Lecture Series

• U of A
• COEHP
• Education Reform
• EDRE Lecture Series

The University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform is pleased to announce these events as part of our 2017-2018 Lecture Series. Unless otherwise indicated, all lectures will be held at noon Fridays in GRAD 343. Please make sure to RSVP before 1 p.m. on the Wednesday before the scheduled lecture. If you have any questions, please direct them to Heidi Holmes.

Fall 2017 Lecture Series

September 15, 2017: Sean Corcoran

Associate Professor of Economics and Education Policy, New York University - Steinhardt

Lecture Title: "Leveling the Playing Field for High School Choice: Results from a Field Experiment of Informational Interventions in NYC."

Suggested Readings: 

• Hastings, J.S., & Weinstein, J.M. (2008). Information, School Choice, and Academic Achievement: Evidence from Two Experiments. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(4), 1373-1414.
• Bloom, H.S., & Unterman, R. (2014). Can Small High Schools of Choice Improve Educational Prospects for Disadvantaged Students? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 33(2), 290-319.
• Harris, D.N., & Larsen, M. (2015). What Schools do Families Want (And Why)? New Orleans. 
• Sattin-Bajaj, C. (2014). Unaccompanied Minors: Immigrant Youth, School Choice, and the Pursuit of Equity.Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.

 

October 6, 2017: Jim Peyser

Massachusetts Secretary of Education

Lecture Title: "Education Reform in Massachusetts: the Sources of Success and the Challenge of Complacency." 

Suggested Readings: 

• • 2006 The State of State Standards (pg. 31-39)
  • Incomplete Grade: Massachusetts Education Reform at 15
  • Comment by Robert M. Costrell on "Test-Based Accountability: The Promise and the Perils"
  • Evidence for the Disconnect Between Changing Test Scores and Changing Later Life Outcomes
  • When Bad Things Happen to Good NAEP Data
  • Teacher Licensing Reform and the "Massachusettes Education Miracle"
  • Curriculum Becomes a Reform Strategy
  • Accountability Overboard

 

October 13, 2017: Ilana Umansky

Assistant Professor, College of Education, University of Oregon

Lecture Title: "Understanding and Supporting the Educational Needs of Recently-Arrived Immigrant English Learner Students: Lessons for State and Local Education Policy."

Suggested Readings: TBA

 

October 27, 2017: Ashley Rogers Berner

Assistant Professor, Deputy Director of the Institute for Education Policy, Johns Hopkins University School of Education

Lecture Title: "Educational Pluralism and the Problem of Culture."

Suggested Readings: 

• Berger & Luckman (1966). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Books. Chapters: Introduction, Institutionalization.
• Berner, A. (May 8, 2017). To improve education in America, look beyond the traditional school model. The Brookings Institution Chalkboard.

 

November 10, 2017: Dan Goldhaber

Director of CEDR, Director and Vice President of CALDER, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Lecture Title: "Prospects for Improving Teacher Preparation." 

Suggested Readings: TBA

 

December 1, 2017: Rajashri Chakrabarti

Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Lecture Title: "The Effect of State Funding for Postsecondary Education on Long-Run Student Outcomes"

Suggested Readings: 

• Chakrabarti, R., Gorton, N., & Lovenheim, M. (2017) The Effect of State Funding for Postsecondary Education on Long-Run Student Outcomes. Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

 

Spring 2018 Lecture Series

January 26, 2018: Keith Look

Superintendent, Danville Schools, Kentucky

Lecture Title: "What degree rotation constitutes school “turnaround?”

"There is nothing formulaic in turning around a low performing school. Factors influencing performance stretch far beyond the use of a research-based curriculum, teacher experience, and student eagerness to learn. A school board’s political will, district staffing systems, community endorsement of education, and scaffolds to reach high expectations – to name a few – influence the rate, degree, and sustainability of change. Even when the process “works,” the definition of turnaround may center more on demarcating improvement rather than signifying a specific level of achievement.

At the Academy at Shawnee in Louisville, KY, the lowest performing high school in the state, we rebuilt every aspect of the school and learning process. Students posted great achievement gains while staff established a healthy culture and climate. But was it “turnaround?” Let’s discuss."    

Suggested Readings: 

• https://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/tackling-turnaround/index.html
• http://video.edweek.org/detail/video/390551800001
• "Kentucky Highschool Launches Turnaround Journey"
• "Turnaround Team Scrambles at Kentucky Highschool" 
• "Educators Step Up Academics at Kentucky Turnaround School"
• "Turnaround Highschool Ratchets Up Improvement"
• "Kentucky Turnaround School Reaps Double-Digits Gains"

 

February 23, 2018: Ben Scafidi

Professor of Economics and Director of the Education Economic Center, Kennesaw State University

Lecture Title: "The Fiscal Effects of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program on Local Public School Districts."

Suggested Readings:

• Lueken, M. and Scafidi, B. (2018) "Do K-12 Educational Choice Programs Lead to Fewer Resources for Students Who Remain in Public Schools? The Case of Private School Choice Programs in Indiana and Florida."

 

April 20, 2018: Thomas Cook

Joan and Sarepta Harrison Chair of Ethics and Justice and Professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University Institute for Policy Research

Lecture Title: "When Quasi-Experiments produce similar Causal Estimates to Randomized Experiments with the same Treatment and Measurement Particulars."

Suggested Readings: 

• Cook, T., Shadish, W., and Wong, V. "Three Conditions under Which Experiments and Observational Studies Produce Comparable Causal Estimates: New Findings from Within-Study Comparisons." Journal of Analysis and Management.
• St. Clair, T., Hallberg, K., and Cook, T. (2016) "The Validity and Precision of the Comparative Interrupted Time-Series Design: Three Within-Study Comparisons." Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics.
• Chaplin, D., Cook, T., Zurovac, J., Coopersmith, J., Finucane, M., Vollmer, L., and Morris, R. (2018) "The Internal and External Validity of the Regression Discontinuity Design: A Meta-Analysis of 15 Within-Study Comparisons." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.

 

April 27, 2018: Robert Fox and Nina Buchanan

(Fox) Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Hawaii at Hilo, and (Buchanan) Professor Emerita of Education, University of Hawaii at Hilo

Lecture Title: "Education vs. Equity: Objectivity in the World of 21st Century Educational Research"

Suggested Readings:

• Introduction and Conclusion to the Handbook of School Choice

 

Date TBA: Mark Berends

Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity (CREO), University of Notre Dame

Lecture Title: TBA

Suggested Readings: TBA

 

 

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