state-level reforms in teacher effectiveness and standards, with Tennessee and Delaware serving as early success models.
• The December 2015 "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA) returned primary policy design and measurement authority to states and districts while retaining federal oversight for the bottom 5% of schools and civil rights enforcement.
• ESSA shifts the focus from "highly qualified teachers" (based on degrees/experience) to "teacher effectiveness," prioritizing student learning growth over seniority.

Teacher Effectiveness and Preparation

• Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz argues the modern teaching workforce is less prepared than 50 years ago due to labor market shifts, noting that many teachers lack sufficient content mastery in math and writing.
• Success Academy hires 916 teachers annually and conducts rigorous content testing, finding that school of education graduates often fail to demonstrate proficiency in subject matter (e.g., passing a 5th-grade math test).
• Success Academies treat principals as primary instructional leaders, requiring 13 weeks of annual principal training to manage student outcomes, contrasting with traditional districts where principals often focus on logistics.
• Arizona State University (ASU) restructured its College of Education into a "Teachers College," exiting 45 faculty members to align all research and curriculum with the single goal of producing effective teachers.
• ASU partners with Teach For America and engineering programs to offer math teaching certificates to engineering students, allowing 17,000 engineering undergraduates to add a math credential without extending their degree time.
• Kristen Van Hook (NIET) notes that 250,000 teachers and 2.5 million students are currently impacted by teacher effectiveness initiatives driven by NIET's TAP system and Best Practices Center.

College Readiness and Student Success

• NAEP 2015 data reveals only 25% of 12th graders are proficient in math and one-third in reading; proficiency rates for Black and Hispanic students are as low as 7% and 12%, respectively.
• Nearly 500,000 college freshmen (one in four) require remedial courses, with 44% of these students coming from middle-to-upper-income families, not just low-income households.
• Only 28% of high school graduates met college preparedness standards in four ACT subject areas, despite 39% taking a college-ready curriculum.
• ASU's "new American University" model eliminates remedial instruction, instead using adaptive learning platforms and 7.5-week intensive modules to reduce failure rates in gateway math/science courses from 50% to 10–15%.
• ASU reports doubling its four-year graduation rate and achieving high success across ethnicities and family incomes through technology-mediated, individualized learning pathways.
• ASU plans to enroll 23,000 fresh undergraduates (6,000 with A averages, 6,000 with B averages, and 11,000 community college transfers), with 46% of freshmen being students of color and 20% below the poverty line.
• UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks reports that while the university avoids remediation, it relies on bridge programs and tutorials, yet faces challenges with capped majors (like computer science) requiring calculus preparation often unavailable in under-resourced high schools.
• UC Berkeley's state funding has dropped from over $500 million annually in 2004 to roughly $250 million in 2008, with the state's share of the budget falling from over 30% to just 13%.
• UC Berkeley admits more Pell Grant students (33% of the student body) than the top 15 private universities combined.

Institutional Innovation and Future Outlook

• ASU President Michael Crow describes the "Brain Freeze" of the current era, where innovation in higher education is stalling just as global competition intensifies.
• ASU is developing a scalable "Wave 4" university model utilizing technology for "Realm 3" (digital immersion) and "Realm 4" (exploration-based learning), including a partnership with Starbucks to graduate 25,000 employees with no debt and no cost.
• ASU and UC Berkeley are positioning themselves to attract an estimated $40 trillion in Baby Boomer wealth, framing philanthropy as an investment in scalable solutions rather than traditional alumni giving.
• Michael Crow asserts that the core of the university remains the faculty and "living knowledge," enhanced by technology to serve face-to-face, digital, and distant learners simultaneously.
• Success Academy operates 41 schools educating 14,000 students, primarily in low-income NYC neighborhoods, claiming to outperform the district on state tests (top 1% in math, top 3% in English) while spending significantly less per student ($24,000 district cost vs. lower Success Academy costs).
• Eva Moskowitz highlights that kindergarteners are naturally motivated learners, but the current system often suppresses this curiosity by third grade.
• Success Academy is developing an open-source "ed institute" to scale its curriculum, particularly math, by releasing high-quality global problems to the public.

Governance and Policy Controversies

• Success Academy faces intense political opposition, including union blockades, to prevent school entry, despite teaching kindergarteners 135 science experiments annually.
• The Vargas decision regarding teacher tenure in California was reversed on appeal; however, panelists agree that the system currently incentivizes the placement of inexperienced, low-qualified teachers in high-need schools.
• Panelists advocate for "educational equity" policies that use financial incentives and instructional autonomy to attract effective teachers to high-need schools rather than relying solely on seniority-based layoff protections.
• Nicholas Dirks notes that while UC Berkeley improves in technology transfer, intellectual property monetization is not a primary financial solution; alumni advocacy remains the key funding driver.
• Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen identified K-12 education as the greatest existential threat to U.S. national security.
• ASU's new university charter explicitly assumes responsibility for community educational outcomes, holding the institution accountable if community health and education standards are not met.
• Panelists emphasize that teacher tenure was originally designed to protect academic freedom, not to provide lifetime employment for non-performance.