Poverty and social policy

Traditional Leadership, Social Networks, and Collective Action in Northern Ghana

Dr. Gottschalk is a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania specializing in American criminal justice politics. In her presentation, she will examine why the carceral state, with its growing number of outcasts, remains so tenacious in the United States.

Universal child care has been a longstanding goal of child care advocates in both Canada and the United States since the 1960s, yet in 2016 that goal remains stubbornly elusive in both federations despite decades of activism. Responsibility for child care delivery has been shared in both countries between federal, “meso” (provincial/state), and local governments with more of that responsibility being downloaded to the state/provincial level since the 1990s. Dr. Collier will present two meso level cases (Ontario and Michigan) to understand how child care advocates have navigated these decentralized landscapes. What factors explain successful policy outcomes and what barriers persist? Are universal programs and longer term social justice advocacy claims viable in decentralized federations?  View the poster.

Jeffrey Sachs is one of the world's most influential development economists. He is the author of 'Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet' (2008) and 'The End of Poverty,' his seminal 2005 prescription for ending extreme poverty in the world by 2025.

This event will bring together a variety of stakeholders to discuss what we know, what we are doing, and what can be done to address the continued hardships faced by many Michigan residents in the wake of the Great Recession and the current slow economic recovery. Researchers from the University of Michigan will set the context for the discussion through a presentation of results from the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study (MRRS), based on recent interviews with over 800 households in the Detroit area.

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.

Rebecca Blank will deliver the Citi Foundation Policy Talks @ the Ford School keynote of the two-day Poverty, Policy, and People: 25 Years of Research and Training at the University of Michigan.

Please join us for a conversation with President and CEO of CARE USA Helene D. Gayle and Ford School faculty Marina Whitman and Sharon Maccini on current trends in international development aid, microfinance, and global health initiatives.

A presentation by Scott Imberman, Associate Professor of Economics, Michigan State University