Brian Jacob

Core faculty

Brian A. Jacob

Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy; Professor of Public Policy, Economics, and Education

Jacob is co-director of the Youth Policy Lab. His primary fields of interest are labor economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education. Jacob's current research focuses on urban school reform, with a particular emphasis on standards and accountability initiatives.

In the Media

Jacob: Standardized tests gave clear targets for math achievement

Jun 10, 2026 The Washington Post

Average math scores for 9- and 13-year-olds in the U.S. remain lower than they were 10 years ago. Ford School professor Brian Jacob says that part of the reason may be a lack of emphasis on standardized tests.

In the Media

Jacob: "No Child Left Behind" did improve test scores

May 16, 2026 The New York Times

Ford School Professor Brian Jacob told The New York Times that while No Child Left Behind did increase test scores, it had problematic elements.

Publication

Lockable phone pouches in schools improve student well-being over time, not test scores or bullying

May 8, 2026

A popular device for restricting cell phone use in middle and high schools is effective at achieving that aim, leading to short-term disruption but ultimately positive effects on student well-being, new research finds.

State & Hill

"This research is not partisan"

May 7, 2026

What’s the public school ROI? Should the state offer transitional kindergarten? Why do eligible college students leave financial aid on the table? The Education Policy Initiative's Michigan Education Data Center helps us understand what work–and why–...

Open book laying on table with doodles, sketches, and graphs above it

State & Hill

Faculty news, spring 2026

May 7, 2026

Ford School experts are publishing research, sharing their knowledge, and getting recognized.

A series of six headshots of people smiling

News

What happens when schools restrict phones? U-M Youth Policy Lab convenes national conference as new studies get underway

Apr 16, 2026

On April 10, the University of Michigan's Youth Policy Lab (YPL) convened a National School Cell Phone Policy Conference, inviting researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from Michigan and beyond to compare notes on a rapidly changing school pol...

State & Hill

25 years of CLOSUP

Apr 11, 2026

When the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission faced a tidal wave of public input—more than 30,000 comments—the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) and Ford School students stepped in. Their analysis helped the commiss...

News

First-of-its-kind national educator survey reveals both promise and peril in school cell phone policies

Feb 27, 2026

New findings from the first national study of school cell phone policies finds that as bell-to-bell phone bans expand across the country, many educators report noticeable changes in how students interact with one another and decreased phone usage in ...

News

Michigan governor signs classroom cell phone ban: U-M experts available to comment

Feb 11, 2026

Expert advisory: Brian Jacob is available to discuss a new policy that will ban cell phone use in Michigan's K-12 classrooms.

Publication

Jacob and Weiland raise concerns about potential bias in traditional retention studies

Jan 30, 2026

In a recent article published in the Journal of Public Economics, University of Michigan professors Brian Jacob, Christina Weiland, and Jordan Berne (who earned his doctorate in economics from U-M), along with Katharine Strunk, dean of the University...

Headshots of Brian Jacob and Christina Weiland

In the Media

Jacob comments on competing screen policies for students

Jan 28, 2026 EdSurge

Competing initiatives to promote AI literacy, at the same time as efforts to limit student screen time, can co-exist, according to Brian Jacob.

News

Ford School faculty among the nation's top education scholars

Jan 8, 2026

Cohodes, Jacob, and Weiland made the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings.

Headshots of Brian A. Jacob, Christina J. Weiland, and Sarah Cohodes

In the Media

Jacob comments on fall in public school enrollment in wealthy districts

Jan 8, 2026 The 74

Brian Jacob found that white families removed their children from public schools at much higher rates in districts that were slow to reopen for in-person instruction and that he was "not surprised" to see that parents who had found private alternativ...

In the Media

Brian and Robin Jacob salute WSU guaranteed enrollment program

Oct 9, 2025 Bridge Michigan

Speaking to Bridge Michigan, Brian and Robin Jacob offered their excitments about Wayne State University's new Warriors on the Rise program. The program offers guaranteed enrollment to qualified high school juniors at Detroit Public Schools Community...

