A Conversation With Bill Tucker

Managing Director, Education Sector
April 2011

Education Sector is an independent think tank committed to achieving measurable impact in education policy, both by improving existing reform initiatives and by developing new, innovative solutions to the nation’s most pressing education problems.  Ed Sector’s mission is to promote changes in policy and practice that lead to improved student opportunities and outcomes. Since its initial grant in 2006, Carnegie Corporation has invested $2.4 million in Ed Sector, most recently to support efforts to impact public debate and policies at the local, state, and federal levels around K-12 accountability, human-capital, and undergraduate-education strategies.

How is Ed Sector working to change public education?

We are in the ideas business.  We are all about developing great ideas to improve public education.  We look at the most pressing problems in education, identify and develop the best solutions, and work to formulate policy around them.

Is the American public education system broken?

I think broken is the wrong description.  But is it in need of improvement?  Yes. Are we trying to do something different in the sense that we want to educate every single child and not just a percentage? Yes.

How does our system stack-up against others?

When you examine scores from international tests comparing the United States’ performance against other countries, you see that we have a large number of students who are performing way below what is acceptable in other countries.  And at the advanced levels, we're not doing as well either. 

When teaching is improved and children are better educated, how do the rest of us gain?

We need a talented, educated workforce to develop new ideas, new technologies, to figure out how to manufacture in new ways.  But education’s role is even bigger than that.  Our country is founded on the notion of opportunity.  You can come to the U.S. and make yourself better.  You can help your children to have a better life than you did.  And if you don't have education, you're not able to do that.  So education's really the foundation for opportunity.

How does the Carnegie Corporation philosophy mix with yours?

Andrew Carnegie believed that everyone should have access to knowledge. And there’s a direct line from his philosophy to much of we want to achieve in education today--that every student graduates from high school, and is prepared for college and to go on to be a solid citizen.    

What are Ed Sector’s priorities?

When we're asked what it takes to improve student outcomes, there is no single answer.  We need to create a high functioning system that learns over time.  We can’t just switch one dial, we’ve got to set up the right system so that we can constantly monitor our progress. But the key to all positive change in education is always going to be great people.  Highly effective teachers, great leaders, people who are guiding policy.  All of these pieces must be in place.  And clearly we have to engage parents and students in that activity. 

Are there ways aside from academics that teachers can impact students?

Students are not static.  A student doesn't come to school and say, "I'm either going to be motivated or unmotivated today."  What we do as educators really affects that student.  Our expectations of that student will change the way the student thinks of himself or herself.  And, with parents if we expect them to be engaged, we can improve the level of their engagement.  So these things are not static.  And how we build our systems really makes a big difference.