Member Since 2013

Martin R. West


Martin R. West is Academic Dean and the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and editor-in-chief of Education Next. He is also deputy director of Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a member of both the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the National Assessment Governing Board. In 2013-14, he served as senior education policy advisor to the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He previously taught at Brown University and was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Published Articles & Media

In this image from video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, center, is taken into custody as his attorney, Eric Nelson, left, looks on, after the verdicts were read at Chauvin's trial for the 2020 death of George Floyd, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Tarnished Shield of Qualified Immunity

Cases involving teachers, principals, and school board members have been central to the evolution of a legal doctrine that also often protects abusive police from financial liability.
United States President Joe Biden signs executive order on Covid-19 during his first minutes in the Oval Office, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.

Condition Covid Aid on Opening Schools

Or else let funding flow directly to parents
Banners in support of the elementary school teachers hang outside Brentano Elementary School as teachers instruct virtual classes during a protest against returning to in-person teaching outside of Brentano Elementary School in Chicago, Monday, Jan. 4, 2021.

Have Parents Turned Against Teachers Unions? Not Yet, Our Survey Shows

Backlash related to school closures fails to materialize, at least so far.
President Donald Trump watches as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administers the Constitutional Oath to Amy Coney Barrett on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, after Barrett was confirmed by the Senate earlier in the evening.

A Fertile Period for Education Reform?

The unexpected effects of politics, the pandemic, and racial awakening

If Many More Private Schools Close, All Schools Will Suffer

Biden, Moynihan, and Goldwater once teamed up on a tuition tax-credit. Could something similar happen now?

How the Coronavirus Crisis May Improve Teacher Quality

Recession hiring boosts teacher quality and student learning

What American Families Experienced When Covid-19 Closed Their Schools

Parents report little contact with teachers and less student learning, but also broad satisfaction; charter and private schools provide more opportunities for student-teacher interaction

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