Our Winter 2026 Education Finance and Policy Journal Takeaways are now available! 📖 Get quick, one-page summaries of the latest research articles - perfect for policymakers & practitioners who need the highlights without the deep dive: aefpweb.org/efp-take...

1/ 📢 New paper recently published in AEA Papers and Proceedings with Kalena Cortes, @melissadgentry.bsky.social, & @mirandainez.bsky.social: “Digital Incentives in Surveys: Response Rates and Sociodemographic Effects in a Large-Scale Parental Nudge Intervention” 🔗 www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

Students: Are you considering applying for a dissertation fellowship this upcoming academic year? Join us next Monday, May 18th at 4 PM ET for a webinar on insights from reviewers and awardees. aefpweb.org/ev_calen...

Importantly, *all* students, not just specific demographic groups experienced GPA benefits. Every student group we examined – across race/ethnicity, gender, special education status, and Emergent Bilingual status – showed positive effects.

Some good news: SFUSD's high school Ethnic Studies course has substantial academic benefits when implemented district-wide. New research by @birajbisht.bsky.social, Sade Bonilla, Grace Kim, and myself just out today in @aeraedresearch.bsky.social 🧵 doi.org/10.3102/0002...

How Texas plans to tie school accountability grades to college success, job wages kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/ho...

Not all paths to college and career readiness pay off equally for Texas students, study finds www.texastribune.org/2026/02/23/t...

1/ 🚨 New publication in Educational Researcher "Who Lives in a STEM Desert?" 🔗: doi.org/10.3102/0013... We introduce student-level measures of “STEM deserts”—areas where students have limited nearby access to STEM courses and curricular pathways. #STEM #EdPolicy #Equity

Summer Melt and the Postsecondary Pathway: https://osf.io/zkd9h

"high-achieving underrepresented minority college-goers were up to 10 percentage points less likely to enroll in highly selective colleges... “cascading” down the college selectivity distribution into less selective colleges with lower graduation rates and earnings." edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1392

New study: Drawing on categorical inequality concepts & leveled tracking, this study explores how EL labeling limits access to college-level course-taking; finding differences in postsecondary outcomes vary by reclassification timing & disparities in college-level coursework.https://buff.ly/lPeK4G8

Our paper, “EMERGEing Educational Opportunities,” is now assigned to an issue in Education Finance & Policy. First online in summer 2025, it uses sharp RD to estimate effects of intensive advising on selective college outcomes for high-achieving, low-SES students. doi.org/10.1162/edfp...

1/ 🚨 New article out in Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis “Sorted and Tracked: English Learners, College-Level Course-Taking in High School, and Postsecondary Opportunity” 🔗: doi.org/10.3102/0162... (open access!) #SocEd #HigherEd #EdPolicy #EL

Digital incentives increase parent survey participation, but language matters. Higher incentives and clearer options lead to more equitable engagement, from Kalena Cortes, Brian Holzman, Melissa D. Gentry, and Miranda I. Lambert www.nber.org/papers/w34653

The same old story about the intractability of poverty—and the uphill efforts of those who help students work past it—needs retelling in as many ways as we can. www.texastribune.org/2025/12/18/t...

More Texas students complete journey through college, but low-income students still left behind.

Texas tracks the long-term outcomes of public school students. See how your school district compares here.

Institutional Social Capital and Postsecondary Outcomes: https://osf.io/8arh6

Sorted and Tracked: English Learners, College-Level Course-Taking in High School, and Postsecondary Opportunity journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3...

Finally approved after 7 months 🥳😅

A third-year PhD advisee of mine is interested in remote summer research associate/fellowship opportunities. She already knows about RAND's summer associate program . . . are there others?

Who Lives in a STEM Desert?: https://osf.io/s8wzv

I highly recommend this postdoc at the @annenberginstitute.bsky.social! If anyone is considering applying, I’m happy to chat about what the postdoc was like for me and what it’s been like living in Providence. Feel free to reach out!

📢 New postdoc opportunity at Annenberg! The Annenberg Institute is seeking a postdoctoral research associate for a 2‐year appointment to join a diverse community of scholars committed to educational equity and improvement! More info here: annenberg.brown.edu/opportunitie...

Have any NCES data users gotten a disclosure review approved for a paper/report since spring? I've been waiting for 6+ months 😞

Check out @melissadgentry.bsky.social's job market paper on transportation for people with disabilities ⬇️ She also conducts great research in the economics of education, including work on a parental engagement RCT.

