higher education policy expert

NEPC Reviews

Nepc review: spark & sustain: how all the world’s school systems can improve learning at scale (mckinsey & company, february 2024).

The report’s usefulness is undermined by the lack of transparency and clarity in its methods and the limited robustness of its causal claims.

NEPC Review: The Reality of Switchers (EdChoice, March 2024)

Nepc review: public education at a crossroads: a comprehensive look at k-12 resources and outcomes (reason foundation, february 2024), nepc review: k-12 school choice calculator (reason foundation and edchoice, january 2024), nepc review: still a good investment: charter school productivity in nine cities (university of arkansas department of education reform, november 2023), see all resource documents, what would religious charter schools mean for public education, pursuing an "every child thrives" public school system in north carolina, taking equal opportunity rhetoric seriously: envisioning and costing-out a p–12 public school system in north carolina where every child thrives: a working document, the mythical great equalizer school system: exploring the potential to make it real, students lose out as cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses − draining school budgets and especially hurting the poorest students, see all nepc reviews, nepc review: the cost-effectiveness of wisconsin’s private school choice programs (school choice wisconsin, september 2023), see all policy memos, how the practices of schools of opportunity illustrate recent research on learning, evaluating research that alleges funding disparities between charter and district schools, how charter schools undermine good education policymaking, the outsourcing of discrimination: another scotus earthquake, centering students’ past and present to advance equity in the future, see all policy briefs, time for a pause: without effective public oversight, ai in schools will do more harm than good., the potential for land use and housing reform to address school segregation and educational opportunity, the conflict over parents’ rights, how discriminatory censorship laws imperil public education, section 504 plans: examining inequitable access and misuse, see all research briefs, we need better education policy. summit public schools shows why., virtual schools in the u.s. 2023, virtual schools in the u.s. 2021, profiles of for-profit and nonprofit education management organizations: fifteenth edition, big claims, little evidence, lots of money: the reality behind the summit learning program and the push to adopt digital personalized learning platforms, see all blog posts of the day.

NEPC's Blog Post of the Day features a selection of interesting and insightful blog posts that apply a researcher perspective to important education policy issues. The views expressed by the bloggers are entirely their own. If you have read or written a research-related blog that you would like to have considered for reposting as a Blog Post of the Day , please email us at [email protected] .

Teacher in a Strange Land: The Return of the Tradteacher

Curmudgucation: failing charters go private, larry cuban on school reform and classroom practice: every tech tool in classrooms needs ruthless scrutiny (jessica grose) (guest post by jessica grose), david labaree on schooling, history, and writing: school’s shift from community to competition can harm our youth, teacher in a strange land: what about homeschooling, see all newsletters.

Are Latinx Youth Getting the Mental Health Services They Need?

Good tutoring helps. but can it survive the pandemic, developing youth power, only 19% of computer science majors are female. can this approach help change that, critical policy research. what it is. and what it is not., see all podcasts.

NEPC Talks Education: An Interview With Francesca López About Asset-Based Educational Policies, Practices, and Programs

NEPC Talks Education: An Interview With Paula Arce-Trigatti and Caitlin Farrell About Research-Practice Partnerships

NEPC Talks Education: An Interview With Jonathan Feingold and Joshua Weishart

NEPC Talks Education: An Interview With Van Lac, Ariel Reyes, and Carolina Montez-DeOca About Youth-Led Research

NEPC Talks Education: An Interview With Matthew Kelly About the History of School Finance

Mark Zuckerberg Tried to Revolutionize American Education With Technology. It Didn’t Go as Planned.

This seemingly benign education app seems harmless. it isn’t., current initiatives.

NEPC organizes initiatives to inform education policy discussions and close opportunity gaps for young people.

Schools of Opportunity: 10 Research-Based Models of Equity in Action

This new book tells the stories of exemplary public high schools that are using research-based practices for closing opportunity gaps in student learning. The practitioner-research author teams describe how these schools are creating challenging, engaging and supportive environments for their teachers and students.

Closing the Opportunity Gap

Closing the Opportunity Gap brings together top experts who offer evidence-based essays that paint a powerful picture of denied opportunities. They also describe sensible, research-based policy approaches to enhance opportunities.

Price of Opportunity

What would it take to close the vast opportunity gaps blocking the success of public-school students in the United States? NEPC’s costing-out study, called the “Price of Opportunity,” seeks to identify and estimate the cost of the resources and programs required to achieve this ambitious goal. The study also considers the balance between educational, social, and economic policy systems needed to eliminate opportunity gaps.

NEPC Resources: Experts

Nepc resources: topics and experts.

Topical Resources: It’s easy to find all of the NEPC publications related to your topic of interest listed in one place by using the drop-down menu below.

Experts: NEPC Fellows have a wide range of expertise bearing on education policy issues. They also have considerable experience speaking with members of the media, policy makers, and community members about their work. Search for topic-area experts using the drop-down menu below, and feel free to contact a fellow directly.

NEPC Resources: Topics

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, sponsors research, produces policy briefs, and publishes expert third-party reviews of think tank reports. NEPC publications are written in accessible language and are intended for a broad audience that includes academic experts, policymakers, the media, and the general public. Our mission is to provide high-quality information in support of democratic deliberation about education policy. We are guided by the belief that the democratic governance of public education is strengthened when policies are based on sound evidence and support a multiracial society that is inclusive, kind, and just.

What Brown Center scholars will be watching in education policy and politics in 2023

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, daphna bassok , daphna bassok nonresident senior fellow - governance studies , brown center on education policy @daphnabassok michael hansen , michael hansen senior fellow - brown center on education policy , the herman and george r. brown chair - governance studies @drmikehansen douglas n. harris , douglas n. harris nonresident senior fellow - governance studies , brown center on education policy , professor and chair, department of economics - tulane university @douglasharris99 katharine meyer , katharine meyer fellow - governance studies , brown center on education policy @katharinemeyer rachel m. perera , rachel m. perera fellow - the brookings institution, governance studies , brown center on education policy jon valant , and jon valant director - brown center on education policy , senior fellow - governance studies @jonvalant kenneth k. wong kenneth k. wong nonresident senior fellow - governance studies , brown center on education policy.

January 10, 2023

From the continued response to pandemic disruptions to culture war issues that have surfaced in schools, 2022 was an eventful year for U.S. schools and education policy. That looks to be true for 2023 as well.

Below, experts from the Brown Center on Education Policy identify the education stories that they’ll be following in 2023, providing analysis on how these issues could shape the learning landscape for the next 12 months—and possibly well into the future.

In 2023, I’ll be watching innovative state and local efforts to better fund childcare and better support early educators. The pandemic highlighted the essential role childcare plays in the lives of children, families, and the U.S. economy. It also made clear that without greater public support, childcare providers cannot pay teachers adequately and cannot offer families essential supports. The high teacher turnover rates common in early childhood settings compromise quality, and during the pandemic, they also compromised access to care.  In Virginia,  two thirds of publicly funded childcare centers  shut down classrooms or turned families away because they could not recruit and retain teachers.

Pandemic relief dollars provided an essential lifeline to childcare. However, as these funds run out, states are now facing a stark funding cliff which will exacerbate staffing challenges considerably.  New Mexico  recently passed a ballot measure to establish a permanent funding source in the state constitution, making it the first state in the country to do so . Washington, D.C. approved funding  to work towards childcare compensation that approaches the pay of other D.C. teachers.   Virginia  recently changed their approach to funding subsidized childcare to better account for the true cost of childcare, including better compensation. I’m hopeful other states will follow with big investments and that as the federal funding cliff approaches, we’ll finally see large federal investments in childcare.

Heading into 2023, I am monitoring the status of the K-12 teacher workforce and reports of teacher shortages. The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched many schools’ human resources in recent years, with teachers reporting heightened burnout and intentions to leave . Combined with preexisting trends of a weakening teacher pipeline and anemic application pools for certain positions and settings , many worried that we may tip into a full-scale crisis.

