All Research
Op-Ed
The Golden Age of Public Housing—and Why It Didn’t Last
…to 800,000 public housing units. It was a time recalled fondly and nostalgically by the one-time residents of public housing projects such as Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes, the Pruitt-Igoe high-rises…
Blog Post
To Improve Student Outcomes, Focus On Classroom Practice, Not Policy
Last week, I had the privilege of delivering keynote remarks at Marquette University Law School’s Lubar Center for a conference focused on redirecting K-12 education reform toward classroom teaching. Inspired…
Op-Ed
Cracking the Code Behind Dismal 8th Grade Reading Scores
The most recent round of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results delivered a familiar gut punch: Just 30 percent of eighth graders in the United States read at or above the…
Op-Ed
Unfreezing New York’s Projects
…unlocked front doors. The buildings’ conditions are an insult to the legacy of their namesakes: Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat; and John Lovejoy Elliott, a Progressive-era reformer and founder…
Blog Post
Trump Administration Touts Work Requirements in Reconciliation Bill
…New York Times op-ed (“Trump Leadership: If You Want Welfare and Can Work, You Must”) published today drives this point home. Authored by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Center for Medicare and Medicaid…
Op-Ed
Alexis de Tocqueville and the Art of Association
…diminished markedly, so, in turn, has the power of these associations to help form citizens capable of sustaining democracy in America. In “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam famously traced Americans’ declining demand for…
Op-Ed
How Progressive Policy Distorted the Housing Market
…and Robert Ellickson, whose 2022 book, America’s Frozen Neighborhoods, criticizes single-family zoning. My own book, The Poor Side of Town—and Why We Need It, shares his defense of so-called slum housing and…
Op-Ed
The American Dream Is Not a Coin Flip, and Wages Have Not Stagnated
…David Grusky, Maximilian Hell, Robert Manduca, Jimmy Narang, “The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility Since 1940.” Replication files available at https://opportunityinsights.org/data/?geographic_level=0&topic=0&paper_id=546#resource-listing. These results were the basis for…
Op-Ed
Thanks, Joe Manchin
During transitions of power, it’s easy to fixate on a new administration’s nominees and legislative agenda while losing sight of those exiting the political stage. But as the new Congress begins…
Blog Post
SNAP and the “Make America Healthy Again” Agenda
…SNAP alone. President Trump’s pick for the DHHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has made his views on chronic disease and nutrition very clear, vowing to fix a broken system that incentivizes…
op-Ed
Florida, the Forgotten Education-Reform Star
Around the turn of the millennium, Florida was widely regarded as a pace-setter in education reform. Led by then-Governor Jeb Bush, the Sunshine State implemented an outcomes-driven agenda focused on prioritizing literacy, holding…
Blog Post
It’s Time for Conservatives to Reclaim Our Place in Ed Reform
As the results of the election came into focus Tuesday night, Chuck Todd made a keen observation on NBC: Republicans’ biggest gains among Hispanic voters came in Florida and Texas, states that…