Frederick M. Hess

Resident scholar and director of education policy studies, AEI

Frederick M. Hess is resident scholar and director of education policy studies at AEI (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research). An educator, political scientist, and author, he studies a range of K–12 and higher education issues. He pens the Education Week blog “Rick Hess Straight Up” and has authored influential books on education including The Same Thing Over and Over, Education Unbound, Common Sense School Reform, Revolution at the Margins, and Spinning Wheels. He has edited widely cited volumes on education philanthropy, urban school reform, how to stretch the school dollar, education entrepreneurship, what we have learned about the federal role in education reform, and No Child Left Behind. He also serves as executive editor of Education Next; as lead faculty member for the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program; on the Review Board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education; and on the boards of directors of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and 4.0 Schools. A former high school social studies teacher, he has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Rice University, and Harvard University.