I am pleased to report that recent evidence increasingly points in the direction of the teacher workforce weathering the storm, even if the rains haven’t yet fully subsided. For example, district surveys from the spring of 2022 pointed to expected turnover in the current school year (2022-2023) likely being slightly less taxing than last year (2021-2022). New evidence from Washington State shows even the elevated turnover experienced in 2021-2022 was within the range of historical teacher turnover spanning nearly four decades. Finally, another new study from Illinois points to increased staffing levels, particularly among non-teacher staff, as the primary driver of elevated vacancies in schools, even as student enrollments are falling. These reports and other data points give me confidence that we’ll make it through.

Don’t celebrate just yet, though. We still have work to do shoring up localized shortages in spots that have persistent hiring problems and doing what we can to make the teaching profession more attractive , especially among people of color .

The first thing I’m looking for in 2023 is a sign that educators, families, and students have responded to COVID-19 by making permanent and systemic improvements in schooling. As I’ve written before , COVID-19 forced everyone into novel practices. Did they develop new habits that are having lasting positive influence, such as using new kinds of devices and software? Or did remote learning create bad habits (e.g., distraction from smart phones) that are making it even more difficult for students to rebound? Anecdotally, I think the answer is “both,” but I hope some enterprising researchers and journalists are looking into this.

There’s also something I’m not looking for: I don’t expect a noticeable student rebound from COVID-19 learning loss anytime soon. The early evidence doesn’t provide much reason for hope. I think this is because: (a) if educators knew how to get students to catch up from a massive upheaval like this, they would have already been doing this for struggling students before COVID-19; (b) hiring more educators or bringing in new programs with the ESSER funds has proven difficult because of the tight labor market and temporary nature of the funds; and (c) the take-up rate on voluntary, after-school learning activities has been low .

I’m not exactly optimistic that we’ll “solve” this quickly, but hopefully there’s at least a silver lining in the form of better teaching that will help address the problem gradually, over the long run.

In 2023, my eyes are on the Supreme Court for two consequential higher education decisions. First will be an expedited hearing on the Biden administration’s  proposed student loan forgiveness  program. The administration accepted  26 million applications  for debt relief this fall; however, forgiveness is on hold until the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in February about the legality of the program. For now, the administration has extended the pause on loan repayment. But regardless of the Court’s ruling, restarting payments on remaining balances after a three-year pause will be a significant shift in individuals’ budgets. It is incumbent on the Department of Education to provide borrowers with clear, advance communication about repayment options and resources to avoid default.

Second, the Court heard arguments in  October   2022  about the consideration of race in college admissions in two separate cases. I anticipate the Court will rule in favor of the plaintiff in both cases, effectively ending the use of affirmative action. This raises the question of how colleges will shift their recruitment and admissions processes to  advance their goals  of a diverse community of scholars. Colleges will need to examine what other admissions practices, such as legacy admissions or the review of test scores, they may need to adjust to achieve their mission.

In 2023, I will be following two issues in K-12 education policy that have important implications for equity.

First, the Biden administration has signaled that new guidance on how public schools can avoid racial discrimination in school discipline may be forthcoming. Any new guidance is expected to mirror guidelines published in 2014 by the Obama administration (and rescinded by the Trump administration in 2018). The Obama-era guidelines relied on a broader definition of racial discrimination (“disparate impact”) than had been used by prior Republican administrations (“disparate treatment”). This is notable because a “disparate impact” theory of discrimination is better aligned with contemporary understandings of how racial discrimination shapes school outcomes.

I will also be following how school districts spend their remaining COVID-19 relief aid and the implementation of COVID-19 recovery interventions in schools. Emerging research and journalistic reports indicate that school districts are facing significant challenges implementing evidence-based interventions to support students recovering from the varied harms of the pandemic. Other work suggests that the scale of COVID-19 recovery funding provided to schools may be insufficient to meet the current needs of U.S. schools and students. To ensure that students, families, and educators get the support they need, it is critical that we continue to track how COVID-19 recovery in schools is faring.

In 2023, I’ll be watching what happens with Republicans’ push for “parents’ rights” in schools. Several states have enacted so-called parents’ rights legislation already, with several others—including Texas , Missouri , and Kansas —poised to consider bills (or constitutional amendments) as the new legislative sessions begin. Even the new GOP House majority might pursue a Parents’ Bill of Rights despite decades-long skepticism from Republicans about federal action in K-12 education. With Democrats in control of the Senate and White House, that federal effort won’t go anywhere legislatively, but it could become a model for Republican-led state governments.

That’s important because the details of these bills matter and have varied quite a bit. (FutureEd has a helpful policy tracker .) Some bills explicitly target teaching about race, gender, and/or sexuality—despite the potential harms to vulnerable students —while others read more like bureaucratic sets of reporting requirements. Some call for major reforms to school choice policies while others sidestep those issues entirely.

Democrats may have something to say about parent supports, too, with continued interest in cutting childcare costs and reinstating an expanded child tax credit that slashed the child poverty rate . But even if it’s possible, with enough squinting, to see hope for bipartisan legislation , it certainly doesn’t feel like 2023 will be a year for bipartisanship in education.

Results of the local, state, and national elections in 2022 have shifted the landscape of education governance in 2023. Institutional tension is likely to intensify re quir ing extra efforts by elected officials and stakeholders to resolve their policy differences . At the national level, Republican control in the House will likely slow down, and in some cases, reverse President Biden’s education equity agenda. Congressional oversight will intensify over functions of the U.S. Department of Education and in civil rights enforcement conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice. Challenges against the Biden administration’s polic ies will also come from states where Republican governors and state attorneys have received strong electoral support . These state leaders will launch legal challenges and legislative actions to resist Biden’s executive initiatives . Finally, at the local level, school board elections have become a contested terrain. While Moms for Liberty, a parental rights group, reported victory for about half of their endorsed board candidates, the National Education Association claimed electoral success for about 70% of their endorsed candidates . A critical issue is whether and how divided governance at all levels will affect schooling opportunity, accountability, and quality for all students in 2023.  

Education Policy and Analysis

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Contact Information

Connect with program staff.

If you have program-specific questions, please contact Assistant Director for Education Policy and Analysis Sarah Haas .

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If you have admissions-related questions, please email [email protected] .

Admissions Information

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Gain the skills to design, evaluate, and scale the effective policies and practices critical to improving outcomes for learners — at the global, national, state, and local levels.

The Education Policy and Analysis (EPA) Program will prepare you to lead and engage in education policy development, analysis, and change in organizations and settings throughout the United States and internationally. You also will learn how to scale effective education practices and how to leverage policy in order to expand their reach. The program will provide you with the theoretical frameworks and analytic methods that will enable you to design, implement, and evaluate policies at the global, national, state, institutional, program, and project levels. Our program prepares you to work in local, state, national, and international sectors, as well as research and consulting organizations, think tanks, institutions of higher education, and policy advocacy organizations.

"Crafting and evaluating education policy remains a critical part of ensuring better outcomes for all students, and our program leads the way in cultivating the next generation of education policy professionals. From integrating research and practice to improve public policy to identifying the best method of communicating research finding to policymakers, our program will provide you with the real-world tools you need to make a difference." Carrie Conaway Faculty Co-Chair

After completing the Education Policy and Analysis Program, you will have a deeper understanding of the following competencies that explore how to:

Integrate values and goals - Integrate the values and goals of your organization or community throughout the policy process, with special attention to equity as a central value in education.
Understand the issue and context - Define the educational problem or opportunity with an understanding of the relevant historical, social, economic, and political context, including the differing interests and incentives of stakeholders.
Evaluate evidence and tradeoffs - Define policy options and the criteria for evaluating them. Evaluate the quality of the available evidence and use it to compare alternatives, considering fiscal, political, social, individual, and collective consequences and tradeoffs.
Communicate and collaborate - Communicate, collaborate, advocate, and negotiate with allies, opponents, and other stakeholders. Convey evidence and reasoning clearly and appropriately for the audience.
Engage in the policy process - Make recommendations and implement policy under conditions of uncertainty, revising decisions as new evidence and understandings come to light. Build and share new evidence on policy implementation and impact.

