Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Betty Ford Classroom
Abstract Over the past two decades, many urban school districts have restructured large, traditional high schools into smaller learning communities. The idea behind this movement is that small schools provide a more personalized learning environment that allows teachers to more effectively address the multi-faceted needs of disadvantaged students. Despite mixed evidence on the efficacy of such reforms in practice, Detroit and other high-poverty districts have pressed forward with the creation of smaller high schools.
For-profit colleges are under fire. Critics point to students' low earnings and high debt loads as evidence that these schools do not provide a quality education. Defenders of the sector note that the schools serve a population of low-skilled, low-income students that traditional colleges ignore. Congress is now considering legislation that would bar from the federal aid programs any schools whose graduates' earnings fall below a minimum threshold.
PANELISTS: Susan Dynarski Associate Professor of Education, School of Education; Associate Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy | Michael Flanagan Superintendent of Public Instruction, Michigan Department of Education | Brian Rowan Burke A. Hinsdale Collegiate Professor, School of Education; Research Professor, Institute for Social Research | Tyrone Winfrey Director, U-M Office of Undergraduate Admissions - Detroit Admissions Office and Vice-President, Detroit Board of Education | Deborah Loewenberg Ball Dean of the School of Education, will be moderating the panel discussion
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Annenberg Auditorium
Matthew Springer, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education, Director of the National Center on Performance Incentives Vanderbilt University. The Project on Incentives in Teaching (POINT) experiment was a three-year experimental study of middle school math teachers and their students and schools. The signature activity of the POINT experiment was the study of the effects on student outcomes of paying teachers bonuses of up to $15,000 per year on the basis of student test-score gains.
David Deming will present his study of the implementation of an open enrollment public school choice plan in Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district (CMS) in 2002. Students were guaranteed admission to their home school but could apply to as many as 3 other public schools in the district. Where demand for slots exceeded supply, assignment was determined by randomized lottery. Deming finds significant benefits of school choice for students who come from neighborhoods that are assigned to very low performing schools.
OverviewThe goal of this conference is to provide school district leaders and EPIresearchers an opportunity to exchange ideas and to brainstorm about potential collaborations. Researchers will present case studies of academic studies that have been conducted in collaboration with school districts, with a special focus on the research process.
Abstract: We analyze all but a few of the 47 charter schools operating in New York City in 2005-06. The schools tend to locate in disadvantaged neighborhoods and serve students who are substantially poorer than the average public school student in New York City. The schools also attract black applicants to an unusual degree, not only relative to New York City but also relative to the traditional public schools from which they draw.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. The Charge to the Class was delivered by U.S. Senator Carl Levin. May, 2014.
Robert Axelrod is the Walgreen Professor for the Study of Human Understanding; professor of political science, College of Literature, Science and the Arts; and professor of public policy, Gerald R.
The 2013 Charge to the Class was be delivered by Paul O'Neill. Also includes Susan Collins, Carl Simon, Amazin' Blue, Eli Day (BA'13) & Cynthia Rathinasamy (MPP'13). May, 2013.
Matthew Chingos will discusses three studies of how schools respond to differences in teacher effectiveness, all of which are based on administrative data from the state of Florida. December, 2012.
Eric Hanushek of the Hoover Institution talks about the societal and economic returns of long-term investment in schools, particularly problematic ones, as well as possible school reform policies that can help transform schools. March, 2010.
Harvard education economist Roland Fryer describes the positive impact of the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) on school achievement. Fryer also discusses whether schools alone can eliminate the achievement gap. January, 2010.
