About This Episode
Season 4. Episode 14.
This week on Education Insight, we’re joined by Dr. Jon Fullerton, research professor and executive director of the USC EdPolicy Hub. Jon is also one of the authors of a recent EdSource article, Playing the Long Game in an Uncertain Education Policy Climate, which dives into some of the most pressing challenges facing California’s education system today.
In this episode, Jon shares insights into chronic issues like lagging student achievement and chronic absenteeism, while highlighting lessons California can learn from other states, such as Mississippi’s success with reading reforms. We also explore the role of public-private partnerships in building career pathways, how to better support students’ mental and physical health, and the importance of fostering inclusive, respectful conversations in education.
Jon emphasizes the need for community engagement and local innovation to create sustainable change and offers a bold vision for how California can lead the nation in education reform. Whether you’re an educator, policymaker, or passionate about student success, this episode is packed with actionable ideas to drive meaningful progress.
Listen now to discover how we can shape the future of education in California together!
Featured Guest
Dr. Jon Fullerton
Biography
Dr. Jon Fullerton is a research professor and executive director of the USC Education Policy Hub. He has extensive experience working with education policy makers and executives in using data to guide system improvement and the effective use of financial resources. Before coming to USC, Fullerton was executive director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. While at CEPR, Dr. Fullerton founded the Strategic Data Project. SDP places and trains analytic data fellows across the PK12 and Higher Education sectors to use data and evidence to guide strategy and decision making to transform student outcomes. Thus far, SDP has placed or trained over 500 fellows across at over 240 partner agencies and non-profits.
Fullerton has also served as the Board of Education’s Director of Budget and Financial Policy for the Los Angeles Unified School District. In this capacity, he provided independent evaluations of District reforms and helped to ensure that the District’s budget was aligned with Board priorities. From 2002 to 2005 he was Vice-President of Strategy, Evaluation, Research, and Policy at the Urban Education Partnership in Los Angeles, where he worked with policy makers to ensure that they focused on high impact educational strategies. Prior to this, he worked at McKinsey & Company as a strategy consultant. Dr. Fullerton has a PhD in government and AB in religion and social studies, both from Harvard.
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Education Insight tells the story of education in the Inland Empire through the diverse voices of those in and around the regional education community. The show is produced by Growing Inland Achievement, a collective impact organization in the Inland Empire with a mission to increase economic prosperity in the region by increasing educational attainment. Hosted by 30-year broadcast veteran Lacey Kendall, monthly shows explore topics ranging from education challenges and shortcomings to innovations and groundbreaking ideas that are driving student success.