Derek Thompson

speaker

10,832 appearances 57 recordings 13 series first heard Apr 2017 last heard 4d ago

Derek Thompson’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 38 in all, peaking in Mar 2026 with 6.

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Plain English with Derek Thompson · The Truth About Mississippi's Education "Miracle" · 18 Sep 2026 podcast

Last week, the world got its latest report card on education. voice-verified

It was voice-verified

Pretty god awful. voice-verified

The newest PISA results found that reading and math scores across rich countries have fallen to their lowest levels in the history of the test. voice-verified

In reading, the average student has lost about a year of learning since 2015. voice-verified

American scores are down too. voice-verified

Eighth grade reading scores have fallen ten points since twenty thirteen, and roughly one-third of eighth graders now score below basic in reading, the largest share in the history of that test. voice-verified

Something has gone very wrong with education in America and around the world. voice-verified

What makes this especially frustrating is that we have spent decades trying desperately to fix our schools. voice-verified

There was, if you recall, no child left behind with its obsession with testing and accountability. voice-verified

There was race to the top under Obama. voice-verified

There was Common Core. voice-verified

There were charter schools and teacher evals and personalized learning. voice-verified

And how about those laptops in every classroom? voice-verified

It's not as if all of these ideas failed everywhere. voice-verified

Some of them worked in some places, but none have become the national breakthroughs that its champions promised. voice-verified

American education reform sometimes feels like a scrap heap of ideas that reformers once claimed to be silver bullets. voice-verified

But then voice-verified

There's Mississippi. voice-verified

In 2000, Mississippi was one of the poorest states in America, with some of the worst schools in America. voice-verified

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