faculty publications

Publication

NASEM committee including EPI’s Christina Weiland urges changes to preschool curricula to improve equity and support high-quality early education in the U.S.

Apr 18, 2024

A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) lays out a new vision for high-quality preschool curricula that support equitable early education for all children. The report recommends that in the next five...

NASEM committee including EPI’s Christina Weiland urges changes to preschool curricula to improve equity and support high-quality early education in the U.S.

Publication

U-M education researchers present evidence-based findings and analysis to inform Michigan’s Pre-K-for-All goals

Dec 6, 2023

Achieving Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s aim of universal Pre-K, made in her State of the State address in January 2023, will require building upon its established programs and making some adjustments to the state’s education...

U-M education researchers present evidence-based findings and analysis to inform Michigan’s Pre-K-for-All goals

In the Media

Jacob paper on student loan debt relief for teachers: No significant effect

Aug 1, 2023 Knowledge at Wharton

Brian Jacob, Knowledge at Wharton: “The potentially limited take-up of this program is of particular interest against the backdrop of a long-standing challenge of recruiting and retaining teachers, especially in high-need school districts, and, more...

In the Media

Jacob's study on teacher loan forgiveness cited in Chalkbeat

Aug 1, 2023 Chalkbeat

Brian Jacob, Chalkbeat: “The program has really good intentions,” said Brian Jacob, a professor at the University of Michigan and coauthor of the study. But, ultimately, “it’s not effective as it’s currently structured.” “The teachers in schools...

Publication

Learning from lottery-based evaluations of early education programs

Apr 19, 2023

The value of Pre-K education has been widely acknowledged through decades of research. However, much of that research has come from studying older and often smaller programs than those currently being implemented across the country. To determine how...

Annie Taylor on the value of long-term research partnerships

Publication

EPI brief looks at "Pre-k boost"

Jan 31, 2023

Children who attend a prekindergarten (Pre-K) program generally score higher on academic, social-emotional, and cognitive assessments at the start of kindergarten than children who do not. However, Pre-K nonattenders typically catch up to Pre-K...

Publication

Michigan transitional kindergarten widely available, supported by administrators and parents

Jan 26, 2023

Expanding access to high-quality early education has been a bipartisan goal of Michigan policymakers for at least a decade. New findings by the University of Michigan Education Policy Initiative provide the first systematic description of...

Publication

Overcoming data collection challenges in ECE research

Jan 24, 2023

Rigorous research in early care and education requires high-quality data, often gathered through intensive in-person fieldwork. The COVID-19 pandemic upended the ECE sector, making it much more challenging to safely and successfully collect data in...

Overcoming data collection challenges in ECE research

Publication

Christina Weiland on identifying inequities and directions forward in mixed-delivery Pre-K systems

Dec 8, 2022

“Almost every state with a public pre-K program uses a mixed-delivery approach, with some classrooms in public schools and others in community-based organizations (CBOs),” write Education Policy Initiative faculty co-director Christina Weiland, and...

Seattle Times endorses Weiland pre-K for all plan in Washington state

Publication

Income, segregated schools drive Black-white education gaps, study finds

Oct 19, 2022

Given the same levels of family, school, and neighborhood hardship, Black students would be more likely than their white classmates to complete high school and attend college—reversing current disparities, according to new research from the...

Income, segregated schools drive Black-white education gaps, study finds

Publication

COVID-19 remote learning policy: public health or political preference?

Oct 16, 2022

A new study by Ford School professor Brian Jacob looks into whether decisions about extending virtual learning were led more by political preference or public health guidance. The working paper, Assessing School District Decision-Making: Evidence...

Publication

Stange examines data bias caused by college graduates' out-of-state migration

Sep 7, 2022

When examining the effect on the labor market of post-secondary education in a particular state, researchers often use administrative outcome data – statewide statistics that look at university graduates and the effect on their employment. Yet when...

Stange examines data bias caused by college graduates' out-of-state migration

Publication

EPI studies Flint water crisis effects on academic outcomes

May 19, 2022

Math achievement for school-age children in Flint decreased and the proportion of children with special needs increased as a result of the Michigan city's water crisis during 2014-16, according to a new University of Michigan study. Those are the...

Lead in the water: What are the educational impacts on Flint students?

Publication

Working paper assesses employer perception of college majors and skills

Feb 1, 2022

What are the skills that employers expect college graduates to bring to the job? A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper from Ford School professor Kevin Stange and doctoral candidate Shawn Martin, along with two other colleagues,...

Working paper assesses employer perception of college majors and skills

Publication

Critical tools in preschool program design maximize investments

Jan 13, 2022

As the Biden administration and early childhood advocates across the country push for universal preschool for all three- and four-year-olds, Christina Weiland, professor of education and public policy at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of...

