Education Podcast with John Merrow | PBS

George Parker, the president of the teachers’ union in Washington D.C., is now negotiating a new contract with School Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Rhee wants to make it easier to fire ineffective teachers, but Parker says she already has enough power.  In this audio podcast, hear how Parker balances the need for educational reform with his duty to protect workers’ rights. AUDIO Duration: 12:14

The Federal law known as No Child Left Behind has generated a massive amount of testing data. But is the data useful in the classroom? Jay McClain, principal at Bailey’s Elementary School in Fairfax County, VA, discuss how NCLB impacts his job.  AUDIO Duration: 11:14

5th grade teacher Betsy Walter sees her students making progress – but often, tests required by the federal law known as No Child Left Behind tell a different story. Walter, who once worked for Senator Kennedy, a sponsor of the law, discusses how NCLB evaluates her students.  AUDIO Duration: 12:29

Every Spring, the state teachers of the year travel to Washington to meet the President. But this year, they planned an event of their own – 50 of the state teachers of the year held a press conference calling for 10 major changes to the Federal law known as No Child Left Behind. Hear Maddie Fennell, the 2007 Nebraska Teacher of the Year, discuss how the law looks differently in Washington than it does in her Omaha classroom.   AUDIO Duration: 11:47

The Federal Law known as No Child Left Behind tests reading and math each year in grades three through eight. But is the testing helping kids learn how to apply knowledge in the real world? Lynn Riggs, a science teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia, worries that students are learning how to give the right answers – at the cost of learning how to ask the right questions.   AUDIO Duration: 16:55

Anthony Cody is a National Board Certified Teacher with 18 years of classroom experience under his belt. But Anthony Cody is no longer teaching--he left the profession several years after the No Child Left Behind was passed. In this podcast, hear Cody explain why left, why it’s difficult for teachers to criticize the law, and why NCLB doesn’t “honor the reality” of urban education.   AUDIO Duration: 20:17

Amanda Sias, Kady Amundson and Jason Denlinger—three teachers at Rabouin High School, one of New Orleans’ lowest performing schools designated to the Recovery School District—debate whether their new, optimistic Superintendent, Paul Vallas, can turn around a district plagued by historical failure and poverty.   AUDIO Duration: 21:22

Washington, DC’s new and inexperienced superintendent, 37-year-old Michelle Rhee, discusses her plans to reshape the school district’s traditionally unresponsive central office and boost student achievement. AUDIO Duration: 15:26

Michelle Evans was appalled by the conditions at her son’s middle school – and so she changed them. Using a provision of No Child Left Behind, Evans lead the fight to convert Gompers Middle School to a charter school. Hear Evans, who many call a hero, describe the struggle and success of the effort. AUDIO Duration: 13:19

During Alan Bersin’s 7-year tenure as San Diego’s Superintendent of Schools he often found himself at the center of the controversy. Hear this nationally-known educational reformer share some of the lessons he learned fighting to improve failing schools. AUDIO Duration: 21:30

San Diego's Keiller Middle School re-invented itself as a charter school, and for the first time in ears, students are meeting the requirements of No Child Left Behind. So why, asks Executive Director Patricia Ladd, is the local school system treating it like an adversary? AUDIO Duration: 19:19

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings responds to John Merrow’s questions about loopholes in the federal law known as No Child Left Behind. Is the law truly holding states accountable for educating all children? AUDIO Duration: 14:26

Though the federal law known as No Child Left Behind requires annual testing in reading and math, states develop their own tests and decide where to set the bar. Conservative education guru Chester Finn discusses these and other loopholes in No Child Left Behind ­ and tells us why it’s politically impossible to suggest a goal less than 100%. AUDIO Duration: 15:39

As the opportunity to reauthorize No Child Left Behind draws near, criticism of the law is mounting. But when President Bush signed the law early in his first term, it enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support. In 2001, John Merrow spoke with the President's Domestic Policy Advisor Margaret La Montagne and former President Clinton's Education Advisor Andy Rotherham. AUDIO Duration: 23:03

Does watching a violent movie increase the likelihood that a child will herself become violent? Does a focus on violent media distract from other crucial factors that turn kids violent? John Merrow asks Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of “Why They Kill,” about how our culture creates violent criminals. AUDIO Duration: 21:39