Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at George Mason University and author of 'The Case Against Education', discusses transfer of learning research on the a16z Podcast.
Opinion
Caplan: Schools should replace credentialed teachers with enthusiastic young non-graduates
“So, basically, it seems like we'd go and replace a lot of teachers from, you know, better schools, and with master's degrees, and with more experience, with just enthusiastic, fun, young teachers. You know, maybe people haven't even finished high school.”
Opinion
Caplan: The ideal educational model is complete separation of school and state
“I think the best would be separation of school and state. And just get government out of education entirely.”
Insight
Caplan: Schooling signals worker capability rather than teaching practical skills
“Well, if you go and do well in your Aristotle class, your foreign language class, this, though useless in terms of what you will do, it is impressive. It is convincing. It's a way of selling people on your value as a worker.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Caplan: Average adult knowledge of core school subjects is near zero
“I've got data on knowledge of history, government, science, and foreign languages, in addition to literacy and numeracy. Literacy and numeracy, at least there's a credible story, but the other things that I just mentioned, there if you go and look at what adul…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Caplan: Increasing school choice does not significantly raise student test scores
“I've looked at least some of the research, and it seems like the idea that if there's a lot more school choice, this will raise test scores a lot, ah, doesn't seem to be true.”
Assertion Supported
Caplan: Standard credentials and seniority do not predict actual teacher effectiveness
“The main thing known is none of, like, the obvious social science measures of teacher quality predict teacher quality. So, having credentials from better schools, or having more credentials, or even more experience, none of the standard things that are in the …”