Publication

IES Predoctoral Fellows Moffett and Wessiman, Weiland, and colleagues explore effects of pre-k classroom organization

Dec 16, 2021

What are the best ways to judge how instruction in pre-kindergarten classrooms is organized? Linkages between facets of classroom organization such as better organization of materials, smooth transitions, and clear routines are thought to make...

IES Predoctoral Fellows Moffett and Wessiman, Weiland, and colleagues explore effects of pre-k classroom organization

State & Hill

Faculty findings, fall 2021

Dec 13, 2021

Who would pay if we stop using natural gas? New research co-authored by economist Catherine Hausman considers the equity impacts of transitioning from natural gas to other energy sources. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration,...

Publication

Earned Income Tax Credit affects intergenerational marriage and childbirth decisions, says U-M study

Dec 3, 2021

Children of Earned Income Tax Credit beneficiaries delayed marriage and first births, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Michigan professor, suggesting the cost-effectiveness of the federal program. Little has been known...

Ford School’s Katherine Michelmore Senate testimony - “Assessing 25 years of the Child Tax Credit”

Publication

Supporting 'Preschool for All' in Washington state

Nov 12, 2021

Policy Brief from the University of Michigan’s Education Policy Initiative outlines a vision for high-quality universal preschool in the state of Washington High-quality preschool helps prepare children for kindergarten and promotes their long-term...

Supporting 'Preschool for All' in Washington state

Publication

Michelmore and Pilkauskas find EITC boosts employment, with decreasing impact as children age

Oct 4, 2021

Existing research has largely overlooked the variation in maternal employment effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) depending on the age of their children. In a new study, Katherine Michelmore and Natasha Pilkauskas, both associate...

Who’s caring for the kids? The Earned Income Tax Credit and child care arrangements

Publication

Transitional kindergarten in Michigan: Impacts through elementary school and predictors of a lasting boost

Sep 29, 2021

Access to early education programs have been shown for decades to improve the educational prospects for children in kindergarten and beyond. A new type of early education program widespread in Michigan and California—transitional kindergarten...

Transitional kindergarten in Michigan: Impacts through elementary school and predictors of a lasting boost

Publication

EPI study offers deeper dive into demand for educational choices, implications for schools during pandemic

Sep 9, 2021

As school districts consider their options in light of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, a study by the Education Policy Initiative shows they need to be flexible in offering both in-person and virtual options or risk losing more enrollees. The...

EPI study offers deeper dive into demand for educational choices, implications for schools during pandemic

Publication

Dynarski’s research shows default options key to student loan repayment

Feb 13, 2021

Susan Dynarski’s recent research, “Designed to fail: Effects of the default option and information complexity on student loan repayment,” shows the powerful effects of default options and how making an income driven repayment (IDR) plan the default...

Susan Dynarski: University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor Lecture

News

Report finds gaps in access to career, technical ed programs

Feb 5, 2020

A new University of Michigan report detailing access to career and technical education programs in Michigan has found that while CTE courses are popular among high school students, there’s a gap in access to them. CTE courses prepare students to...

Report finds gaps in access to career, technical ed programs

News

Jacob: Effects of labor market information on community college students' choice of major

May 1, 2017

Rachel Baker (University of California, Irvine), Eric Bettinger (Stanford University), Brian Jacob, and Ioana Marinescu (University of Chicago) co-authored a working paper, "The Effect of Labor Market Information on Community College Students' Major...

In Brookings, Jacob argues for greater support systems for community college students

News

Jacob publication: "The measurement of student ability in modern assessment systems"

Jan 27, 2017

A paper by Brian Jacob and Jesse Rothstein (U-C Berkeley), "The Measurement of Student Ability in Modern Assessment Systems," was published in the Summer 2016 edition of the American Economic Association's Journal of Economic Perspectives. The piece...

More harm than good? Professor Brian Jacob criticizes the continued turnover of accountability systems for Michigan schools

News

Faculty publication on Michigan merit curriculum now in educational policy journal

Jan 27, 2017

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...

Jacob and Dynarski ranked among top U.S. education policy influencers

News

Jacob examines effects of Evidence Based Literacy Instruction on student reading

Jan 25, 2017

An NBER working paper by Brian Jacob, "When Evidence is Not Enough: Findings from a Randomized Evaluation of Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction," is forthcoming in Labour Economics. Abstract This paper reports the results of an experimental...

Jacob in Brookings: Causes, consequences, and potential solutions for chronic absenteeism

News

Brian Jacob debates the effects of NCLB school accountability policies in JPAM articles

Jan 1, 2017

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...

News

Jacob on Educational Test Score Manipulation in NBER Working Paper

Oct 12, 2016

“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...