Teaching and mentoring are among my favorite parts of being a professor. I strive to help students both explore basic questions about public policy and address important social problems through research.
PUBLIC POLICY 475 & 639: Quantitative Methods of Program Evaluation (undergraduate; graduate)
This course introduces students to the use and interpretation of multiple regression analysis and program evaluation. The goals of the class are to: 1) Train students to critically consume empirical research. We will teach you to read and understand technical, empirical studies and to judge whether they constitute a firm, evidentiary basis for policy. 2) Train students to thoughtfully produce their own empirical research. We will develop a core set of analytical tools that will allow you to conduct empirical research in a professional setting. While this course is fundamentally about teaching methods of quantitative analysis, it differs from other similar courses in that it makes a particular effort to embed the learning in real data and actual policy problems. Topics covered include education, health care, national security and international development.
PUBLIC POLICY 631: Economics of Education
This course examines a number of popular approaches to education reform, using an economic lens to understand the theoretical rationale and potential impact of each. The two primary goals of the course are (1) to familiarize students with the arguments and evidence relating to major reform strategies and (2) to provide students with the analytic framework and skills necessary to evaluate education (or other public) policies in general. Several themes will be emphasized throughout the course, including the role of evidence in evaluating policy options, input-based versus efficiency-based approaches to school reform, partial versus general equilibrium perspectives of reform, and the role of incentives, prices and markets. Substantive topics include the following: school choice, test-based accountability (i.e., high-stakes testing, including No Child Left Behind), early childhood education, teacher effectiveness, teacher labor markets, race and gender differences in student achievement, and the financial returns to education.
PUBLIC POLICY 632: Practicum in Education Policy
The goal of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to get their “hands dirty” with actual policy work, both as a way to utilize some of the skills they have learned in their other courses as well as to help them learn about many of the political and practical issues involved in “doing” real policy. In this course, students will work with a “client” agency or organization in the education sector to carry out a policy-related research and/or analysis project. Students will work in groups of 2-5 students on projects determined by their individual interest and expertise.
Public Policy 712 / Education 712: Causal Inference in Education Policy Research I: Preschool, Elementary and Secondary
This course examines several key policy areas in the realm of early learning and K-12 education. The two primary goals of the course are (1) to familiarize students with the arguments and evidence relating to important policies and/or interventions and (2) to provide students with the analytic framework and skills necessary to evaluate education (or other public) policies in general. Specific policy topics include early learning experiences, center-based early childhood programs, parental involvement in early childhood learning, preschool, test-based accountability (i.e., high-stakes testing, including No Child Left Behind), teacher effectiveness, and virtual schooling. Specific methodological techniques include randomized-control trials (RCT), regression discontinuity analysis (RD), comparative interrupted time series (CITS), Empirical Bayes, and a brief intro to several topics in psychometrics.
PUBLIC POLICY 475 & 639: Quantitative Methods of Program Evaluation (undergraduate; graduate)
This course introduces students to the use and interpretation of multiple regression analysis and program evaluation. The goals of the class are to: 1) Train students to critically consume empirical research. We will teach you to read and understand technical, empirical studies and to judge whether they constitute a firm, evidentiary basis for policy. 2) Train students to thoughtfully produce their own empirical research. We will develop a core set of analytical tools that will allow you to conduct empirical research in a professional setting. While this course is fundamentally about teaching methods of quantitative analysis, it differs from other similar courses in that it makes a particular effort to embed the learning in real data and actual policy problems. Topics covered include education, health care, national security and international development.
PUBLIC POLICY 631: Economics of Education
This course examines a number of popular approaches to education reform, using an economic lens to understand the theoretical rationale and potential impact of each. The two primary goals of the course are (1) to familiarize students with the arguments and evidence relating to major reform strategies and (2) to provide students with the analytic framework and skills necessary to evaluate education (or other public) policies in general. Several themes will be emphasized throughout the course, including the role of evidence in evaluating policy options, input-based versus efficiency-based approaches to school reform, partial versus general equilibrium perspectives of reform, and the role of incentives, prices and markets. Substantive topics include the following: school choice, test-based accountability (i.e., high-stakes testing, including No Child Left Behind), early childhood education, teacher effectiveness, teacher labor markets, race and gender differences in student achievement, and the financial returns to education.
PUBLIC POLICY 632: Practicum in Education Policy
The goal of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to get their “hands dirty” with actual policy work, both as a way to utilize some of the skills they have learned in their other courses as well as to help them learn about many of the political and practical issues involved in “doing” real policy. In this course, students will work with a “client” agency or organization in the education sector to carry out a policy-related research and/or analysis project. Students will work in groups of 2-5 students on projects determined by their individual interest and expertise.
Public Policy 712 / Education 712: Causal Inference in Education Policy Research I: Preschool, Elementary and Secondary
This course examines several key policy areas in the realm of early learning and K-12 education. The two primary goals of the course are (1) to familiarize students with the arguments and evidence relating to important policies and/or interventions and (2) to provide students with the analytic framework and skills necessary to evaluate education (or other public) policies in general. Specific policy topics include early learning experiences, center-based early childhood programs, parental involvement in early childhood learning, preschool, test-based accountability (i.e., high-stakes testing, including No Child Left Behind), teacher effectiveness, and virtual schooling. Specific methodological techniques include randomized-control trials (RCT), regression discontinuity analysis (RD), comparative interrupted time series (CITS), Empirical Bayes, and a brief intro to several topics in psychometrics.