Curriculum Information

The EPA Program is designed to help you gain the knowledge and practice the skills essential to developing, implementing, and analyzing education policy in a wide variety of professional contexts. A minimum of 42 credits are required to graduate with an Ed.M. degree from HGSE.

The main elements of the 2024–25 academic year are:

This program commences with How People Learn, an immersive online course that runs June–July and requires a time commitment of 12-15 hours per week.
You will continue Foundations with Leading Change, Evidence, and Equity and Opportunity on campus in August.
Your Equity and Opportunity Foundations experience culminates in an elected course, which will take place during terms when electives are available.

To fulfill the program requirement, students must take a minimum of 12 credits specific to EPA, including the following:

The EPA Program Core Experience (4 credits) is a 4-unit fall semester course that introduces both practical competencies and theoretical frameworks about the policymaking process. You will survey policies across the sector and advance your learning through cases, problems of practice, and current policy debates. The experience offers exposure to a variety of education levels — early childhood, K–12, higher education, and adult learners — and settings in the U.S. and around the world. Students must enroll in their first fall semester.
Research methods courses (4 credits), course topics may include statistics for educational research, qualitative research methods, and program evaluation.
Policy-related courses (4 credits), course topics may include international comparative education policy, education finance, state and federal education policy, higher education student success, and additional research methods.
Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE), a written submission that demonstrates application of program competencies to a real-world or simulated organization or client. The PAE may be a final project developed in a course, including the courses above, or in a field experience or internship. The purpose of the PAE is to allow you to practice, demonstrate, and reflect on the five core competencies of the EPA program.
The remaining credits are taken via elective coursework , which includes the opportunity to specialize in a Concentration .

Explore our course catalog . Note, a ll information and courses are subject to change.

Program Faculty

Students will work closely with faculty associated with their area of study, but students can also work with and take courses with faculty throughout HGSE and Harvard. View our faculty directory for a full list of HGSE faculty.

Faculty Co-Chairs

Carrie Conaway

Carrie Conaway is an expert on strategic planning in education, data and resource use, evidence-based decision making, and connections between research and practice.

Andrew Ho is a psychometrician whose research aims to improve the design, use, and interpretation of test scores in educational policy and practice.

Peter Q. Blair

Emmerich Davies

Sarah Dryden-Peterson

Elizabeth Dawes Duraisingh

Susan Dynarski

Hadas Eidelman

Jarvis R. Givens

Thomas Kane

James S. Kim

Jaein Josefina Lee

Irene Anastasia Liefshitz

Joseph McIntyre

Luke W. Miratrix

Sebastian Munoz-Najar Galvez

Gabrielle Oliveira

Fernando Reimers

Paul Reville

Laura A. Schifter

Eric Taylor

Emiliana Vegas

Martin West

Career Pathways

The EPA Program prepares you for a variety of career pathways, including:

Policy analyst
Policy associate
Local, state, or federal government professional
Research associate or director of research
Senior research portfolio manager
Institutional research analyst
Data analyst
Program/project coordinator
Program/project manager
Community organizer
Policy consultant

Cohort & Community

As an EPA student, you will be joining a community bound by a shared passion for improving education outcomes, opportunities, and systems through policy. The EPA cohort is comprised of learners from diverse professional backgrounds and levels of experience; from P–16 educators and leaders to policymakers and business executives; from the U.S. and diverse countries abroad; and from early childhood through postsecondary and adult education. Our community engages in shared learning inside and outside the classroom, including informal policy debates with faculty during brown bag lunches, panels with senior policy analysts who share advice on career pathways, and cohort-wide opportunities to learn about and from your peers.

Introduce Yourself

Tell us about yourself so that we can tailor our communication to best fit your interests and provide you with relevant information about our programs, events, and other opportunities to connect with us.

Program Highlights

Explore examples of the Education Policy and Analysis experience and the impact its community is making on the field:

Intellectual Contribution Award Winners Anthony Otadoy Garciano and Srishti Gulati

Commitment to Community

Anthony Otadoy Garciano and Srishti Gulati will be honored with the Intellectual Contribution Award for the Education Policy and Analysis Program

HGSE Honors Master's Students with Intellectual Contribution Award

MS in Education Policy : MS in Education Policy

The Johns Hopkins Master of Science in Education Policy prepares education leaders of the 21st century with the wide-ranging skills necessary to shape effective, evidence-based education policies.

Through this 33- to 36-credit program, students learn to navigate complex federal and state regulations; digest new initiatives; draft policy; and conduct financial analysis. They also are expected to come to a deep understanding of today’s educational inequities and the strongest educational models to correct them.

The program is delivered online, except for the first-semester hybrid course, Introduction to Education Policy, which includes an in-person, five-day residency in Washington, D.C. Students can also opt to include a three-credit experiential learning opportunity. The School of Education is unable to provide F-1 visa sponsorship for this program.

Questions? Please reach out and we’ll be in touch soon.

People of soe, david steiner, phd.

Professor, Executive Director of the Institute for Education Policy, Former Commissioner of Education, New York State

"Education embodies the future of a nation: In the U.S., education outcomes are flat, and the achievement gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing. Study with us and graduate ready to make an immediate difference in the futures of children in this country and beyond."

Professor David Steiner is executive director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy. In 2020, he finished serving as a member of the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education. Most recently, he was appointed to the Practitioner Council at the Hoover Educational Success Initiative, Stanford University. He previously served as commissioner of education for New York State, as dean at the Hunter College School of Education, and as director of education at the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Upcoming Admissions Events

Have questions about our degree programs, the application, or financial aid and costs? Join us for an inside look at a graduate experience defined by innovation and driven by evidence-based research. Learn more about your area of interest or career path, meet some of our faculty, and connect to the Johns Hopkins School of Education community. Check out our admissions events and register for a virtual information session today.

SET-IT Virtual Information Session

Fall 2024 Semester Classes Begin

Core Faculty

Alanna bjorklund-young, phd.

Assistant Professor

Affiliation

Institute for education policy.

Curriculum Studies, Education Policy & Politics

Rebecca Cruz, PhD

Center for Safe and Healthy Schools, Innovative Teaching & Leadership

Education Policy & Politics, Social Context of Education, Special Education

Christine Eith, PhD

Advanced Studies in Education

Richard Lofton, PhD

Center for Safe and Healthy Schools

Education Policy & Politics, Social Context of Education

Jonathan Plucker, PhD

Research Professor Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Faculty Lead, Master of Science in Education Policy

SOE Leadership

Education Policy & Politics, Gifted Education, Learning & Instruction

Henry M. Smith, EdD

Administration, Organization & Leadership, Education Policy & Politics

Professor Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy

Institute for Education Policy, SOE Leadership

Curriculum Studies, Education Policy & Politics, Research, Evaluation & Assessment

Angela R. Watson, PhD

Assistant Research Professor

Education Policy & Politics

Program Overview

This 33-to 36-credit master’s degree program focuses on the changing landscape of education policy in the 21st century. The field needs leaders with sophisticated skill sets who can navigate complex federal and state statutes and regulations, research and report on initiatives, draft policy and regulatory language, conduct financial analysis, and understand the inequities in education. They must combine this knowledge with the strongest educational models to shape effective, evidence-based education policies.

This program comprises 11 or 12 three-credit online courses, except for the first-semester hybrid course: Introduction to Education Policy, which includes an in-person, five-day residency in Washington, D.C. Students can include a three-credit experiential learning internship.

Johns Hopkins prepares exceptional interdisciplinary educational leaders to address pressing policy and practice challenges in America’s schools and contribute effectively to governmental agencies, legislative offices, mayor’s offices, think tanks, and nonprofits.

Education Advocate
Education Policy Adviser
Educational Nonprofit Director

The Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy is dedicated to integrating research, policy, and practice to achieve educational excellence for America’s educators — and America’s students.

