Frederick M. Hess
Frederick M. Hess is an American educator, political scientist, and author. He is a resident fellow and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. In addition to his blog "Rick Hess Straight Up" at Education Week, he is also a regular contributor to "Forbes" and "The Hill", and executive editor of "Education Next". His books include "Spinning Wheels", "Letters to a Young Education Reformer", "Cage-Busting Leadership", and "A Search for Common Ground". Hess' research focuses on K-12 and higher education issues. Education and early career. Hess studied political science at Brandeis University, graduating  summa cum laude. Upon graduating, he enrolled at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he earned his M.Ed. in teaching and curriculum. He began his education career as a high school social studies teacher in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After gaining first-hand experience in the classroom, he returned to Harvard for an M.A. and Ph.D. in government. His dissertation examined education reform in 57 school districts and the "spinning wheels" of rapid short-term improvement in urban schools. It eventually became the first of his many books, published in 1998 by the Brookings Institution Press. Hess joined the faculty at  the University of Virginia in 1997, teaching as an assistant professor of education and politics. In 2002, he published a paper, entitled "Tear Down This Wall," arguing for a "radical overhaul of teacher certification" in order to create competition for teaching positions and to help troubled districts fill their staffing gaps with qualified teachers. In an interview with "Harvard Ed Magazine", Hess remarked that fallout from his paper was one of the reasons for his eventual departure from the University of Virginia. Despite the controversy, as former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Chester Finn explained, the paper enhanced his reputation  as an "education renegade" and helped position Hess at the forefront of the education reform movement. Current work. In 2002, Hess became the founding director and resident fellow of the education policy studies program at the American Enterprise Institute. While at AEI, Hess has hosted public events with policymakers to discuss their visions for reforming American education. He has hosted conferences and research events on topics including the future of education philanthropy, civics and citizenship education, Common Core state standards, and ed policy lessons from the Bush-Obama years of education reform. He's also hosted events with keynote speakers  across the ideological and political spectrum including Success Academies Charter School Founder Eva Moskowitz; Secretaries of Education Arne Duncan, Betsy DeVos, and Rod Paige; controversial historian and pundit Diane Ravitch; and American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten. Hess has authored 13 books and edited over two dozen more, each exploring various elements of K-12 and higher education. His most-cited works are "Spinning Wheels", "Learning to Lead", "School Boards at the Dawn of the 21st Century", "Revolution at the Margins", and "Common Sense School Reform". Along with Pedro A. Noguera, dean of USC’s Rossier School of Education, Hess  coauthored the 2021 book "In Search of Common Ground: Conversations About the Toughest Questions in K-12 Education", which won the 2022 PROSE Award in Education Practice & Theory. After the book's publication, Hess and Noguera debuted the Common Ground podcast. Hess has authored research articles and more general commentaries for scholarly and popular outlets such as "Teachers College Record", "Harvard Education Review", "Phi Delta Kappan", "Educational Leadership", "U.S. News & World Report", "National Affairs", the "Washington Post", the "New York Times", "The Wall Street Journal", "The Atlantic", and "National Review". Hess is also the author of the "Education Week" blog "Rick  Hess Straight Up" and a regular contributor to "Forbes" and "The Hill". Hess serves as the executive editor of "Education Next", a quarterly journal devoted to issues of education reform. Hess also has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Rice University, and Harvard University. Hess is the founder of AEI’s Conservative Education Reform Network, which includes hundreds of the nation's most influential conservative educators and education policy makers and hosts the “Sketching a New Conservative Education Agenda series.” Distilling knowledge from over twenty-five years working in and around school reform, Hess  has become a leading voice on issues including the Common Core, No Child Left Behind, the role of for-profits in education, education philanthropy, and the impact of education research. Under Hess, AEI Education has grown into a predominant center of conservative thought for K-12 and higher education policy. An article by the Harvard Graduate School of Education publication Ed Magazine referred to Hess as “one of America’s most influential and respected” education policy experts for his ability to "craft controversial arguments, challenge conventional thought, and make his strong opinions known." In 2021, Washingtonian magazine named Hess one of  Washington’s ten most influential figures in education. Personal. Hess lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and their two sons. Select publications. Books. In addition to books and edited volumes, Hess has published a number of scholarly research reports. These include "Learning to Lead: What Gets Taught in Principal Preparation Programs"; "Diplomas and Dropouts: Which Colleges Actually Graduate Their Students (and Which Don’t)"; three iterations of the "Leaders and Laggards" series, and multiple entries in lead publications with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.