Andrew Coulson is Director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, and serves on the Advisory Council of the E.G. West Centre for Market Solutions in Education at the University of Newcastle, UK. He came to Cato from the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, where where he was Senior Fellow in Education Policy.
     For several years Mr. Coulson served as a contributing editorial board member of, and peer-reviewer for, the Education Policy Analysis Archives. He is author of the 1999 book Market Education: The Unknown History, and has contributed chapters to books by the Hoover Institution and the Fraser Institute, among others. Mr. Coulson has written for academic journals such as the Journal of Research in the Teaching of English and the Education Policy Analysis Archives, and for newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, the Detroit Free Press, and the Seattle Times. His work has been widely reported in the press, from the Washington Post and Investor's Business Daily, to USA Today and Rolling Stone magazine. He has lectured in Europe and across North America.
     Andrew Coulson has the good fortune to live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
     Education Week has published a short article  by Mr. Coulson, summarizing the findings of his book Market Education.
 
Regular Commentaries

     Andrew writes a twice-monthly commentary for the Mackinac Center on education-related issues in the news.

     "Achievement in Context: How South Carolina Students Fare Against Their National and International Competition," research report, South Carolina Policy Council Education Foundation, February, 2005.   Click here for a Microsoft Word document version of this article.

     "Forging Consensus: Can the School Choice Community Come Together on an Explicit Goal and a Plan for Achieving It?" monograph, April 30, 2004, The Mackinac Center for Public Policy.  This paper discusses the fundamental goals of market-based education policies, proposes a strategy for selecting the best policy to fulfill those goals, and then compares the two most prominent contenders to the throne: school vouchers and education tax credits. Click here for web and .PDF versions.

     "How Markets Affect Quality: Testing a Theory of Market Education against the International Evidence," paper presented at the Cato Institute conference on Urban Education, Washington, D.C., May 15th, 2003.  Click here for a .PDF version of this article.

    "Implementing Education for All: Moving from Goals to Action," paper presented at the Fondazione Liberal's Second International Education Conference, Milan, Italy, May 17th, 2003.  Click here for a .PDF version of this article.

    Reinventing Education in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg: The Commonwealth Foundation, 2003). This short book is available online in .PDF format.

     "Expanding Educational Freedom in Oklahoma," chapter in: Brandon Dutcher (ed.), Oklahoma Policy Blueprint (Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, 2002), p. 151-186. Full text of this book chapter in .PDF format.

     "With Clear Eyes, Sincere Hearts, and Open Minds: A Second Look at Public Education in America," occasional paper, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, July 2002. Click here for a .PDF version of this article.

     "Education for a Pluralistic Society: Historical Lessons on School Governance," paper presented at the International Milano-Liberal Conference, Milan, Italy, April 19, 2002.

     "Delivering Education," chapter in: Edward P. Lazear (ed.), Schools for the 21st Century (Hoover Institution Press, 2002), p. 105-146. Click here for a .PDF version of this article.

     "Market Education and the Public Good," chapter in: Claudia R. Hepburn (ed.), Can the Market Save Our Schools (Fraser Institute Press, 2001), p. 53-72. Click here for a .PDF version of this article.

     "Toward Market Education: Are Vouchers or Tax Credits the Better Path?" Cato Institute, Cato Policy Analysis no. 392, February 22, 2001. Click here for a .PDF version of this article.

     "It Does Not Compute," Wall Street Journal, January 21st, 2000.

     "An Opportunity Lost," Seattle Times, August 23rd, 1999.

     "Are Public Schools Hazardous to Public Education?" Education Week, Vol. 18, number 30, (April 7th, 1999) pages 36, 40. Click here to read this article.

     Syndicated columnist William Raspberry dedicated his August 17, 1998 column to the historical evidence on school choice, and interviewed the editor of the School Choices website. Click here to read the Washington Post column.

     "Forgotten Lessons: The Historical Case for a Free Educational Market," paper delivered to the Harvard Conference on Rethinking School Governance, June 12^th-13^th, 1997. The Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

     "Schooling and Literacy over Time: The Rising Cost of Stagnation and Decline," Research in the Teaching of English, vol. 30, no. 3, October 1996, pp. 311-327.

     "Markets Versus Monopolies in Education: The Historical Evidence," Education Policy Analysis Archives , vol. 4, no. 9, June 1996, entire issue.

     "A Response to John Covaleskie," Network News & Views (An Educational Excellence Network (EEN) / Hudson Institute publication), September, 1995.

Questions or Comments?

Andrew Coulson is strongly committed to making schools serve the public as effectively and efficiently as possible. If you have suggestions, comments, criticism, or questions regarding this website or his research, please feel free to contact him using the "Send Comments" link at the bottom of this page.