Legal Disclosure

State-specific information for online students.

Students should be aware of additional state-specific information for online programs .

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Education policy, master of science in education (m.s.ed.), you are here, a master's program that prepares you for a career in education policy research, evaluation, and analysis..

The one-year Education Policy master's program equips students with the knowledge and methodological tools to understand, evaluate, and implement programs and policies that impact students and communities across the country and around the world, from early childhood to K-12 and beyond.

What Sets Us Apart

About the program.

The one-year master's degree in Education Policy includes coursework in the foundations of education, research, evaluation, data analysis, and education policy.

Option 1: Summer (before Fall begins): 2 courses; Fall: 4 courses; Spring: 4 courses Option 2: Fall: 5 courses; Spring: 5 courses

Culminating experience Education Policy Research Practicum

The Education Policy M.S.Ed. program consists of 10 course units along with the successful completion of the Education Policy Research Practicum. As part of these 10 courses, you select three electives that allow you to tailor the program of study towards your own specific interests and goals.

Students in the program have two options to complete the program requirements. Students can take courses prior to the start of the fall, which is a 2/4/4 courseload. Students with this option can take 2 courses in “Summer 2”, 4 courses in the Fall, and 4 courses in the Spring. Alternatively, students can take a 5/5 courseload which would be 5 courses in the Fall and 5 courses in the Spring. Students must complete the Education Policy Research Practicum during the Spring semester in order to complete the degree.

For information about courses and requirements, visit the Education Policy M.S.Ed. program in the University Catalog .

Education Policy Research Practicum

Education policymakers and practitioners are increasingly relying on research evidence to inform federal, state, and local decision-making. With the widespread availability of educational data, there is a growing need for the timely generation of research evidence to support the ongoing work of policymakers and practitioners. The Education Policy Research Practicum is designed to develop an understanding of how educational researchers partner with educational leaders to impact policy.

Through the Practicum, you will develop skillsets that are extremely valuable to partners in policy and practice, which include, but are not limited to, empirical analyses, policy reports, and presentations. Through the development of these skills, you will be positioned to complete the Practicum with immediate and actionable guidance around how research can inform program implementation, schooling practice, and/or other questions of educational significance.

The Practicum takes on two different formats, and you will have the opportunity to choose the one that fits your academic preferences and career goals. In one option, you will focus on case study style learning, engaging in the classroom through a large swath of real-world examples and analysis ( EDUC 711 ). In another option, you will work in teams and partner with a local school district ( EDUC 722 ). In both options, you will learn similar skills, and the purpose of offering two different formats is so that you can choose the style that best suits your needs and interests.

Internship and Research Opportunities

In addition to the Education Policy Research Practicum and the other program coursework, many master’s students seek other opportunities to develop applied research and policy analysis skills. Each year, a number of students work with faculty and/or research centers here at Penn GSE. Examples of projects and centers that students have worked with include the Consortium for Policy Research in Education , the Center for Standards, Alignment, Instruction and Learning , and the Institute for Research on Higher Education .

Other students find off-campus internship and research opportunities. In the past few years, students have found rewarding off-campus employment opportunities with organizations such as the School District of Philadelphia, the Mayor's Office for Education, the Philadelphia Education Fund, Research for Action, and KIPP.

We offer joint and dual degrees with Penn Law, the Fels Institute of Government, and Wharton. Learn more about Dual and Joint Degrees at Penn GSE.

Our Faculty

The Education Policy faculty study everything from big data in early childhood education to assessment and evaluation to the teacher workforce. In addition to the standing faculty in Education Policy, our program is enriched by the scholarship of faculty members from the Literacy, Culture, and International Education, Human Development and Quantitative Methods, and Teaching, Learning, and Leadership divisions.

Affiliated Faculty

Sigal Ben-Porath MRMJJ Presidential Professor Ph.D., Tel Aviv University

Wendy Chan Assistant Professor Ph.D., Northwestern University

Dennis P. Culhane Professor, Penn Social Policy & Practice Ph.D., Boston College

John MacDonald Professor of Criminology and Sociology, Penn Arts & Sciences Ph.D., University of Maryland

Laura W. Perna Vice Provost for Faculty Ph.D., University of Michigan

Daniel A. Wagner UNESCO Chair in Learning and Literacy Ph.D., University of Michigan

Sharon Wolf Associate Professor Ph.D., New York University

Jonathan Zimmerman Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor in Education Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University

"Penn GSE’s Education Policy program armed me with the tools I needed to effectively advocate for change in our educational system."

Tomea A. Sippio-Smith

Our graduates.

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Policy experts share insights on higher education’s shifting public opinion and perceptions.

By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Senior Staff Reporter

Recent reports have indicated that American attitudes toward higher education have wavered in recent years, with the country’s positive outlook of the sector dropping significantly since the onset of the pandemic and the economic uncertainty that has impacted the general workforce.

To better analyze these shifting attitudes, a group of higher education polling and policy experts convened in a virtual discussion on Thursday to share their insights from recent public opinion polls that have tracked Americans' varying perceptions of differing facets of the higher education system.

Sophie Nguyen, a senior policy analyst for education policy at New America, detailed how their annual survey captures the changes in attitudes about the value of education after high school, how postsecondary enrollment is funded, and how perceptions concerning a given degree’s return on investment have changed over the past six years.

Travis Reindl, a senior communications officer for The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, detailed how there is, from prospective student perspectives, both aspiration and frustration with the current system. According to polling data, young people without degrees are especially skeptical of higher education, with costs and debt issues leading many to question the potential return on investment for their enrollment.

Reindl’s research provided schools with examples of how to engage students who may have dropped out of their higher education programs, or have been putting off enrollment due to skepticism, by urging schools to provide program flexibility, more education for less debt, financial aid advising, additional job counseling, and more hands-on opportunities in the workforce while in school.

Lexi West, a senior associate at The Pew Charitable Trusts, reported on how experiences with student loans have shaped borrower perspectives and how the ongoing payment pause for federally held loans has enabled students to meet other financial obligations. The pause, set to expire at the end of the month, has prompted a significant amount of borrower confusion. West said that polling data indicates that half of all borrowers were not aware of when the payment pause is set to expire, and had not connected with the Department of Education (ED) or their servicer about repayment options.

In order to stave off a difficult return to repayment, West urged ED to work on its communication efforts to streamline the process.

The Pew Charitable Trusts also has a number of surveys in the works to garner more details as to how borrowers are adjusting to the changing landscape of the student loan portfolio.

Attendees also heard from Shelbe Klebs, education policy advisor for Third Way, who detailed gainful employment (GE) regulations and how the public actually has a positive outlook on the policy when the parameters are fully explained.

According to Third Way’s research 73% of likely voters view GE favorably and go on to argue that implementing the guardrail should be a top priority for policymakers.

Each of the participants said they would be continuing to roll out new survey data that will further delve into these higher education policies to track how the pandemic could be shaping the public perception of postsecondary education.

Publication Date: 8/19/2022

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The Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice

On a mission to center learners in the future of higher education.

About CHEPP

The Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice (CHEPP) is a non-partisan higher education research, policy, and advocacy organization, promoting solutions that deliver transformative outcomes for all learners.

Who are today’s learners?

Today’s learners are working adults. Caregivers. Veterans. They are living with low income, or with food or housing insecurity. While these students don’t fit the profile of the traditional college student, they are the majority of today’s learners—it’s time to build systems that support and empower them.

37% of today’s learners are 25 and older.

24% of today’s learners are parents or have other dependents.

40% of today’s learners work full-time, and 49% are financially independent.

36% of today’s learners don’t know where their next meal will come from.

At CHEPP, we believe:

Post-secondary education unlocks social and economic mobility.

A learner’s lived experience is an asset to their education and institution, not a barrier to success.

Learning and progress should be measured by a demonstration of knowledge and skills, not time spent in a classroom.

Learner-centered design should shape all post-secondary education policy and practice change.

As a public good, post-secondary institutions bear responsibility to relentlessly focus on student success and equitable outcomes.

