Member Since 2009


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

Cuban Schools: Too Good to Be True

What explains claims of Castro’s educational excellence? Almost certainly, cheating on the tests.

Cuban Schools: Too Good to Be True (Unabridged)

What explains claims of Castro’s educational excellence? Almost certainly, cheating on the tests.

What To Make of the 2019 Results from the “Nation’s Report Card”

"Shame on us," "Return to accountability," "Focus on the low-performing students," and other reactions to the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress results.

Shuttering Schools in Chicago

"Ghosts in the Schoolyard" by Eve L. Ewing, reviewed by Paul E. Peterson

The Achievement Gap Fails to Close

Half century of testing shows persistent divide between haves and have-nots

Both Teachers and the Public Back Janus Decision by Supreme Court

When it comes to agency fees, the nays have it by a clear majority. No less than 56% of the general public and 54% of public school teachers are opposed.

Latest NAEP Results: Obama Administration Fails U. S. Students

Student gains registered over the Obama years were trivial at best, far short of those accomplished during what must now be referred to as the halcyon days of the George W. Bush Administration.

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