education policy initiative

Many prominent social scientists have advocated for random-draw lotteries as a solution to the “problem” of college admissions. They argue that lotteries will be fair and equitable, eliminate corruption, reduce student anxiety, restore democratic ideals, and end debates over race-conscious admissions. In response, we simulate potential lottery effects on student enrollment by race, gender, and income, using robust simulation methods.  If we went to a lottery system, what would happen to student diversity?  And how would this change the built relationship between students and selective colleges?

Join the Center for Racial Justice in welcoming author and journalist Benjamin Herold for a conversation about his latest book Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America's Suburbs. Through the stories of five American families, Disillusioned a masterful and timely exploration of how hope, history, and racial denial collide in the suburbs and their schools. 

Despite the relative rarity of firearm-related violence and injury in U.S. schools, the salience of school shooting events can influence local-, state-, and even federal-level school safety policy. I discuss concerns related to such direction, including: 1) a lack of evidence-based strategies to prevent firearm injury in schools; 2) the disproportionate burden of students exposed to 'school hardening' strategies; and 3) student needs overshadowed by a focus on extreme violence.

Literati Bookstore is proud to welcome Laura Meckler to present and discuss her book Dream Town: Shaker Heights and the Quest for Racial Equity. This event is presented in collaboration with Wallace House Center for Journalists, Education Policy Initiative, Center for Racial Justice, Youth Policy Lab, and The Department of English Language and Literature at The University of Michigan.

Underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic workers in STEM fields contributes to racial wage gaps and reduces innovation and economic growth. Billions of dollars a year are spent on "pipeline'' programs to increase diversity in STEM, but there is little rigorous evidence of their efficacy.

Despite the growing interest in social and emotional learning (SEL) implementation in K-12 settings, few measures exist to assess teachers’ SEL practices. In this talk, we describe the interactive mixed-method approach we took in developing the Racial Equity-oriented Social and Emotional Learning (REQSEL) practices measure.

Diversifying the teaching force could be a key step to closing student achievement gaps and moving schools closer to equity goals. In their book, Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom, Seth Gershenson, Brookings Senior Fellow Michael Hansen, and Constance Lindsay present nuanced policy recommendations to increase teacher diversity in classrooms and promote more inclusive schools.   

Professor Tepper Jacob's talk will tell the story of an on-going evaluation of the Reading Partners program, a successful one-on-one volunteer tutoring program that serves struggling readers in elementary schools serving students from families with low-income

Researchers will share new findings from the College and Beyond II research study at the University of Michigan that illuminate liberal education’s links to long-term political engagement.

As a part of the Education Policy Speaker Series, Rodriguez, Davis, and Deane will discuss racialized policymaking that pushes back on the race-neutral framings of prevailing policy-making theories...