This Week On Smart City: Achievement in Education

There is probably no tougher issue for urban leaders than education. Fads come and go but test scores never quite live up to the promises.

Dr. Ken Wong is a national expert on education accountability and he has found a surprisingly positive correlation between the school systems controlled by mayors and improved education achievement, particularly in elementary grades. His latest book is The Education Mayor: Improving America's Schools. Ken chairs the Education Department at Brown University, where he holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair in Education Policy and directs the graduate program in Urban Education Policy.

Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland are also education researchers. In their work for Project Zero at Harvard, they've been uncovering the effect visual arts education has on student achievement. Their research project is called Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education. Ellen is professor of psychology at Boston College. Lois is an Associate Professor of Art Education at the Massachusetts College of Art.

Smart City is a syndicated, weekly hour-long public radio talk show that takes an in-depth look at urban life: the people, places, ideas and trends that affect us all. Host Carol Coletta talks with national and international public policy experts, economists, business leaders, artists, developers, planners and others on the pulse of city life for a penetrating discussion on urban issues.

Smart City is broadcast at 6 a.m. Saturday and Sundays on WKNO-FM, but it is also webcast and podcast. For the webcast, times for the broadcast in other cities and to sign up for the podcast, visit the website.

Note; We've received numerous emails asking about the change in the broadcast time of Smart City in Memphis. We're extremely grateful to WKNO-FM for their instrumental role in making it possible to have this program in the first place and we will always remain so. In answer to emails, however, we did want to respond: If you would like the time moved to the later time that it previously had (as many of you have said), please contact the radio station program director.