Departments and Research Centers

Youth Policy Lab

The Youth Policy Lab coordinates activities to provide information and analyses that social services organizations need to do their jobs most effectively.

Showing 61 - 90 of 173 results

State & Hill

Building strength

Jun 10, 2021

With new leading-edge research and faces at the school, the Ford School builds depth in two key policy areas. Energy and the environment Economics, political science, psychology, and community engagement are at the roots of the Ford School’s...

News

Examining Detroit students' college pathways

May 26, 2021

Academic and non-academic barriers are preventing Detroit high school students from enrolling and succeeding in college. Detroit Students’ College Pathways and Outcomes, a policy brief released by the Youth Policy Lab (YPL) at the University of...

Publication

Career and technical education offers pathways for students with disabilities in Michigan

May 13, 2021

Career and Technical Education (CTE) could offer one way of bolstering educational attainment among and providing valuable job skills to students with disabilities (SWD). A new release by the Youth Policy Lab at the Ford School looks at CTE...

In the Media

Youth Policy Lab finds metro Detroit is slipping in college readiness

Feb 3, 2021 Detroit Free Press

U-M's Youth Policy Lab (YPL) analyzed data for the Detroit Regional Chamber's "2021 State of Education" report, finding "a sober assessment of education attainment in the Detroit region." "With many key enrollment and attainment indicators trending...

News

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

Jan 11, 2021

Education Week released their 11th annual RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings—the top 200 university-based scholars who shape education practice and policy. Ford School professors Brian Jacob and Susan M. Dynarski were two of the four...

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

News

MDHHS and Youth Policy Lab announce selection of agencies to participate in evaluation of Maternal Infant Health Program

Dec 1, 2020

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Youth Policy Lab have announced the selection of 11 provider agencies to participate in a rigorous impact evaluation of Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP), the...

News

Ford School students help local townships navigate and adapt during pandemic

Sep 29, 2020

Four teams of undergraduate and graduate Ford School students embarked on research and engagement projects this past summer to help the Michigan Township Association (MTA) better understand the state of affairs for local townships and the challenges...

News

College tuition announced for Michigan’s frontline workers, with help from Youth Policy Lab fellow

Sep 23, 2020

The state of Michigan is offering free college tuition for frontline workers in a unique program inspired by the G.I. Bill that provided college education to those serving their country after WWII. Futures For Frontliners , first announced in April...

News

Students support local organizations to improve equity

Aug 28, 2020

One element of the struggle for economic equity in Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) communities is the intentional denial of support networks that provide funding, customers, connections or other resources for businesses and...

Three people, wearing masks, at a meeting.

News

MDHHS partners with U-M Youth Policy Lab to evaluate Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program

Aug 13, 2020

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the University of Michigan Youth Policy Lab have been awarded a grant by Arnold Ventures to conduct a rigorous impact evaluation of Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program, the...

Foster care and child well-being: Insights in the time of coronavirus

Jun 11, 2020

Children placed in foster care in Michigan are less likely to be abused or neglected in the future, have higher school attendance rates and perform better on standardized math tests than other vulnerable children who are not placed, a recent study...

News

As COVID-19 Fiscal Strategy and Resource Guides expand, Ford School research centers launch a new program to support local governments and nonprofits

Jun 11, 2020

The guides have been helping local governments through the impacts COVID-19 will have on budgets and operations. The new COVID-19 Consulting Corps will provide individualized research and data support. Ann Arbor, MI, June 11, 2020 – The...

U.S. Department of Education and Smith Richardson Foundation fund Youth Policy Lab Career and Technical Education study

Jun 2, 2020

What are the effects of high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) on students’ future career and economic prospects? It is a question that is increasingly important as students face insecurity in the labor force and the so-called...

State & Hill

Faculty Findings - Spring 2020

May 22, 2020

Robin Jacob on closing early childhood achievement gaps The first five years of a child’s life are considered the most critical for development. But for too many children from low-income households, learning opportunities...

Youth Policy Lab releases Resource Guide for Nonprofits Seeking Public Assistance

Apr 23, 2020

April 23 press release from Youth Policy Lab: A new Michigan Resource Guide for Nonprofits Seeking COVID-19 FEMA Public Assistance provides timely information for Michigan nonprofits providing emergency response services as a result of...

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 work...

People operating machines in a training environment

News

Brian Jacob honored as a Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentor

Apr 23, 2019

Brian Jacob, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy at the Ford School, Co-Director of the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) and Youth Policy Lab (YPL), and faculty director of the Ford School’s joint-doctoral program, was named as a...

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

Jan 18, 2019

During the waning days of 2018, a lame-duck session of the Michigan legislature voted to implement a new letter-grade apparatus for evaluating Michigan school performance. The implementation of a new accountability system may cause more headaches...

News

Professor Brian Jacob says Michigan student-teacher ratio is higher than reported estimations

Sep 28, 2018

As education in Michigan falls under ever greater scrutiny, one glaring issue seems to stand out: the state’s lopsided student-teacher ratio. One of the highest ratios in the nation, Ford School professor Brian Jacob believes the issue is even worse...

Slight improvement in Michigan education statistics not enough says Brian Jacob

Sep 21, 2018

After the release of the 2018 M-STEP (Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress) scores, the outlook on education in Michigan seems rather bleak, Jennifer Chambers reports in her August 29th, 2018 Detroit News article. Despite nominal increases...

This week: Learn how to hire via Poverty Solutions' summer youth employment program

Jan 22, 2018

If you oversee a campus unit willing and capable of employing teenagers and young adults this summer, Poverty Solutions invites you to consider submitting part-time job placements as part of the University of Michigan’s Summer Youth Employment...

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...

State & Hill

Ford School faculty members share seven key strategies for effective collaboration

Apr 28, 2017

Ford School faculty members often engage in collective problem-solving--with other scholars, of course, but also with policymakers and practitioners all around the world. The goal of these collaborations? Finding better solutions, and mutually...

Youth Policy Lab announces application for new technical assistance program

Nov 30, 2016

The Youth Policy Lab has issued a request for proposals to organizations seeking to use data to improve service delivery or program design for Michigan youth. Applications for the Michigan Technical Assistance Partnership (M-TAP) Program are due...

Ford School, Survey Research Center faculty launch Youth Policy Lab to improve young lives

Oct 13, 2016

Researchers at the University of Michigan have launched a new lab designed to help state and local agencies, social service providers, nonprofits and educators improve life outcomes for Michigan youth, from birth through age 25.The Youth Policy Lab...

In New York Times, Susan Dynarski welcomes FAFSA changes, urges more reforms

Sep 16, 2016

Susan Dynarski, a longtime advocate for simplifying the FAFSA (the financial aid application students and their families must submit for college), welcomes new changes and suggests future reforms in this Sunday's New York Times “Economic...

In Brookings, Dynarski advocates for expansion of charter school quota in Massachusetts

Sep 15, 2016

In some urban areas of Massachusetts, a statewide cap on charter schools restricts any additional charter seats. Susan Dynarski and Sarah Cohodes tackle this issue in “Massachusetts charter cap holds back disadvantaged students,” the latest Evidence...