Shaka Mitchell

Basically my entire life @Jeopardy

@AshbrookCenter @amideapodcast 🎧️ Full audio: buff.ly/aVPcwFk

School choice wasn’t invented in the 1990s. For most of American history, families had far more educational pluralism than we do today. On @AshbrookCenter's Podcast @amideapodcast, I trace: • colonial-era schooling • Horace Mann’s centralizing vision • Pierce v. Society of Sisters • Milwaukee’s voucher movement • and why COVID accelerated a major shift toward parent-directed education Listen in if you care about where education policy is headed next.

One underrated truth about CTE: A “narrow” skill set can actually be a huge advantage if it helps students step directly into a job, apprenticeship, or work-based learning opportunity right after high school or college. But the bigger lesson from @ckcarruthers on @QMCast is that the most valuable skill may be learning how to learn — adapting, growing, and building new skills over time. @UTKnoxville @Harvard #CTE

Great piece from @DonnaKingCJ on last week's veto override in North Carolina. As she puts it: "It also highlights a key premise of America’s founding: Government exists to serve people, not the other way around." Preach! @carolinajournal @afcpress buff.ly/BEky4zl

The legendary @JohnOates talking about how Chuck Berry’s lyrics had “no fat.” Nothing superfluous and full of meaning. This is part of the most recent Mixtape, a collab between the Come Together Music Project and TEDx Nashville.

@AnitaBGreen @ckcarruthers I love that. And as anyone whose ever tried to build something will tell you - having a modicum of math skills is CRUCIAL. It's so valuable to see the "head knowledge" put into practice. Thanks for sharing.

@shakamitchell @ckcarruthers that is why it is important for kids to have a job before leaving high school, and my son did a habitat for humanities home build while in HS, he now builds houses......

One of the biggest challenges in education: Students asking, “When am I ever going to use this?” 👀 Economist @ckcarruthers made a compelling case for work-based learning—letting students apply what they’re learning to real careers and real-world problems while still in high school. Turns out relevance matters. 🎓 @QMCast @UTKnoxville @SCORE_TN @davemansouri

We still talk about CTE like it’s 1987 shop class. Meanwhile, the data says students in strong career pathways see: 📈 Better graduation rates 💼 Stronger employment outcomes 💰 Higher earnings And here’s the part policymakers should pay attention to: Tuition-free community college programs like Tennessee Promise increase college completion WITHOUT reducing four-year degree attainment. I broke down my conversation with @ckcarruthers from @Harvard's Emerging School Models conference — including what most people still misunderstand about CTE, credentials, and workforce readiness. Subscribe on Substack if you want education conversations grounded in evidence instead of nostalgia. @TheBGInstitute @SCORE_TN buff.ly/O0U4Uic

Key research by Figlio can be found here 👇 buff.ly/tZJb9PP

MYTH: School choice only benefits students who leave public schools. FACT: School choice can affect entire education systems — not just the students who transfer. Research over the last two decades has found that when families gain more educational options, nearby district schools often respond by improving academics, expanding programs, strengthening communication with parents, or specializing in areas that better serve their communities. Multiple studies have found that when families gain more educational options, nearby district schools often respond by improving academics, expanding programs, or strengthening engagement with parents. Researchers including @FlowTap1, David Figlio of @CatoInstitute, and @ProfMartyWest have documented evidence that competitive pressure can lead to gains even for students who remain in district schools. That doesn’t mean every program works perfectly or every result is identical across states. Education is more complicated than that. But the idea that school choice only affects the students who leave misses a much bigger reality: sometimes, shifting enrollment patterns (read:shifting revenue) is the spark needed for institutional adaptation. New models and programs emerge. Existing schools respond to family needs differently. Choice changes systems — not just individual student experiences. @parthurgraff @bendegrow

@ckcarruthers 🎙️ Full interview here: buff.ly/JOK9HJ4

@Harvard and @seda_data just released its Education Scorecard. It’s worth reading — especially to see which 100 districts are making real progress. 👏 The Education Scorecard reflects what education debates should be built on: 📊 Data transparency 📍 Local context 📈 Student growth + absolute achievement buff.ly/SfvDQZD

@QMCast 🎙️ Full interview here: buff.ly/JOK9HJ4

“We found that students who had access to TN Promise were more likely to go to college, and more likely to graduate from a two-year college.” TN Promise—a tuition-free community college program in Tennessee—has had real impact. 🎓 Really enjoyed this conversation on @QMCast with economist @ckcarruthers about what actually helps students succeed after high school. @SCORE_TN

Multiple things can be simultaneously true: 1️⃣ Many educators are working incredibly hard. 2️⃣ Student outcomes, writ large, are woefully lacking in quality. The Families feel this gap every day—which is why education debates aren’t going away anytime soon. @nytimes calls this a "generation-long decline." If anything, I'm encouraged that the Times (and its readers) are acknowledging #2 instead of stopping with #1 which would be a classic example of confusing activity with impact. Full article here: buff.ly/ci8czCJ

Monday Music - @theroots decided to number the first track on their first album "No. 1." They maintain this convention, which means by the time the fourth album was released this track was No. 56. "The Next Movement" was called one of the best singles of the '90s. I agree but judge for yourself and enjoy! buff.ly/TA0TP8n

A parent thinks about next week. A legislator thinks about the next election. A researcher thinks about date over time. Same education debate - completely different clocks. This framework, that I call the "time horizon gap" might change how you think about policy disagreements Read here and SUBSCRIBE for more. buff.ly/W2wCzzF I write about ideas like this pretty regularly over on Substack. @Tommy_USA @Dyrnwyn @Jorge_Elorza

@prendalearn 🎙️ Have a listen and be inspired by parents who wanted to make a change for their kids: buff.ly/x7VdpjY

“Humans have the capacity to solve problems. We underestimate this.” - Kelly Smith of @prendalearn Some of the most interesting ideas in education right now aren’t coming from giant systems—they’re coming from ordinary people trying to solve real problems for kids.

🥁 Drumroll for the next myth that has come up in my conversations... MYTH #10: “More funding alone will solve education challenges.” If money by itself solved the problem, every highly funded system would be thriving. They’re not. How schools use resources matters just as much as how much they spend. 🎯 @reason @educationgadfly @rpondiscio @Dyrnwyn @parthurgraff