Education Policy Speaker Series

Join education policy experts as they speak about their cutting-edge research to improve education outcomes for children across the country.
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EPI's education policy speaker series brings together a diverse slate of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to present on a wide range of educational issue areas relevant to students and faculty at UM.

Past events

Past event

Developing a measure to assess racial equity-oriented social and emotional learning practices

Despite the growing interest in social and emotional learning (SEL) implementation in K-12 settings, few measures exist to assess teachers’ SEL practices. In this talk, we describe the interactive mixed-method approach we took in developing the Racial Equity-oriented Social and Emotional Learning (REQSEL) practices measure.
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Past event

Researchers, Practitioners, and Funders: Perspectives on Strengthening Education Policy in Partnership Across Different Roles

In this presentation, Drs. McCormick and Sachs will discuss how their experiences as a researcher and practitioner working in partnership have prepared them for their new roles at the Overdeck Family Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They will also share opportunities they see to use research and evaluation to make a positive impact on education policy and how these opportunities vary across roles.
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Past event

Disrupting traditional philanthropic power dynamics in a Detroit early learning community partnership

EPI is proud to present a series of education policy talks given by esteemed researchers, policy makers, and / or practitioners.
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Past event

New perspectives on college choice: The role of family, gender, and career planning in the education decisions of college ready students from families with low incomes

Postsecondary education plays a vital role in promoting intergenerational mobility in the United States; however, there are large and growing gaps in college attendance, college quality, and college completion rates by family income. As a policy response, colleges and universities have tried to increase economic diversity, and several interventions have been promising.
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Past event

Who's Caring for the kids? The Earned Income Tax Credit and child care arrangements

In this talk, Professors Michelmore and Pilkauskas will discuss their study the effect of one of the largest work-contingent cash transfer programs in the United States – the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – on the child care arrangements of children.
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Past event

The on-going evaluation of a volunteer tutoring program for struggling readers

Competence and confidence in reading constitute the foundation for all educational achievement. Students who struggle with reading inevitably struggle with all academic course work, and those who begin school behind their peers rarely catch up without significant intervention.
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Past event

Diversifying the STEM pipeline: Evidence from STEM summer programs for underrepresented youth

Underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic workers in STEM fields contributes to racial wage gaps and reduces innovation and economic growth. Billions of dollars a year are spent on "pipeline'' programs to increase diversity in STEM, but there is little rigorous evidence of their efficacy.
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Past event

Preschool for all: A strong start for Washington State's children

The visionary policy recommendations presented here are rooted in a multi-year engagement between leaders and practitioners in Washington and the Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality team.
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Past event

Pushing on policymaking theory: Understanding the contemporary efforts to stymie change using a racialized policymaking framework

From threatening protestors to cutting diversity office funding on college campuses, one contemporary brand of policymaking has overtly sought to undermine social justice efforts in higher education. Current popular policymaking theories, however, are inadequate to understand this phenomenon, as they undertheorize the role of racialized power in policymaking – e.g., the racialized network of policy elites and their core beliefs.
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