Member Since 2016


Paul E. Peterson is the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government and Director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Senior Editor of Education Next, a journal of opinion and research. Peterson is a former director of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and of the Governmental Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. He received his Ph. D. in political science from the University of Chicago. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education, and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the German Marshall Foundation, and the Center for Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He is the author of the book, Saving Schools: From Horace Mann to Virtual Learning (Harvard University Press, 2010). Peterson was a member of the independent review panel advising the Department of Education’s evaluation of the No Child Left Behind law and a member of the Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force of K-12 Education at Stanford University. The Editorial Projects in Education Research Center reported that Peterson’s studies on school choice and vouchers have been among the country’s most influential studies of education policy.

Published Articles & Media

Illustration

School Choice and “The Truly Disadvantaged”

Vouchers boost college going, but not for students in greatest need
A statue of Johnny Appleseed welcomes visitors to the Massachusetts Visitor Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Inset: Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

Betsy Appleseed and School Choice

Choice initiatives and expansions in Florida, Arkansas, West Virginia and elsewhere show that eventually, trees blossom
Professor James Tooley with students at an Omega private school in Bawjiase, Ghana.

To Critics of The Beautiful Tree, a Pearl of a Reply

Was that test on which the experiment depends taken in English or Telugu?
A photo of an old bridge next to a new bridge

Covid-19 Could Be the Moment We Turn to School Choice as a Road to Equal Opportunity

States should broaden policies to support the school choice parents are demanding.

Charters Improving at Faster Pace in Urban Areas

Given the apparent underrepresentation of urban charter students in 2017, it is more likely that we are underestimating the overall gains

Charter Schools Show Steeper Upward Trend in Student Achievement than District Schools

First nationwide study of trends shows large gains for African Americans at charters

The Price Students Pay When Schools Are Closed

Seven ways children, and the nation, lose out when school buildings do not open

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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