Beth Schueler

Another former Massachusetts state takeover receiver appointed to statewide education leadership:
www.mass.gov/news/governo...

Deadline approaching! Apply for a postdoc role studying the politics of education policy at Stanford GSE:
postdocs.stanford.edu/prospective/...

Thank you Abigail! Hope you are well :)

Thank you, David, for the kind words!!

I look forward to hearing from you about this posting and any other opportunities for collaboration you may have in mind. Thanks!
@stanfordeducation.bsky.social

Addressing these questions requires a team effort. To that end, we're hiring a postdoc to start summer 2026. Please submit your materials by the end of the month and/or share the posting: postdocs.stanford.edu/prospective/...

We want to know: Why do some policies make it on the agenda, get adopted, implemented & sustained, while others do not? How does ed governance—who holds decision-making power—influence the policies that are enacted and the outcomes schools produce? How can schools prepare students for civic life?

The Politics of Education Lab

To ring in the new year, I'm excited to announce the launch of the Politics of Education Lab (PEdL) at the Stanford GSE. The goal is to advance understanding of the political dimensions of education policymaking to help policymakers and practitioners strengthen school systems.

pedl.stanford.edu

Thank you, Mark! All my best :)

Thank you for the generous words and for amplifying!

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

New year, new paper out on the (mixed) impacts of districtwide turnaround in Lawrence, Mass. on postsecondary outcomes. A product of a collab w/ 2 lovely UVA EdPolicyWorks PhD students and MA DESE: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...

Why Hasn't Tutoring Been More Effective? Recent studies of tutoring programs show small or no effects. Why?

www.edweek.org/leadership/w...

Elected official determined by card draw Two candidates running for the Gerlach General Improvement District each received 67 votes in the last election a card draw at Washoe County Commission Chambers determined the winner.

Ah local elections...
www.kolotv.com/2025/11/06/e...

It's that time of year to start thinking about who you'd like to nominate for an AEFP award (4 options: early career, dissertation, use of evidence in policy/practice & justice, equity diversity inclusion). Get your noms in by 12/5! And thanks!
aefpweb.org/awards @aefpweb.bsky.social

Political Views and College Choices in a Polarized America Riley Acton Miami University & IZA Emily Cook Texas A&M University & CESifo Paola Ugalde A. Louisiana State University We examine the role of students’ political views in shaping college enrollment decisions in the United States. We hypothesize that students derive utility from attending institutions aligned with their political identities, which could reinforce demographic and regional disparities in educational attainment and reduce ideological diversity on campuses. Using four decades of survey data on college freshmen, we document increasing political polarization in colleges' student bodies, which is not fully explained by sorting along demographic, socioeconomic, or academic lines. To further explore these patterns, we conduct a series of survey-based choice experiments that quantify the value students place on political alignment relative to factors such as cost and proximity. We find that both liberal and conservative students prefer institutions with more like-minded peers and, especially, with fewer students from the opposite side of the political spectrum. The median student is willing to pay up to $2,617 (12.5%) more to attend a college where the share of students with opposing political views is 10 percentage points lower, suggesting that political identity plays a meaningful role in the college choice process.

🚨 New working paper alert! 🚨 #econsky

Emily Cook, Paola Ugalde, and I are thrilled to share "Political Views and College Choices in a Polarized America" — now out with both @iza.org and @annenberginstitute.bsky.social EdWorkingPapers

www.iza.org/publications...

edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1280

Prospective PhD Students:

I am planning to accept a PhD student for AY 2026-27 in the economics and education program at Teachers College. Apply if you want to use the economics of education to study immigration or politics/political engagement and public schools. :-)

Supported by both the Fordham Institute and @wallacefoundation.bsky.social, Michael Hartney and I explored the extent to which U.S. school board members are politically and demographically representative of the communities they serve.

Here's a summary of our main findings:

1/12

@vitaebella.bsky.social @uvaehd.bsky.social @stanfordeducation.bsky.social

Can States Sustain and Replicate School District Improvement? Evidence from Massachusetts on Multilevel Governance - Beth E. Schueler, Liz Nigro, John Wang, 2025 Limited scholarship has examined school districtwide turnaround reforms beyond the first few years of implementation or efforts to replicate successes in new co...

New paper now out in @aerj_journal w/ Liz Nigro & John Wang on 4 different models of state-led district turnaround in Mass., providing positive evidence for building in opportunities for local influence over decision-making. Grateful for reactions! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...

Political tensions and tech shifts complicate roles on school boards, study shows A USC EdPolicy Hub study found that school board members in California face challenges such as partisan politics, changing technology and uncertain funding, and recommended increased training and comp...

edsource.org/2025/califor... @juliemarsh.bsky.social @lsmulfinger.bsky.social

Thanks for the share out!!

Post-COVID-19, is education losing its special status as a policy domain more insulated from partisan politics than other policy areas? Indeed, a community's political makeup influenced its schools’ pandemic learning modality, but did it predict other aspects of educational operations? We studied the role of Republican vote share, race, markets, and public health in predicting a range of operations—from modality to family engagement, to social-emotional support, to teacher professional development—in Virginia. Partisanship and racial composition were similarly predictive of initial in-person offerings, but partisanship was less predictive over time, and school operational decisions were less politicized than modality. Our findings provide optimism for leaders seeking to avoid highly polarized dynamics, especially on issues that have not become nationalized.

While school districts’ initial pandemic-era school re-opening decisions were intensely partisan, subsequent operational decisions were less so

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...

1/2

I learned it all from you (no, seriously, I highly recommend the Josh Goodman school of media training)...

As Holyoke schools exit state oversight, new scrutiny for receivership law - CommonWealth Beacon State takeovers have been employed during the recent era of education reform aimed at closing the achievement gap separating lower-income students and students of color from their better-off, white pe...

commonwealthbeacon.org/education/as...

Thank you, Josh!!

Can States Sustain and Replicate School District Improvement? Evidence from Massachusetts Limited scholarship examines school districtwide turnaround reforms beyond the first few years of implementation or efforts to replicate successes in new contexts. We study Massachusetts, home to a st...

Glad to see this coverage citing research on Mass. district improvement efforts in collaboration with @vitaebella.bsky.social and John Wang, forthcoming in @aeraedresearch.bsky.social journal AERJ: edworkingpapers.com/ai23-882

Decade of Holyoke receivership ends with mixed results - The Boston Globe Test scores are still low, but graduation rates are up.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/01/o...

Teacher Preparation: Research Evidence and Policy Implications Explore key findings on teacher education: the impact of cooperating teachers, field placements, and coursework on teacher effectiveness.

Happy Friday, fellow #EdResearch nerds!

Sharing some @aefpweb.bsky.social Live Handbook chapters - a neat feature is that you can provide feedback (form is at the bottom of each page).

Teacher Preparation: Research Evidence and Policy Implications livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...

An argument for how to engage students and narrow achievement gaps: Let them debate    - CommonWealth Beacon Many potential initiatives have been tried and have failed to close the achievement gap between lower-income students and students of color with their white and more well-off peers. That makes a prove...

commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/an-a...

Please nominate for AEFP Board candidates TODAY if you haven't already and thanks to those who already have!