In short, is there anyone with rigorously supported proposals for improving the education system, but lost in the sea of quacks?
Spaced repetition is very well supported and most studies have been in educational contexts: http://www.gwern.net/Spaced%20repetition#literature-review
But it is not used. Since it's more than a century old, this is not for lack of time. I agree with beoShaffer that existing education institutions are pretty dysfunctional. (Which is not to say that online education might not be a productive field! But I worry that all the current interest reads like a bubble - people have given up on green energy, so what's next on the list of liberal shibboleths...)
Spaced repetition is interesting, but I was under the impression that it was most helpful for improved memorization. I've always taken the criticism of the education system that it doesn't do a good job of making the material part of the student as the most important critique.
I've wondered for some time now what the effects of online education might be on gender and income inequality, specifically as online education interacts with IQ and Conscientiousness (compared with offline education). I ran into a study of a course done online and offline that found correlations with Conscientiousness, which prompted me to start writing out my thoughts: https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/aKa3qLatwZ3
The model/argument I give (towards the bottom) is logically trivial, and the basic idea seems pretty intuitive - offline classrooms remove some need for self-discipline/Conscientiousness and performance is more g-loaded - that I'm sure I can't be the first person to think of it.
Does anyone have statistics or citations handy which might help in any essay I write on the topic?