Q&A with new HGSE dean
James E. Ryan, a leading scholar of education law and policy, will become the new dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) this fall. His work focuses on educational opportunity, and he has taught and written on such topics as school finance, school desegregation, school choice, school governance, a right to preschool, teacher compensation reform, and the No Child Left Behind Act. He is currently the Matheson and Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law and the Weber Research Professor of Civil Liberties and Human Rights at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served for five years as academic associate dean and is founding director of the public service program. Ryan talked with the Harvard Gazette about his passion for education and his new role at HGSE: GAZETTE: What drew you to education as the focus of your scholarly work? RYAN: My interest in education stems from personal experience. I...