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THE podcast: what does the UK election mean for higher education?

Does the UK general election offer a ray of hope for the beleaguered university sector? Two higher education policy experts give their take on what university leaders can do to make a case for the sector and how a new parliament might tackle hot topics such as international students and research funding

Nick Hillman

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As the UK prepares to go to the polls on 4 July, what is on higher education’s wish list for the new parliament? And how might higher education leaders demonstrate the value of universities to policymakers?

For this episode of the Times Higher Education podcast, we talk to two policy experts for their perspective on key issues such as research funding, the future of skills training, how immigration policy might shape international student flows, and whether higher education will be a priority regardless of who wins the race to Whitehall.

Nick Hillman is director of the Higher Education Policy Institute and worked as chief of staff for David Willetts when he was minister for universities and science from 2007 until the end of 2013. Diana Beech is CEO of London Higher. Her policy experience includes being a policy adviser to three ministers of state for universities, science, research and innovation.

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State Policy

Penn. Lawmakers Propose Dueling Plans to Overhaul Higher Ed

Both parties have introduced separate bills outlining their own vision on how best to carry out the higher education overhaul Governor Shapiro called for in January.

By Jessica Blake

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Lawmakers from both parties are drawing attention to higher education at the state capitol in Harrisburg.

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In January, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro unveiled his blueprint for a sweeping overhaul of the state higher education system to meet his goal: bolstering public colleges stretched thin by years of budget cuts and enrollment declines while increasing college affordability and workforce development. Now lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are filing legislation to make the governor’s vision a reality.

There may be bipartisan agreement that the state’s higher ed system needs to change, but the right and left have very different views on how to achieve that. The Democrats have introduced a bill that would establish a coordinating State Board of Higher Education and provide enough need-based aid to ensure all students at or below the median income level pay no more than $1,000 per semester. Republicans, on the other hand, have advanced a package of six bills emphasizing a less authoritative task force and more targeted scholarships focused on bringing in out-of-state students and filling workforce gaps. The one topic on which both parties seem to agree is the need for a more consistent, performance-based funding model.

In a purple state with a narrowly divided legislature, compromise will be necessary to translate the abstract overhaul concept into a solid plan. Yet with just three weeks left until the state budget deadline, lawmakers, higher education officials and outside policy experts seem optimistic.

“I’m actually really heartened to see something positive happening in the [public] higher ed space in Pennsylvania. It’s been a while since there’s been significant investments or even rethinking on what was possible,” said Wil Del Pilar, former state deputy secretary of postsecondary education.

“I’m hopeful that if you have two parties that agree that we need reforms to higher ed, you actually could get something done, ” added Del Pilar, now senior vice president of The Education Trust, a nonprofit focused on academic equity. “These are clearly ‘marker’ bills. So it’s the beginning of a conversation, not the end.”

A State Board of Higher Ed

With nearly 250 colleges and universities—including more than 40 that are public—Pennsylvania is home to more higher education institutions than any state except California, Texas and New York.

Yet, not all are flourishing. Many of the state’s public institutions have seen drastic enrollment declines since 2010. They form a complex web with little oversight: 15 independent community colleges and four multi-campus universities—Pennsylvania State, Temple and Lincoln Universities as well as the University of Pittsburgh—all of which receive state funding but none of which is state-owned. The only institutions directly governed by the state are the 10 regional colleges of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

Governor Shapiro tried to tackle this unruly oversupply in his original blueprint by proposing to consolidate the community colleges and PASSHE under one governing board. Democrats and Republicans alike quickly nixed that idea. One lawmaker described it as a lead balloon in light of pushback from community college leaders who worried it would prevent them from meeting local demands. But the two parties parted ways in deciding what to do instead.

The Democrats’ bill, co-sponsored by Senator Jay Costa and Representative Peter Schweyer, suggests a more expansive but less authoritative coordinating group than the governing board Shapiro originally proposed. It would be called the State Board of Higher Education and represent all the state’s institutions—state-owned, state-related and private.

Responsible for developing an overarching strategic plan for higher ed, the board would collect comprehensive data, suggest tuition caps and advise program cuts to avoid too much overlap. It would not, however, have the power to enact policy; that responsibility would be left to the general assembly.

Representative Schweyer described the board—which would consist of lawmakers from both parties, the secretaries of labor and education, and nine gubernatorial appointees from various colleges, unions and businesses—as a place “for higher education to come together.” It would be charged with creating a long-term plan for sustaining higher ed, while also quickly responding to “catastrophic” situations like the sudden closure of University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

“It’s not a new state bureaucracy or anything like that,” he said. “But it gives a space for those folks in academia to do some of the meaningful work that will actually impact the lives of students.”

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Republicans have a different view. They say that even a coordinating board would have too much authority and require too many additional government staff members to support it. Instead, they suggest a task force composed almost purely of postsecondary administrators that would focus more on gathering information that institutions can then apply how they best see fit.

“A lot of these [coordinating] systems exist to tell you what to do,” said Senator Scott Martin, chair of the appropriations committee and a sponsor of several bills in the GOP package. “In a very diverse state like Pennsylvania, not everyone buys into that.”

An Increase in Student Aid

The other key focus of both proposals is increasing financial aid. According to the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) , Pennsylvania is one of the least affordable states to attend college, with tuition at only 18 percent of two-year institutions and no four-year institutions deemed affordable for low- and moderate-income families. The national averages are 63 and 31 percent, respectively.

While both parties agree students deserve a more affordable degree, the consensus stops there.

Democrats continue to push Shapiro’s plan to ensure that residents making up to the median income pay no more than $1,000 in tuition and fees per semester at any state-owned institution—a rather bold step in a state where tuition averages $7,716 per semester.

The GOP, in a collection of four different aid bills , suggests a more targeted approach focused on drawing in out-of-state students and meeting current workforce demands. The legislation would offer up to $5,000 per year for Pennsylvania residents, and in-state tuition for out-of-state students who attend any public college, pursue a degree in a high-demand industry and agree to live in the state and work in that industry after graduation. If a student fails to maintain the requirements, the grant would be converted to a loan.

“The idea of increasing aid to the point where every student only has to pay $1,000 per semester is a little unreasonable,” Martin said. “I’m more concerned about what we are investing in. Because if we’re helping to subsidize degrees that aren’t going to lend to Pennsylvania jobs … taxpayers don’t really win.”

Senator Costa, a co-sponsor of the Democratic bill, was less concerned about finding the funds, but admitted it could be one of several points lawmakers have to compromise on.

“There’s some stark differences and we have to work through them over the course of the next several weeks before we get to a final budget number ,” he said. “And I don’t know whether we’re going to make the June 30 deadline or not. But at the end of the day, we have to continue to work through this and reach consensus.”

Expert Weigh In

Despite a budget impasse that delayed the appropriation of funds to state colleges and universities for months last year, the governor is hopeful that there’s more collective support for increased funds and general reform efforts this time around.

“I think what you’re seeing in the Senate is a willingness in trying to address the fact that we’re 49th in the nation when it comes to higher ed,” Shapiro said during a press conference Tuesday . “We listened to Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate … [And] we’re going to work together, as we did on this legislation and others, to find common ground.”

Higher education administrators and policy experts were reluctant to analyze the details of the overhaul bills in their early stages; the Democrats’ bill is still in committee, and the Republican bills passed the Senate on Tuesday. But they generally expressed a positive view of the developments.

PASSHE chancellor Dan Greenstein said he is “optimistic” and “look[s] forward to continuing conversations with the governor and legislature to improve opportunities for students.” Representatives from Temple, Pitt and Penn State all praised the introduction of a more transparent, performance-based funding model.

John Sygielski, president of Harrisburg Area Community College, and Marta Yera Cronin, president of Delaware County Community College, said they were eager to collaborate more with one another as well as with the state’s four-year institutions. But they were also pleased that lawmakers avoided implementing too much state control and praised the idea of increased funding.

