Susan Dynarski’s recent research, “Designed to fail: Effects of the default option and information complexity on student loan repayment,” shows the powerful effects of default options and how making an income driven repayment (IDR) plan the default...
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...
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the gaps between low-income and high-income students, according to an editorial in Science magazine by Ford School professor Sue Dynarski, written with Christopher Avery of Harvard and Sarah Turner from the...
Christina Weiland, is well-known in the Ford School community, as she has been co-leading the University of Michigan’s Predoctoral Training and Postdoctoral Training Programs in Causal Inference in Education Policy Research and the Education Policy...
Christina Weiland, associate professor in the School of Education, is joining the Ford School with a faculty appointment by courtesy. She expands and deepens the Ford School of Public Policy’s strength in education policy. She co-leads the...
Four years ago, Kenwood Elementary, a historically economically disadvantaged school in Cadillac, MI was ranked in the second percentile of all state schools by the Michigan Department of Education. Two years later, the school rose to the 59th...
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...
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...
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...
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...
This week, Megan Tompkins-Stange and her research were featured in a variety of programs: Michigan Radio's Stateside program, Prospect magazine, and the Tiny Spark podcast.In each, Tompkins-Stange discusses her new book, Policy Patrons:...
Last week, Brian Jacob, Susan Dynarski and two colleagues from Michigan State released a new paper, "Are expectations alone enough? Estimating the effect of a mandatory college-prep curriculum in Michigan." The paper examines the effect of the 2006...
In a new paper for Brookings, "The Trouble with Student Loans? Low Earnings, Not High Debt," Susan Dynarski debunks the popular notion that more student debt leads to higher student loan default rates.In fact, research shows that default rates are...
Margaret E. (Maggie) Weston (MPP ’08) passed away unexpectedly in her sleep on July 24, 2014 at 32 years of age. A new endowed fund, established by Maggie’s parents Lawrence and Kathryn Weston, will benefit future Ford School students who share...
Four University of Michigan scholars, including three Ford School faculty members, made Rick Hess’s Education Week ranking of the most influential U.S. scholars in education policy--those who contribute most substantially to public debates about...
Public policy is a principled guide to action, designed to lead to the greater good. As we celebrate our centennial as America’s first graduate-level training program in public administration, we take a moment to reflect on the powerful role policy...
As a California judge rules that the state's teacher tenure system is disproportionately harmful to children from low-income families, Dana Goldstein explores the origins and impacts of the state's teacher tenure system—both positive and...
In a State of Opportunity broadcast, Brian Jacob discusses the impact of high stakes testing, particularly for low-income students and school districts. High stakes testing refers to standardized tests with results that have important consequences...
A single gift can make a difference, and gifts to the Ford School yield impressive returns.The Annenberg Professorship, established to honor the life and legacy of President Ford, enabled the Ford School to attract and retain Brian Jacob, a rising...
Michigan significantly raised the bar for its Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) last year, and the first test results are in: many students and schools have a long way to go to meet the new standards, according to an article in the...
Over the past year, significant new research and post-doctoral training grants added to the already active slate of education policy initiatives underway at the Ford School.
In May, Susan M. Dynarski and Brian A. Jacob received a $250,000 grant...
Updated January 7: Read Brian's op-ed in the Detroit NewsBrian Jacob has co-authored the first known rigorous national impact evaluation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, finding that the legislation has had mixed effects on student...
Policy Talks @ the Ford School,
EPI Speaker Series
Join us for a conversation on modern discourse with Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom, moderated by Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes, as they discuss the topics in her new book, Thick, including race, gender, inequality, higher education access, technology, culture, and more.
Come learn from four stakeholders renowned for their experience and expertise in improving children's literacy; two professors of education, an education reporter, and the head of one of Michigan's school administrator associations.
Please join the Education Policy Initiative in welcoming Hirokazu Yoshikawa, the Courtney Sale Ross Professor of Globalization and Education at NYU Steinhardt and a University Professor at NYU, and Co-Director (with J. Lawrence Aber) of the Global TIES for Children center at NYU, for a virtual education policy talk.
Please join us as EPI researchers and affiliated researchers present 23 papers at AEFP’s 41st annual conference in Denver, Colorado. The presentations highlight EPI’s ongoing work in education policy research, from early education through the labor market.
The opening plenary session will take place on Thursday, October 24 and feature a Policy Talks @ the Ford School lecture with Roberto Rodríguez, special assistant to the president for education policy. Click here to read more about the plenary session with Roberto Rodríguez. About the conference: This topic has received extensive popular media coverage, but there has been a paucity of rigorous research, and what little there is has been isolated. The goal of the conference is twofold.