About the series: This series celebrates proven examples of positive change efforts, which have a strong logic for why they work and solid evidence that they work. The series also explores obstacles to the implementation of these policies, despite their proven success.
About this episode: Peter Gray is emeritus professor of psychology at Boston College. He wrote the first textbook on psychology from an evolutionary perspective and was led to the study of education by the experience of his son in public school. Against this background, our conversation focuses on Common Core as an educational policy that didn't work and cultivating a positive school climate as a policy with both a strong logic and abundant empirical evidence.
Resources:
• Peter's website, Psychology Today Blog, and Substack.
• The LetGrow Foundation, which Peter co-founded.
• Chapter #82 of Peter's substack, which contrasts Common Core with improving school climate and includes references to the scientific research that we discuss.
• An article on the Regents Academy, a school for at-risk youth that I helped to design and which we discuss in detail.