“It’s really about cost savings, and making education more affordable and accessible and that’s part of who we are as a community college,” Sygielski said. “I see this probably as a project over the next couple of years. But right now I’m glad to see all of the proposals and I look at them as that.”

Brian Prescott, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), noted that “the devil will be in the details,” and expressed worry that the current proposals don’t offer enough state-level control.

“The state is dealing with a situation that’s been decades in the making. And I think that if Pennsylvania really wants to solve this in a bipartisan manner, it’s going to take some money, but it’s also going to take some exercise of real authority, and a coordinating board that has the capacity to really be a useful contributor to planning,” he said. “It’s a complex industry facing really complex conditions. And there needs to be a viable organization to help the state make smart investments that meet, that align with, state goals and are not simply the aggregation of the institutional goals.”

Still, he said, while many questions remain unanswered, he’s been pleasantly surprised at how much traction the issue has gotten on both sides of the aisle.

As Joni Finney, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Research on Higher Education, said, “This is something that’s probably going to open the door for the next legislative session. But we just have to remember that the longer we wait, the less money there will be and the harder the problem will be to solve.”

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Publications

How Openness Impacts on Higher Education

As societies move towards increasing openness, higher education is also showing increasing interest in and commitment to releasing information and knowledge. This paper describes some of the common ways in which the term open is used and discussed in relation to open initiatives. It considers how open practices affects teaching and learning as well as research in higher education, highlighting the importance for higher education providers to grapple with the challenges and opportunities provided by openness to make them more relevant to society today. Finally, the paper considers how rapidly evolving developments in openness impacts on higher education policy, and provides some policy considerations which may useful to deliberate over.

Publication year: 2014

Institute For Higher Education Policy At-A-Glance

Vision: The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) envisions a world where all people—particularly populations who have been underserved—have the opportunity to reach their full potential by participating and succeeding in higher education.

Mission: IHEP is committed to improving college access and success in higher education for all students—with a special focus on underserved populations—by providing timely research to inform public policy decisions.

Purpose: IHEP is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization committed to promoting access to and success in higher education for all students. Based in Washington, D.C., IHEP develops innovative policy- and practice-oriented research to guide policymakers and education leaders, who develop high-impact policies that will address our nation’s most pressing education challenges.

Organizational Priorities: Policy research focuses on a variety of higher education topics such as access and success, accountability, diversity, finance, underserved student populations, and much more. Outreach efforts include the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education , International Rankings Expert Group, Postsecondary Data Collaborative , Project Win-Win , and Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery .

Select Funding Partners: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , Ford Foundation , Kresge Foundation, Lumina Foundation , TG , USA Funds , and Walmart Foundation , among others.

2014 Board of Directors: Chairman Art L. Coleman , managing partner and co-founder, EducationCounsel, LLC. Other board members include: Rob Anderson , executive vice chancellor for administration, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission; Cheryl D. Blanco , vice president for special projects, Southern Regional Education Board; Charlene M. Dukes, Ph.D. , president, Prince George's Community College; Augustine Gallego , chancellor emeritus, San Diego Community College District; Neil Horikoshi , president & executive director, Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund; David A. Longanecker , president, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education; Laura W. Perna , professor, higher education management program, University of Pennsylvania; and Michele Siqueiros , executive director, The Campaign for College Opportunity.

Politicization of higher education alarming

It hijacks politically unburdened inquiry and learning.

While political spin is a common tool in America today, the implications associated with that rhetoric are becoming increasingly intolerable. This is particularly evident in how higher education is often politically characterized, with Florida as a significant example.

Consider Governor DeSantis’s comments on June 1 at New College, reported in the June 4 edition of The News-Pressunder the headline, DeSantis: Universities have become ideological indoctrination sites. Referencing “leftist and woke ideology,” the governor remarked: “I believe the root of this issue can be traced back to the corruption of universities and academia, a foundation that has allowed toxicity and ideology to permeate various aspects of our society.”

That politically charged language starkly contrasts with my 55 years of experience in higher education at four institutions of higher learning across as many states, 40 of which were spent on the faculty and as an administrator at a major state university. I view the governor’s assertions as a baseless characterization of higher education, especially regarding faculty intentions and roles. I am not alone in that thinking.

Professor Marshall Poe noted recently in Real Clear Politics that “ typical faculty members are not ‘Leon Trotsky-types,’ political radicals who view students as revolutionaries in training. Instead, they are scholarly geeks driven by a love of learning in their academic subjects. What I cared about,” Poe continued, “is history, researching and teaching it.”

I would not have felt compelled to write this commentary if I only believed the governor’s words were political rhetoric. The situation is more serious, a matter of public policy that threatens to alter the fundamental purpose of higher education — not only in Florida but across America. I believe that is a cause for immediate concern for all of us who share a commitment to the integrity and mission of academia.

It is crucial to reiterate that higher education aims to educate, advance knowledge, and serve society. Drawing on disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and professional knowledge, the faculty is steadfast in its commitment to these tasks, and it is ludicrous to contend that the higher education system — public higher education, especially — has a “political agenda.” Along that line, wisdom associated with years of experience has taught us that higher education institutions should not take public stands in response to societal issues and controversies — despite increasing calls to do just that.

Hard lessons in that regard were learned in the 1960s amid campus protests associated with America’s involvement in the Vietnam War and urban unrest, and the University of Chicago's position is noteworthy. Professor Harry Kalven, Jr., a distinguished First Amendment scholar, chaired a committee at the request of the University of Chicago president, advising the chief executive and the school’s trustees about how UC should respond. From those deliberations, the eponymously titled report, The Kalven Report (1967), included this passage: “The university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself a critic.” Those words have passed the test of time, referenced fifty-plus years later in a commentary that included these words: “By not tethering itself to a particular position, the university will welcome the fullest range of views — and reap the benefit of the wisdom produced by the resulting debate.” (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, 2023).

While America's historic status owes much to the contributions of higher education, the current level of politicization (surpassing anything I had witnessed previously) poses a significant threat to its core mission. This begs the question, for what purpose? When political advocates seek to impose on higher education the values, perspectives, and outcomes they prefer, they hijack politically unburdened inquiry and learning. When successful, that approach converts higher education from a social institution with a civic purpose into a delivery system to achieve partisan outcomes. That exchange subverts higher education’s historical purpose.

What I assert is happening in Florida and across America, and I see no diminution in either the approach or its pace. As our governor said last weekend at New College, "As proud as we are of the steps we've taken (in higher education), you ain't seen nothing yet." ( News-Press , June 4). Those are frightening words, indeed.

Frank A. Fear is a senior associate dean and professor emeritus at Michigan State University. He resides in Cape Coral.

STAAR test results show Austin ISD students still struggle with math post-pandemic

Students wear masks at their desks on the first day of school at Travis High School in Austin in 2021

School may be out for summer, but the results of the 2024 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness are in — and show students in Texas and Austin continue to struggle with math.

The Texas Education Agency released the STAAR results for students in Grades 3-8 on Friday, one week after releasing the end-of-course assessment results for high schoolers. Depending on which grade they’re in, students are tested on subjects such as math, reading, science and U.S. history.

2024 scores for kids in elementary, middle and high school continue to follow a familiar, post-pandemic trend. While the percentage of Texas students meeting grade level in reading has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels — and actually exceeds it — math proficiency has still not recovered.

Locally, the Austin Independent School District is seeing a similar trend play out among its students.

"We certainly recognize that the pandemic created this gap that we’re trying to close desperately," Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura said of the district's math scores.

However, Segura said that while STAAR results are a helpful piece of data that allows Austin ISD to compare itself to other districts, it is not the only piece of information people should look at when evaluating how students are doing.

“When you distill down a student’s potential into one score, I think it’s not telling the whole picture,” he said. “I tell families all the time, look at the school, look at the vibrancy of the school.”

Austin ISD students still lagging in math

The gap between math proficiency before the pandemic and after it, persists throughout elementary, middle and high school within Austin ISD. Take, for example, results at the high school level. Back in 2019, before the pandemic, 69% of the district's students who took the Algebra I STAAR end-of-course exam met grade level. This year, only 39% of the nearly 6,000 students who took the test met grade level.

