"The single best way to avoid... selection problems and determine the causal impact of a policy or program is through a randomized control trial. While such experiments can be expensive and are often logistically or politically difficult, they have...
Professor Susan Dynarski has been named a recipient of the Spencer Foundation Award by the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) for her noteworthy contributions through research and analysis in the field of education policy...
On June 6, Brian Jacob spoke with Dustin Dwyer of Michigan Radio about recent research that explores whether Michigan's Priority and Focus schools have benefitted from reforms implemented in 2012. The work is published in “Differentiated...
Susan Dynarski’s recent article, "A fumble on a key FAFSA tool, and a failure to communicate," was published by The New York Times earlier today. The piece takes a critical look at the IRS shutdown of the FAFSA's data retrieval tool earlier this...
A paper by Brian Jacob, Susan Dynarski, Kenneth Frank, and Barbara Schneider titled, “Are Expectations Alone Enough? Estimating the Effect of a Mandatory College-Prep Curriculum in Michigan” was published in Educational Evaluation and Policy...
In "The changing federal role in school accountability" and "The potential and limits of federal policy: A response to Ladd," two January articles in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Brian Jacob engages with Helen Ladd of Duke...
Community colleges throughout the United States have low graduation rates, yet preliminary evidence from a new randomized trial suggests an effective policy prescription, write Susan Dynarski and Meghan Oster. Their article, “Fulfilling the promise...
Susan Dynarski, in Sunday’s New York Times, describes for-profit colleges as having “a conveyor belt of dropouts and debt.”Dynarski points out that enrollment at for-profit colleges has jumped, especially since the Great Recession, when increased...
“The Causes and Consequences of Test Score Manipulation: Evidence from the New York Regents Examinations” a journal article by Thomas S. Dee, Will Dobbie, Brian A. Jacob, and Jonah Rockoff, has been released as an NBER working paper.AbstractIn this...
Brian Jacob's latest contribution to Brookings' Evidence Speaks focuses on “The wisdom of mandatory grade retention.”In the article, Jacob investigates whether it is sound public policy to require third graders who fall behind in grade-level reading...
Last week, Brian Jacob, Susan Dynarski and two colleagues from Michigan State released a new paper, "Are expectations alone enough? Estimating the effect of a mandatory college-prep curriculum in Michigan." The paper examines the effect of the 2006...
In a new paper for Brookings, "The Trouble with Student Loans? Low Earnings, Not High Debt," Susan Dynarski debunks the popular notion that more student debt leads to higher student loan default rates.In fact, research shows that default rates are...
The University of Michigan has received a $4 million federal grant to establish a predoctoral research training program in education sciences.The grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences unites U-M's School of...
Four University of Michigan scholars, including three Ford School faculty members, made Rick Hess’s Education Week ranking of the most influential U.S. scholars in education policy--those who contribute most substantially to public debates about...
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.
The goal of the conference is to facilitate dialogue between policymakers, practitioners, and researchers around the changing nature of skill demand in the U.S. workforce and how postsecondary institutions can better respond to these changes. The conference is made possible through funding from the National Science Foundation.
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.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
EPI Speaker Series,
Gilbert S. Omenn and Martha A. Darling Health Policy Fund
Join Professor Brian Jacob for a conversation on the academic impacts of the Flint Water Crisis 7-8 years later, and the big picture implications for young people in the community, featuring Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha - recognized as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis and leading recovery effort - alongside Dr. Sam Trejo, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, and Flint Community Schools Superintendent Kevelin Jones.
The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Education Policy Initiative will be hosting a Policy Talk about the profound effects of COVID-19 on the state of education in Michigan.
Join our talk with Chris Weiland and Tim Burgess, co-authors of a recent policy report addressing the failure to provide high-quality universal preschool for all three- and four-year-old children in Washington.
Webinar to discuss bipartisan investment to stabilize and expand access to quality early childhood education (ECE). Congress and the Administration consider next major investments in ECE, requiring a need for a vision for a new and better system.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
EPI Speaker Series
Join us for a conversation on modern discourse with Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom, moderated by Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes, as they discuss the topics in her new book, Thick, including race, gender, inequality, higher education access, technology, culture, and more.
Come learn from four stakeholders renowned for their experience and expertise in improving children's literacy; two professors of education, an education reporter, and the head of one of Michigan's school administrator associations.
Please join the Education Policy Initiative in welcoming Hirokazu Yoshikawa, the Courtney Sale Ross Professor of Globalization and Education at NYU Steinhardt and a University Professor at NYU, and Co-Director (with J. Lawrence Aber) of the Global TIES for Children center at NYU, for a virtual education policy talk.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Lecture Series
Join us for a panel discussion on the future of federal education policy, including the priorities of the new administration and the congressional agenda. Panel will be hosted by former deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and current Ford School Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence James Kvaal.
Please join us as EPI researchers and affiliated researchers present 23 papers at AEFP’s 41st annual conference in Denver, Colorado. The presentations highlight EPI’s ongoing work in education policy research, from early education through the labor market.
The opening plenary session will take place on Thursday, October 24 and feature a Policy Talks @ the Ford School lecture with Roberto Rodríguez, special assistant to the president for education policy. Click here to read more about the plenary session with Roberto Rodríguez. About the conference: This topic has received extensive popular media coverage, but there has been a paucity of rigorous research, and what little there is has been isolated. The goal of the conference is twofold.
Free and open to the public. Abstract In 2006, with the goal of increasing student achievement, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) Board of Education passed policies related to effective teachers and school administrators. The leadership of the District put the Board's work in action and made increasing staff effectiveness the focus of their work.
