NYT Gives a Shout-Out to My Research on Inequality

The NYT editorial page cites my research with Martha Bailey on growing gaps in college completion. Unfortunately, they did not link to our paper properly - it's here.

Thoughtful Discussion of Our Research on Early Interventions and College Outcomes

Tim Bartik, an economist at the UpJohn Institute here in Michigan, has a very thoughtful post about our new paper on the relationship between class size in kindergarten and postsecondary outcomes, which I blogged about earlier this fall. In that paper, we calculate that early interventions are no more effective (dollar-f0r-dollar) than later investments in increasing college attendance.

Bartik reports that our work has generated concern among some advocates of early childhood investments, who worry it undermines support for funding for early interventions. Bartik has a sensible response, which speaks to the complementarity of interventions at different ages. A recommended read.

Student Debt

This short, well-written article puts rising college costs and student debt in perspective. 

College Tuition, Student Loans, and Unemployment : The New Yorker

Using randomized trials to make management decisions

In this piece, Columbia professor Ray Fisman describes how a business uses a randomized trial to determine whether a new personnel policy (allowing employees to work from home) increases productivity and employee satisfaction. Same approach could be taken in a public or non-profit setting to test myriad practices.

Is working from home a good idea? - Slate Magazine

Learning What Works in Teaching

This is a fabulous article. A successful school leader lays out a roadmap to how schools and academic researchers can combine to use rigorous research methods to learn what works in teaching. A must-read for researchers, school leaders, teachers and those who train teachers.

Studying Teacher Moves : Education Next