A similar trend is evident for students in grades 3-8 when it comes to math. Available data for grades 3, 4, 6, and 7 show that the percentage of students who met grade level on the STAAR math exam was higher in 2019 than it was in 2024.

Charles Martinez, dean of the College of Education at UT Austin, said it’s not surprising that students are struggling to catch up in math after the pandemic significantly disrupted their education. He said math, in particular, builds on concepts kids have learned in previous years.

“In other words, you can’t move on in mathematical computational ability, mathematical reasoning — the core skills that undergird math — without some mastery of the skills that are behind you,” he said.

Martinez said, in general, the systems we have in place aren’t very good at helping kids catch up. He said if a student is behind in a subject, they’ve got to essentially start learning at a faster rate than their peers just to catch up, and that requires a lot of support and expert teaching.

Austin ISD Superintendent Segura said providing support for students and getting experienced teachers into classrooms takes money.

“Education has just gotten more expensive period. And at the same time we have these gaps that we have to address, and the way that you address them is by intervention, and those interventions require resources,” he said. “So we are doing what we can. I think we’re doing a really great job, but long term additional resources would always be helpful.”

Kevin Brown, the executive director of the Texas Association of School Administrators, said this year’s STAAR scores cannot be divorced from the fact that many school districts are facing budget deficits and staffing challenges. He and other public school leaders point to the fact that the basic allotment, which is the minimum amount the state must spend per student, has not keep up with inflation over the last four years. Austin ISD, for its part, is facing a roughly $60 million budget deficit.

“There’s not just one silver bullet that will raise test scores, but it’s all of these things put together: it’s funding, it’s supporting our educators through words and through actions, it’s providing our schools resources to help our students as best they can,” Brown said. “We’re about 43rd, 44th [out of 50] in the country in what we’re spending per student and that needs to change.”

But education policy expert Mary Lynn Pruneda worries that lackluster STAAR results are going to be overshadowed by concerns about school funding. Pruneda is a senior policy adviser for public education issues for the Austin-based think tank Texas 2036. She previously served as Gov. Greg Abbott’s education policy adviser.

“We want to have a conversation about funding our public schools more. We want there to be more money in public education. We’re desperate to pay our teachers more, but just to pin everything on that…would just be half the conversation,” she said.

Why is reading getting better but math and science are not?

Pruneda also pointed out that the 2024 STAAR results show something is clearly going right when it comes to teaching kids how to read. She said not only have reading scores stabilized since the pandemic, but they have actually improved. That is evident, for example, in how Austin ISD high schoolers performed on the STAAR English I and English II exams this year.

The percentage of students doing well on the English I exam has remained relatively stable for the last five years, with 53% meeting grade level in 2019 and 52% meeting grade level in 2024. The percentage of students meeting grade level on English II is now at 58%, two points higher than it was in 2019.

Pruneda said she thinks reading has rebounded because there’s been a lot of attention paid and legislation to support getting evidenced-based strategies to improve literacy into classrooms.

“So the question for us is how do we do that again? How do we do that across science, across math and across social studies? It’s hard work, it’s important work, but it’s work that we have to engage in [during the 89th legislative session],” she said. “We have to come up with systems and programs and investments and strategies that actually are targeting these outcome deficits we’re seeing in our students.”

The percentage of Texas fifth and eighth graders meeting grade level in science also dropped this year. Only 26% of fifth graders met grade level in science, down from 34% in 2023. That figure was 47% before the pandemic in 2019.

Aiming higher than pre-pandemic scores

Gabe Grantham, another policy adviser at Texas 2036, said he would like to see goals for student achievement go beyond just getting kids to where they were before the pandemic.

“I think what we have to do as a state is really grapple with what does that mean for the kids who would still be left behind even if, as a state, we got back to exactly where we were in 2019 — we’re still leaving half of our kids behind in mathematics,” he said. “So I think that as a state we can dream a little bit bigger than just pre-pandemic in terms of student achievement and student outcomes.”

Grantham said it is also alarming that the percentage of Texas students in grades 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 who met grade level on the math exam actually dropped this year.

“We see actually since the pandemic, the first true decline in [math] proficiency across the state, which I think should raise alarms for every person watching both at the state and local level,” he said. “To say that recovery has slowed is an understatement.”

Martinez, of UT's College of Education, also underscored the importance of improving student performance in math because it’s a major indicator of how students are going to do after high school.

“Math course-taking, among all the things that students do, is maybe among the most essential predictors of post-secondary access and success,” he said.

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath also highlighted the urgent need to improve math proficiency statewide.

“While we continue to see progress in other areas - which is a testament to the dedication and skill of our Texas educators - it’s clear that math performance is not where students need it to be for success after graduation,” Morath said in a statement .

Families can find their child’s STAAR results at www.texasassessment.gov .

A teacher wearing a hoodie holds up a dry erase marker while talking to students in a classroom.

Map Options

Education Rankings by Country 2024

There is a correlation between a country's educational system quality and its economic status, with developed nations offering higher quality education.

The U.S., despite ranking high in educational system surveys, falls behind in math and science scores compared to many other countries.

Educational system adequacy varies globally, with some countries struggling due to internal conflicts, economic challenges, or underfunded programs.

While education levels vary from country to country, there is a clear correlation between the quality of a country's educational system and its general economic status and overall well-being. In general, developing nations tend to offer their citizens a higher quality of education than the least developed nations do, and fully developed nations offer the best quality of education of all. Education is clearly a vital contributor to any country's overall health.

According to the Global Partnership for Education , education is considered to be a human right and plays a crucial role in human, social, and economic development . Education promotes gender equality, fosters peace, and increases a person's chances of having more and better life and career opportunities.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." — Nelson Mandela

The annual Best Countries Report , conducted by US News and World Report, BAV Group, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania , reserves an entire section for education. The report surveys thousands of people across 78 countries, then ranks those countries based upon the survey's responses. The education portion of the survey compiles scores from three equally-weighted attributes: a well-developed public education system, would consider attending university there, and provides top-quality education. As of 2023, the top ten countries based on education rankings are:


	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8
	9
	10

Countries with the Best Educational Systems - 2021 Best Countries Report*

Ironically, despite the United States having the best-surveyed education system on the globe, U.S students consistently score lower in math and science than students from many other countries. According to a Business Insider report in 2018, the U.S. ranked 38th in math scores and 24th in science. Discussions about why the United States' education rankings have fallen by international standards over the past three decades frequently point out that government spending on education has failed to keep up with inflation.

It's also worthwhile to note that while the Best Countries study is certainly respectable, other studies use different methodologies or emphasize different criteria, which often leads to different results. For example, the Global Citizens for Human Rights' annual study measures ten levels of education from early childhood enrollment rates to adult literacy. Its final 2020 rankings look a bit different:

Education Rates of Children Around the World

Most findings and ranking regarding education worldwide involve adult literacy rates and levels of education completed. However, some studies look at current students and their abilities in different subjects.

One of the most-reviewed studies regarding education around the world involved 470,000 fifteen-year-old students. Each student was administered tests in math, science, and reading similar to the SAT or ACT exams (standardized tests used for college admissions in the U.S.) These exam scores were later compiled to determine each country's average score for each of the three subjects. Based on this study, China received the highest scores , followed by Korea, Finland , Hong Kong , Singapore , Canada , New Zealand , Japan , Australia and the Netherlands .