News

U-M experts to examine cell phone policies in Michigan schools, effects on student well-being

Oct 2, 2025

RESEARCH TO WATCH WHAT’S THE STUDY: A multidisciplinary team of University of Michigan researchers has received a grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct interviews and surveys to understand how school cell phone policies acr...

News

Youth Policy Lab annual report highlights year of pivotal research and growing training programs

Sep 12, 2025

The Youth Policy Lab (YPL) at the University of Michigan marks another year of growth, rigorous research, and deepening partnerships, as documented in its newly released annual report.

News

Brian Jacob: Michigan's education system needs structural reform now

Aug 4, 2025

In guest commentary for Bridge Michigan, Brian Jacob highlights findings from his recently released a rigorous, independent study commissioned by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).

News

Jacob, Stevenson, and Wolfers urge Congress to strengthen economic statistical systems

Aug 1, 2025

Ford School professors Brian Jacob, Betsey Stevenson, and Justin Wolfers are among a bipartisan group of economists who signed a letter urging Congress to expand funding for modernizing U.S. statistical systems. “Data provided by the federal statis...

Publication

Making the grade: Targeted help, not being held back, offers leg up to students struggling with reading

Jun 26, 2025

Policies calling for holding children back a grade in elementary school to improve their reading skills are widespread—if unpopular—across the United States. However, the benefits to students appear to come from the support services put in place once...

Photo of a young child, held in the lap of an a guardian or teacher, reading a book

News

Career and tech education is booming, Brian Jacob says research can make it more effective

May 27, 2025

As popularity for career and technical education (CTE) programs increases, education economist Brian Jacob and YPL Project Manager Lynn Meissner make a case for robust data collection and research to understand their long-term impact on students. The...

News

What is the secret to better reading outcomes?

May 26, 2025 Education Week

Education Week recently highlighted Christina Weiland and Brian Jacob's evaluation of Michigan’s “Read by Third Grade” Law.

State & Hill

Faculty news, spring 2025

May 7, 2025

Read about the latest faculty accomplishments and news.

Headshots of faculty featured within this article.

News

Weiland and Jacob: Lessons from Michigan for Washington’s early childhood programs

Mar 21, 2025

Research shows that high-quality preschool education has the power to positively impact a child’s growth and development, even far into adulthood. However, as costs increase and high demand creates long wait times, many children across the country ar...

News

Brian Jacob on thoughtful cell phone restrictions in schools

Mar 21, 2025

Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s call for new cell phone restrictions in schools led Michigan legislators to reintroduce House Bill 4141. In a new opinion piece for Bridge Michigan, Ford School Professor Brian Jacob and Justin E Heinze, associate profess...

In the Media

Jacob: Trump cuts to the Department of Education are "slash and burn"

Mar 12, 2025 Click on Detroit

“There’s really very little thought going into what to cut, when to cut, and how much to cut. It’s kind of slash and burn,” said the Ford School's Brian Jacob on the major funding and employment cuts happening across the Department of Education and t...

News

US Department of Education's role in K-12 education, funding local schools: U-M experts can discuss

Feb 14, 2025

As federal policymakers consider the future of the U.S. Department of Education, a new interactive data tool from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan shows the allocation of federal education funds to local school districts – making the d...

Photo of kids running outside a school bus

In the Media

Jacob questions efficiency in the use of tech in classrooms

Jan 22, 2025 The Wall Street Journal

The Ford School's Brian Jacob recently spoke with The Wall Street Journal regarding his 2023 research survey on the use of technology in classrooms. Jacob's survey was conducted among 1,000 educators and showed technology is used for completing class...

In the Media

No easy answer to tech use in classrooms - Jacob

Jan 22, 2025 The Wall Street Journal

"I just don’t think we know yet" says Brian Jacob, Ford School professor, on the effectiveness of technology use in classrooms. As screen time has increased in classrooms research still shows mixed results on student learning.

News

Cohodes, Jacob, and Weiland make Education Week’s 2025 public influence rankings

Jan 9, 2025

Education Week has announced the annual 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, which highlights scholars who made significant contributions to educational practice and policy in the past year. Three Ford School faculty members have been ran...