Departments and Research Centers

Education Policy Initiative

The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) is a program within the Ford School that brings together nationally-recognized education policy scholars focused on the generation and dissemination of policy-relevant education research.

Showing 211 - 240 of 679 results

State & Hill

Measuring higher ed performance: Kevin Stange on the numerator and denominator

Dec 15, 2017

As Kevin Stange sees it, there's a conspicuously missing link in much of the higher education decision-making process. "The higher ed sector, as a productive entity, is a huge fraction of the U.S. economy," says Stange, who was promoted to...

State & Hill

Complex and fragile: The university's dual role as society's servant and society's critic

Dec 14, 2017

It's been 200 years since the founding of Michigan's first and flagship university: ours. Every moment is a turning point. But this moment—our bicentennial—is particularly poignant. As schools and stakeholders across the University of Michigan...

In Brookings, Dynarski describes who benefits from online ed, and who doesn’t

Nov 13, 2017

In “Online schooling: Who is harmed and who is helped?” Susan Dynarski highlights key findings from recent randomized trials and regression discontinuity design studies that attempt to measure the impact of online schooling on student success....

Jacob in Brookings: States need to support research on Career and Technical Education (CTE)

Nov 7, 2017

"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...

APPAM to honor Dynarski: Spencer Foundation Award for transformative ed policy work

Sep 26, 2017

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...

For better learning, "Lay down the laptop and pick up a pen," writes Dynarski

Aug 10, 2017

Susan Dynarski’s latest Brookings piece, “For better learning in college lectures, lay down the laptop and pick up a pen,” reviews evidence from multiple randomized trials to discern whether students who use computers in class outperform their...

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

Jul 31, 2017

In a July 27 “Evidence Speaks” column for the Brookings Institution, Brian Jacob and Kelly Lovett discuss “Chronic absenteeism: An old problem in search of new answers.”During the 2013-14 academic year, the authors report that 14 percent of students...

Pilkauskas wins fellowship to study maternal employment and school readiness

Jul 26, 2017

Natasha Pilkauskas has been awarded a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation postdoctoral fellowship to further her research on maternal employment characteristics and child wellbeing.Pilkauskas is among 30 scholars, selected from a pool...

In New York Times, Dynarski makes the case for universal college admission testing

Jul 14, 2017

In the New York Times, Susan Dynarski lays out the case for states to offer free, and universal, college admission testing.“A child born into a high-income family is six times as likely to earn a college degree as one who is poor,” writes Dynarski,...

Education Policy Initiative wins funding for postdoctoral fellowships in education sciences

Jun 29, 2017

Scholars from the Ford School's Education Policy Initiative (EPI) and the University of Michigan's School of Education have received a $712,000 grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to continue the University’s postdoctoral training...

Brian Jacob in Chalkbeat: Five big questions researchers are asking about charters

Jun 19, 2017

Brian Jacob is cited in a new Chalkbeat article, “Beyond the test score race: Five big questions researchers are asking about charter schools.”While many researchers with an interest in charter schools focus on the impact these schools have had on...

U-M's Go Blue Guarantee—free tuition for BA students with need—makes national headlines

Jun 19, 2017

Mark Schlissel, president of the University of Michigan, recently announced the “Go Blue Guarantee,” which pledges four years of free tuition for admitted in-state students whose families earn less than $65,000 per year. The program is based, in...

Jacob on Michigan Radio: MI reforms of under-performing schools have been unsuccessful

Jun 9, 2017

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...

WaPo cites Education Policy Initiative research on MI charter school practices

May 31, 2017

In “What ‘school choice’ means in the era of Trump and DeVos,” Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss explores the varied policies and programs proposed by U.S. school-choice advocates. Strauss' primer on the movement cites recent research from...

Brian Jacob, Sue Dynarski, and members of the Education Policy Initiative stand along the winding main staircase of the Ford School's home, Weill Hall

State & Hill

Read recently released research findings by Ford School faculty in education policy

May 9, 2017

Brian Jacob on the promise, and limitations, of "next generation" teaching technologies In "Can technology help promote equality of educational opportunities?" Brian Jacob and coauthors, including Ford School alumna Susanna Loeb (MPP '94),...

In The New York Times, Susan Dynarski describes “The wrong way to fix student debt”

May 8, 2017

In a May 6 “Economic View” column for The New York Times, "The wrong way to fix student debt," Susan Dynarski describes three recent regulatory changes that are “making student loans riskier, more expensive and more burdensome for borrowers.”The...

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...

Brian Jacob tracks trends in charter school research for Brookings' Evidence Speaks

Mar 31, 2017

In a March 23 piece for Brookings’ Evidence Speaks series, Brian Jacob outlines recent research that aims to answer key questions about the effectiveness of U.S. charter schools. Jacob’s article, “The evolution of the charter school market and...

Dynarski’s research on income-contingent loans cited in Times Higher Education

Mar 16, 2017

A team of four researchers, including Susan Dynarski, published a working paper on income-contingent loan (ICL) systems this month for the Centre for Global Higher Education: “Getting student financing right in the US: Lessons from Australia and...

Susan Dynarski in New York Times on the recent FAFSA fumble

Mar 13, 2017

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...

Jacob in Bridge Magazine: If nothing is done, Michigan public education will continue decline

Mar 9, 2017

In "State Commission: Consider abolishing Board of Education," Ted Roefels of Bridge Magazine quotes Brian Jacob, whose research focuses on improving educational achievement and outcomes.The article, published on March 9, covers a forthcoming report...

Jacob speaks with Michigan Radio, poor marks for Michigan’s reading, math proficiency

Feb 22, 2017

“Are Michigan’s schools improving? According to a new analysis of national testing data, the answer is a clear 'no,'" says Michigan Radio’s “Stateside” in today’s segment, “On national reading and math test, Michigan only state where students have...

News

Jacob on how the U.S. Department of Education can foster reform in the Trump era

Feb 3, 2017

In "How the U.S. Department of Education can foster education reform in the era of Trump and ESSA," Brian Jacob describes Michigan's disappointing performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. According to Jacob's analysis,...

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 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...

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...

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...

Dynarski on "Fulfilling the promise of community college: The ASAP demonstrations"

Dec 7, 2016

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...

Michigan charter school practices rarely differ from those offered in traditional public schools

Dec 1, 2016

A new study by the University of Michigan’s Education Policy Initiative (EPI) shows Michigan’s charter schools follow similar practices as the traditional public schools that their students would otherwise attend. At a time when one of the major...

Why investors are suddenly bullish on for-profit colleges, Dynarski in NYT Upshot

Nov 21, 2016

Susan Dynarski, writing for the Upshot, explains why investors are suddenly bullish on for-profit colleges in “With Trump, investors see profits again in for-profit colleges.”Under the Obama administration, for-profit colleges faced mounting...