On the down side, there are many nations whose educational systems are considered inadequate. This could be due to internal conflict, economic problems, or underfunded programs. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's Education for All Global Monitoring Report ranks the following countries as having the world's worst educational systems:

Countries with the Lowest Adult Literacy Rates


	27%
	31%
	34%
	35%
	37%
	37%
	38%
	41%
	45%
	47%

Education rankings are sourced from both the annual UN News Best Countries report and the nonprofit organization World Top 20

Download Table Data

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41%	2022	203
35%	2018	202
100%	2016	201
81%	2022	200
88%	2020	198
86%	2015	197
72%	2022	196
54%	2022	195
86%	2022	194
62%	2016	193
90%	2022	192	87
62%	2018	191
0%		190
83%	2015	189
0%		188			77
91%	2015	187
95%	2015	186
89%	2015	185
81%	2021	184
0%		183
99%	2021	182
0%		181
95%	2020	180
52%	2017	179
89%	2021	178
92%	2021	177
68%	2022	176
98%	2022	175
95%	2019	174	71	59	70	69
97%	2015	173
92%	2021	172
90%	2022	171
98%	2000	170
99%	2005	169
0%		168
98%	2012	167
100%	2021	166	48	43	40	38
98%	2020	165
98%	2022	164	28	28	27	28
99%	2021	163	47
45%	2021	162
37%	2020	161
27%	2022	160
63%	2021	159
59%	2022	158
0%		157
81%	2022	156
31%	2020	155
58%	2022	154
98%	2011	153
62%	2022	152
76%	2022	151
48%	2017	150
82%	2022	149
77%	2022	148
38%	2022	147
37%	2021	146
94%	2021	145	32	35	36	30
100%	2021	144
34%	2022	143
77%	2018	142
78%	2020	141	85	78
100%	2014	140
67%	2021	139
61%	2018	138
0%		137
58%	2019	136
90%	2019	135
98%	2021	134	51	57	49	43
76%	2021	133
89%	2019	132	76
70%	2015	131
47%	2022	130
82%	2022	129
95%	2021	128
98%	2021	127	53	54	58	53
84%	2022	126	86	85	78	73
49%	2022	125
0%		124
64%	2015	123
75%	2020	122	84	80
67%	2019	121
84%	2022	120	83	73	75
94%	2022	119
91%	2022	118
77%	1999	117
96%	2019	116	75	76	60	56
89%	2015	115
90%	2021	114	41	36	33	32
77%	2022	113	56	58	57	57
90%	2020	112	82		74
98%	2022	111
0%		110
89%	2019	109	74	79	76	71
100%	2021	108
94%	2021	107	44	48	46	48
80%	2020	106	77	69
89%	2020	105
84%	2022	104	72	75	67	63
99%	2019	103	61	66	56
88%	2022	102
74%	2018	101	34	34	32	34
0%		100
99%	2021	99	43	45	47	40
100%	2020	98
0%		97
95%	2021	96	69	72	69	60
94%	2020	95
0%		94
96%	2020	93
0%		92
94%	2017	91	33	39	41	37
83%	2022	90	70	71	68	68
95%	2019	89	39	40	38	39
72%	2022	88
100%	2010	87
100%	2019	86	66	61	65	61
81%	2001	85
75%	2022	84	37	37	39	42
0%		83
98%	2018	82	59	60
89%	2021	81	81	74
99%	2021	80
0%		79
92%	2021	78
94%	2020	77	68	64	64	59
99%	2021	76	46	44	43	33
99%	2001	75
96%	2020	74	54	56	51	49
81%	2018	73	67	67
0%		72
96%	2019	71	52	50	55	52
100%	2022	70
70%	2020	69
99%	2019	68	57	68	63	58
96%	2020	67	58	52	54	55
99%	2022	66
97%	1980	65
100%	2019	64
100%	2022	63	80	84	72
0%		62
0%		61	79	81	66	67
98%	2021	60
0%		59
97%	2022	58	63	70	62	62
100%	2019	57	64	53	52	51
71%	2021	56
95%	2021	55
94%	2022	54	73	65	73	65
96%	2019	53	65	62	59	64
99%	2020	52
96%	2020	51
99%	2021	50
99%	2018	49
100%	2018	48
98%	2021	47
99%	2014	46
98%	2020	45	38	32	35	46
98%	2021	44	62	63	61	54
100%	2020	43	78	82	71	70
0%		42	22	21
0%		41	50	47	45	44
97%	2022	40	49	51	48	35
95%	2020	39	40	41	37	36
99%	2018	38	35	33	34	29
97%	2019	37	30	31	31	31
99%	2018	36	14	13	14	16
0%		35	16	17	16	13
99%	2011	34	31	30
98%	2018	33	29	29	28	26
99%	2014	32
0%		31	1	1	1	1
99%	2021	30	36	38	30
100%	2021	29	60	46	42	45
0%		28	7	6	6	6
0%		27	15	14	11	14
100%	2021	26	42	42	44	47
100%	2021	25	55	49	50	50
97%	2021	24	24	24	25	20
100%	2021	23	25	27	26	23
100%	2021	22	27	25	23	21
92%	1983	21	26	26	24	25
99%	2020	20	17	18	17	18
0%		19	4	4	4	3
0%		18
0%		17	8	9	8	7
0%		16	5	5	5	5
0%		15	9	8	9	8
0%		14
97%	2020	13	23	23	22	24
0%		12	2	2	2	2
97%	2020	11	20	22	21	19
0%		10	21	20	20
0%		9	13	12	13	12
0%		8	12	15	15	15
0%		7	3	3	3	4
0%		6	6	7	7	11
100%	2001	5	45	55	53	41
0%		4	18	16	18
0%		3	11	10	10	9
0%		2	10	11	12	10
0%		1	19	19	19	22
97%	2006
100%	2000
99%	2021
100%	2015
97%	1980
73.12%

Which country ranks first in education?

Which country ranks last in education, frequently asked questions.

Best Countries for Education - 2023 - US News
Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - World Bank
World Best Education Systems - Global Citizens for Human Rights
UNESCO - Global Education Monitoring Reports
World’s 10 Worst Countries for Education - Global Citizen
International Education Database - World Top 20

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Singer Named FAFSA Executive Advisor

Jeremy Singer, who is currently the president of College Board, has been named to lead the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) overall strategy, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Singer is taking temporary leave from his role at the College Board to join the department. He served as president of Kaplan Test Prep’s Graduate, Pre-College, and K–12 divisions; president of Digital Products for McGraw-Hill Higher Education; CFO and COO of the Grow Network; and executive director of Partners in School Innovation.

Singer holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

As FAFSA’s executive advisor in the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), the technology solutions expert is expected to help deliver the Better FAFSA and improved user experience as he accelerates technology innovation to enhance FSA’s technical and operational capabilities.

Singer will lead FSA’s overall strategy on the 2025-26 FAFSA form. He will help lead processes to strengthen internal systems that ensure optimal performance leading to the launch of the 2025-26 FAFSA form.

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Assistant Professor, Health and Health Education

Executive director, mays cancer center, director of military center connections, project manager i - facilities, project manager - facilities planning, coordinator, bas software development.

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Experts: NEPC Fellows have a wide range of expertise bearing on education policy issues. They also have considerable experience speaking with members of the media, policy makers, and community members about their work. Search for topic-area experts using the drop-down menu below, and feel free to contact a fellow directly.
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STAAR test results show Austin ISD students still struggle with math
But education policy expert Mary Lynn Pruneda worries that lackluster STAAR results are going to be overshadowed by concerns about school funding. Pruneda is a senior policy adviser for public education issues for the Austin-based think tank Texas 2036. She previously served as Gov. Greg Abbott's education policy adviser.
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Countries with the Best Educational Systems - 2021 Best Countries Report* Ironically, despite the United States having the best-surveyed education system on the globe, U.S students consistently score lower in math and science than students from many other countries. According to a Business Insider report in 2018, the U.S. ranked 38th in math scores and 24th in science.
Singer Named FAFSA Executive Advisor
Singer holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. As FAFSA's executive advisor in the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), the technology solutions expert is expected to help deliver the Better FAFSA and improved user experience as he accelerates technology innovation to enhance FSA's technical and ...
PDF The Development of Technology for Higher Education Institution's
Microsoft Word - Layout-IES-p179. International Education Studies; Vol. 8, No. 5; 2015. ISSN 1913-9020 E-ISSN 1913-9039. Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education.