Cultivating Agency, Character, And Citizenship: A Visit To Vertex Partnership Academies

Join Ian Rowe, cofounder of Vertex Partnership Academies and Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Hoover senior fellow H.R. McMaster as they discuss education reform and the importance of cultivating agency, character, and civic understanding in young people. Recorded at Vertex Partnership Academies in the Bronx, the conversation explores how education can help students develop responsibility, meaning, and moral discernment.

Author of Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power, Rowe explains why he believes a deficit of agency lies at the heart of many educational challenges and describes how Vertex’s emphasis on the cardinal virtues, the nation’s founding principles, and a content-rich curriculum seeks to counter narratives of victimhood and resignation. McMaster and Rowe examine school choice, teachers’ union opposition to charter schools, and his “Distance to 100” framework, which evaluates student performance against 100 percent proficiency rather than race or class-based comparisons. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Rowe reflects on the nation’s capacity for self-renewal and the importance of constitutional literacy and civics education in preparing students for responsible citizenship.

Recorded on February 9, 2026.