How to unleash student potential in education (with Jack Despain Zhou)

Apr 23, 2025 1h 18m 18 insights Episode Page ↗
Spencer Greenberg speaks with Jack Despain Zhou, cofounder of the Center for Educational Progress, about the stagnation in U.S. education. They discuss reforming schools by grouping students by ability, incorporating cognitive science, and prioritizing excellence, along with the FAA's problematic hiring changes.
Actionable Insights

1. Group Students by Ability

Instead of grouping students by age, group them by their specific skill level to tailor instruction and allow them to progress as far and fast as they are capable and interested. This approach is supported by research showing positive impacts on learning, especially for high-achieving students, and potentially for all levels when combined with effective curricula like direct instruction.

2. Prioritize Pursuit of Excellence

Reorient education to prioritize the pursuit of excellence and understanding the mechanical steps required to reach the peak of any subject. This approach aims to lift all students as close to their potential peaks as they are capable and interested in going.

3. Incorporate Cognitive Science

Take the cognitive science of learning more seriously in education. By incorporating its principles, such as spaced repetition and interleaved practice, alongside ability grouping, improvements in learning can be reasonably expected at every student level.

4. Meet Students at Their Level

Regardless of the underlying reasons for a student’s current skill level (e.g., mental health, home environment, IQ), provide instruction tailored to their specific needs and current readiness. This approach aims to accelerate learning by addressing foundational gaps before moving to advanced topics.

5. Use Tests Diagnostically

View standardized test scores as diagnostic tools to understand where students are currently performing, rather than as punitive measures for schools or students. This shift helps tailor curriculum to student needs instead of merely judging success or failure.

6. Prioritize Interest Over Intelligence

When assessing student potential, focus on their interest and willingness to put in the work, rather than primarily on intelligence. While intelligence matters, progress is more often constrained by interest, and with effective training and support, almost any individual can progress in a given domain.

7. Ensure Classroom Order

Prioritize creating and maintaining an ordered classroom environment conducive to learning, which includes measures like removing phones from classrooms and addressing extremely disruptive students. This order is a prerequisite for any serious in-classroom learning.

8. Utilize Spaced Repetition

Review material using spaced repetition, reviewing within a day, then a few days, then a couple of weeks, and so on, spacing out practice sessions further each time. This method maps to the forgetting curve, making memory more effective than evenly chunked review.

9. Employ Interleaved Practice

Mix different topics together during study sessions (interleaved practice) rather than focusing on one topic at a time (blocked practice). Interleaved practice consistently leads to better long-term retention and deeper learning.

10. Disregard Learning Styles Theory

Do not rely on the concept of “learning styles” (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) as an effective teaching method, as there is no evidence to support its efficacy. This is an intuitively appealing but unsupported idea that has persisted in education.

11. Offer Diverse Math Tracks

Implement different mathematics tracks (e.g., pre-algebra, algebra, geometry) where students sign up for classes based on their readiness and prior achievement, rather than strictly by age. This is a basic form of ability grouping that can be applied.

12. Use Flexible Elementary Grouping

For elementary levels, implement flexible ability grouping by regularly testing students and assigning them to different classrooms or groups for multi-week chunks based on their test results. This allows for dynamic adjustments to student placement throughout the year.

13. Expand Gifted Programs

Protect and expand existing gifted programs and accelerated tracks, making them more robust and available to students. These programs should offer comprehensive curricula that truly push students beyond the default, rather than just being occasional pull-out sessions.

14. Eliminate Age-Based Grouping

In an ideal system, eliminate age as the primary factor for student grouping in academic subjects, instead allowing students of any age to take classes based on their readiness and test-based admission criteria. This pushes students further in subjects when they are ready, though some social grouping might remain.

15. Implement Real-Time Feedback

Incorporate techniques like students using red/green cards to provide real-time answers to questions during teaching sessions. This evidence-based method is a positive movement that can enhance engagement and understanding.

16. Build Around System Edges

If seeking to implement educational reforms, consider working around the edges of the existing system by building micro-schools or specialized programs. This approach can be surprisingly easy and effective for creating meaningful change without directly confronting the larger, slower-moving system.

17. Advocate for Selective Public Schools

Advocate for the creation of more selective public schools, similar to Stuyvesant or Thomas Jefferson, in states and districts that currently lack them. These institutions can serve as “crown schools” that bring prestige and provide advanced curricula for high-achieving students.

18. Maintain Hiring Standards

When trying to increase diversity or representation in hiring, focus on meaningful outreach and encouragement rather than lowering qualification standards or neglecting safety. Lowering standards can degrade performance and create downstream problems, as seen in the FAA scandal.