Digital Incentives in Surveys: Response Rates and Sociodemographic Effects in a Large-Scale Parental Nudge Intervention: https://osf.io/rtj4e

🚨 New preprint! We examine how Texas’s high-school endorsement system (similar to majors)—especially STEM—shapes college choice. Rather than expanding opportunity, the STEM endorsement largely reflects pre-existing academic advantages and rebrands old sorting practices.

The Texas A&M College of Education & Human Development Ph.D. program in Educational Administration, PK-12 Leadership & Policy will host an informational webinar on Tuesday, September 30th at 7:00 PM CT. Join us to learn more about our program! Register here: bit.ly/4p2OMuw

📢 Are you interested in studying Educational Leadership & Policy? Come join me next Tuesday evening at 7pm CT to learn about our PhD program at Texas A&M! Register here: bit.ly/4p2OMuw

🚨 New preprint! We examine how English learner (EL) status shapes access to college-level coursework (AP, IB, dual credit) in high school—and how this contributes to postsecondary enrollment & completion gaps. #SocEd #HigherEd #EdPolicy #EL

The Texas A&M College of Education & Human Development Ph.D. program in Educational Administration, PK-12 Leadership & Policy will host an informational webinar on Tuesday, September 30th at 7:00 PM CT. Join us to learn more about our program! Register here: bit.ly/4p2OMuw

📢 New working paper with Daniel Klasik & Angel Jones: "The Many Paths to College Enrollment: Re-Conceptualizing the Transition to College" We propose a new college choice model that captures the diverse, nonlinear pathways students take to college. edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1269

Postdoc at the Houston Education Research Consortium at Rice University: bit.ly/45voJmA

Houston Education Research Consortium representation at ASA! #rpp #soced

Postdoc opening in education for the upcoming year: ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/592...

Our paper “Gaps in the College Application Gauntlet” (w Daniel Klasik & Rachel Baker) is in this #RIHE collection showcasing research using #NCES data—an invaluable resource for understanding postsec opportunity. Articles are open access for 4 weeks: bit.ly/RIHE-NCES

🚨 New preprint! We examine gender gaps in high school STEM pathways & whether senior-year guidance counseling was associated with greater persistence among girls—especially those from low-income backgrounds & underserved communities. #EdPolicy #STEMEducation #SocEd

AERA is sharing this statement issued by former NCES commissioner Dr. Peggy Carr on the “devastating shutdown and decimation of a critical national institution.” Read it here: www.aera.net/Portals/38/P...

📢 ICYMI: Our new regression discontinuity analysis on social capital, low-SES students, & selective college access ⬇️

1/ 🚨New paper from me in Education Finance & Policy: "EMERGEing Educational Opportunities: The Effects of Social Capital on Selective College Outcomes" doi.org/10.1162/edfp... #EdPolicy #HigherEd #SocEd

Congrats to Peggy Carris who defended a great dissertation on sense of belonging in higher ed & will start a faculty position this fall! 🥳

EXTREMELY BAD NEWS for economic research, per former BLS Commissioner @ericagroshen.bsky.social on LinkedIn. BLS is suspending access to its restricted data "for the forseeable future." Applies to projects through the Federal Statistical Research Data Centers & onsite projects with BLS. #EconSky

📢 POSTDOC AT TEXAS A&M A postdoc position is open at the Education Research Center, which is evolving into a broader education policy center. The center is led by Profs. Dan Bowen & Andy Kwok. Please share widely! 🔗Job ad: bit.ly/3ROsEoh 🌐ERC site: erc.cehd.tamu.edu (currently being updated)

📢 POSTDOC AT TEXAS A&M A postdoc position is open at the Education Research Center, which is evolving into a broader education policy center. The center is led by Profs. Dan Bowen & Andy Kwok. Please share widely! 🔗Job ad: bit.ly/3ROsEoh 🌐ERC site: erc.cehd.tamu.edu (currently being updated)

AERA, in partnership with the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education over the unlawful dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences. www.aera.net/Newsroom/AER...

BREAKING: We filed a lawsuit against Trump’s Department of Education for its unlawful dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences. IES is the backbone for education research in the US. Secretary McMahon has no authority to override Congress and shut it down.

Incredibly important action from IHEP, @aefpweb.bsky.social and @publiccitizen.bsky.social to fight the administration's dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences. #EduSky www.citizen.org/news/lawsuit...

In a new letter, AERA and other education research leaders call on Congress to protect the nation’s education data, research infrastructure, and knowledge base, by safeguarding the IES and broader Education Department staff, leadership, and mission. www.aera.net/Portals/38/E...

"IES data remain an essential source of basic information about the operation of K–12 and pre-school programs." www.educationnext.org/doge-targets...