Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Paul and Nancy O'Neill Classroom
Free and open to the public. Panelists: John Bebow - The Center for Michigan Lynn Jondahl - Michigan Prospect Michael Van Beek - Mackinac Center for Public Policy Organized by: Chuck Wilbur Sponsored by: the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP); the Ford School of Public
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Annenberg Auditorium
Matthew Springer, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education, Director of the National Center on Performance Incentives Vanderbilt University. The Project on Incentives in Teaching (POINT) experiment was a three-year experimental study of middle school math teachers and their students and schools. The signature activity of the POINT experiment was the study of the effects on student outcomes of paying teachers bonuses of up to $15,000 per year on the basis of student test-score gains.
ABSTRACT: Politicians tend to underestimate and to undervalue societal benefits that come far in the future, and this is particularly problematic with schools. Even though the economic benefits of improving growth through better schools far exceed the benefits from short run macro policies, the latter receives much more attention. In this talk, the returns to improved schools are described, and these returns are related to a variety of possible school reform policies. Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.
In 2004, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm charged the Lieutenant Governor's Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth with identifying strategies to improve postsecondary attainment and completion in Michigan.
Abstract In developing countries, rising incomes, increased demand for more skilled labor, and government investments of considerable resources on building and equipping schools and paying teachers have contributed to some global convergence in enrollment rates and completed years of schooling but substantial education gaps persist, such as between rural and urban households and also between males and females, in some settings. To address these gaps, some governments have introduced school vouchers or cash transfers programs that are targeted to disadvantaged children.
Abstract As a new administration takes the reins of the federal education research enterprise, the former director of federal education research, evaluation, and statistics will reflect on his experience in leading a research agency within the Bush administration that maintained its independence and integrity, and will offer his thoughts on what must be done to strengthen education research further so as to provide practitioners and policymakers with the knowledge to improve education outcomes substantially.
Marian Wright Edelman speaks from her new book, The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation, which she wrote as a call to action for all Americans to address the urgent needs of our country's youth.
Dr. Pianta is Dean of the Curry School of Education, as well as the Novartis Professor of Education and Director of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, University of Virginia. A former special education teacher, Dr. Pianta's research focuses on investigating the effects of schooling on children's social and academic outcomes and on improving school and classroom experiences through teachers' professional development. He has been involved in developing observational assessments of classrooms and observationally-based systems for professional development. Dr.
Abstract: Teacher Preparation and Student Achievement: This research project describes the recent changes in the routes into teaching in New York City. It assesses the effects of these changes on the distribution of teachers across schools and the academic achievement of students. It then looks more closely at the preparation of teachers in the district and estimates the effects of characteristics of this preparation on teachers' value-added to student achievement in their first two years of teaching.
Abstract: The challenges facing K-12 public education systems in Michigan and throughout the U.S. are formidable, and seem to grow more complex by the day. Issues related to globalization, federal oversight through the No Child Left Behind law, unfunded state mandates, aging infrastructure, and many more, are putting pressure on K-12 public school systems even while calls to improve student achievement and public education accountability grow from all quarters.
Abstract: Community colleges today enroll over one-half of all college students nationwide or nearly 12 million students. And yet, fewer than 40% of those who start at a public two-year college earn any type of degree within six years. Even among those students who intend to complete a degree, only about one-third do so within six years.
Abstract: Accountability programs, including the one implemented by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, operate under the assumption that schools are inefficient -- that is, that schools can provide higher quality education without investing additional resources. These programs seek to make schools more efficient by using incentives. The state of North Carolina currently operates two independent incentive systems for public schools.
Washington, DC area alumni are invited to a book conversation with Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Megan E. Tompkins-Stange. She will be discussing her new book, Policy Patrons: Philanthropy, Education Reform, and the Politics of Influence.
Causal Inference in Education Research Seminar (CIERS)
Abstract The case for a national effort to create core standards grows stronger by the day. Currently, 50 states have 50 standards, and most states are setting the bar as low as possible in order to comply with the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements of NCLB. Half the states have set fourth-grade reading benchmarks so low that they fall beneath even the most basic level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Ford School
**Due to COVID-19, this event has been canceled. We are working to reschedule for a future date or deliver this content in a different format. Check this page or follow @fordschool on Twitter for updates. Learn more here about the University of Michigan's new university-wide measures regarding classes and events.**
An illustrious group of Michigan graduates from fields such as economics, education, political science, psychology, public policy, social work, sociology, and women’s studies will discuss past, present, and future research on issues related to gender, race, poverty, inequality, and economic mobility.
The four major-party candidates for Regent of the University of Michigan will participate in a 75-minute Forum, co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
Free and open to the public Teach For America (TFA) is an important but controversial source of teachers for hard-to-staff subjects in high-poverty U.S. schools. We present findings from the first large-scale experimental study of secondary math teachers from TFA. We find that TFA teachers are more effective than other math teachers in the same schools, increasing student math achievement by 0.07 standard deviations over one school year.
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
University of Michigan Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium
Susan Dynarski, co-director of Education Policy Initiative and Professor of Public Policy, Education and Economics at the University of Michigan, will be a featured presenter at TEDx Indianapolis. The Education Policy Initiative will host a viewing party of her livestreamed presentation. Snacks and drinks provided.
