New research from the Education Policy Initiative at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy found that many Michigan K-12 students experience very large core classes—with 40 or more students—but that some students are at greater...
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...
The New England Journal of Medicine published John Ayanian’s report on the first 100 days of the Healthy Michigan Plan, Michigan’s expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The plan is a good blueprint for other Republican-governed states...
Brian Jacob has been awarded a $98,487 grant from the Spencer Foundation to study the effectiveness of No Child Left Behind waiver-related reform programs on schools across the country. The study is titled School Reforms and Educational Inequality?...
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...
Two alums reflect on school accountability
President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a new waiver system in September, the latest attempt to alleviate the burden felt by the 20 percent of schools labeled...
State & Hill's Winter 2012 issue offers readers an opportunity to learn about the wide array of education reform and policy issues that our students, alumni, and faculty are tackling right now. Click through the magazine below to read about Susan M....
Brian Jacob's research about the impact of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was cited in The Washington Post. The paper, written with Thomas S. Dee from the University of Virginia, reviewed existing NCLB research and synthesized the findings into...
In nearly eight years, the federal No Child Left Behind school reforms have become perhaps the most controversial yet far-reaching educational policies of the past four decades. Opponents are turning their fire on No Child now that it is up for...
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...
CLOSUP Lecture Series,
Policy Talks @ the Ford School
Free and open to the public. Join the conversation: #fordschoolspellings Lecture by the Honorable Margaret Spellings, Former U.S. Secretary of Education (2005-2009) Abstract: The seminal education law known as No Child Left Behind put critical pressure on our schools to dramatically improve education in America. Through accountability, testing, and consequences for failure, a more targeted focus on our neediest students has translated into measurable success for them.
Abstract: The challenges facing K-12 public education systems in Michigan and throughout the U.S. are formidable, and seem to grow more complex by the day. Issues related to globalization, federal oversight through the No Child Left Behind law, unfunded state mandates, aging infrastructure, and many more, are putting pressure on K-12 public school systems even while calls to improve student achievement and public education accountability grow from all quarters.
Abstract: Accountability programs, including the one implemented by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, operate under the assumption that schools are inefficient -- that is, that schools can provide higher quality education without investing additional resources. These programs seek to make schools more efficient by using incentives. The state of North Carolina currently operates two independent incentive systems for public schools.
