University of Maryland, College Park
Teacher-Mediated Multimodal Platform and Math Achievement: Evidence from Goblins' Yearlong District Implementation
Despite the rapid adoption of AI-powered learning tools in K–12 classrooms, there is limited evidence about their effectiveness in improving student learning. This paper examines the usage of Goblins—a teacher-mediated multimodal AI math platform that allows students to type, draw, and speak… more →
The Effects of Course-Integrated AI Tutoring on Student Performance and Engagement: A Randomized University Trial
We evaluate access to a course-integrated generative AI (GenAI) tutor in a randomized controlled trial involving 2,379 undergraduate students and 30 instructors across multiple disciplines in a large U.S. public university. Among sections of the same course, tutor access reduced final grades by… more →
What’s in Play: The Strategic and Symbolic Use of Racial Equity Frames When Racial Politics Shift
Shifting racial politics place substantial pressures on organizations to navigate whether and how to sustain DEI commitments. In this study, I examine how partnerships between public school districts and private school improvement organizations (SIOs) responded to shifting environmental… more →
Discipline Beyond Suspensions: Racial/Ethnic Disparities Across the Spectrum of Disciplinary Actions
Little research examines whether the alternatives to suspension reduce racial/ethnic discipline disparities. Using unusually rich administrative data from a large district in the South, we investigate how schools use a range of disciplinary actions and the racial/ethnic gaps in their use. School… more →
Conditional Hypothesis Generation for LLM-Based Text Analysis with Researcher-Specified Covariates
A core goal of computational social science is to discover interpretable differences in how language varies across outcomes of interest, such as political affiliation or instructional quality. Recent LLM-based hypothesis generation methods describe such differences in natural language, but… more →
Teacher Localness, Early-Career Effectiveness, and Retention
Recruiting locally connected individuals has gained policy attention under recent “Grow-Your-Own” initiatives, yet evidence linking teacher localness to student achievement and retention is limited. Using statewide Maryland data on teachers’ high school enrollment, postsecondary training, prior… more →
When Demand Outpaces Supply: Flexible Staffing and the Making of Maryland's High School CS Teacher Workforce
U.S. high schools have rapidly expanded computer science (CS) education over the past decade, resulting in increased pressure to staff classrooms with qualified teachers. This study examines how Maryland high schools responded to rising CS enrollment from school year 2012-13 through 2023-24,… more →
State Merit Aid: Effects on College Enrollment, Labor Market Outcomes, and Government Revenue
This paper evaluates long-run effects of state merit aid programs that subsidize in-state college attendance. Using national survey data on college enrollment and U.S. Census data, I exploit staggered program adoption across states. Merit aid shifts students from out-of-state to in-state… more →
Localized Teacher Recruitment through “Grow-Your-Own”: Impacts of the High School Teacher Academy of Maryland Program
Recruiting teachers via “grow-your-own” (GYO) programs is a popular, yet rarely evaluated, strategy for addressing local workforce shortages and ensuring that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We provide novel evidence on the impacts… more →
Disparate Pathways: Understanding Racial Disparities in Teaching
Long standing evidence on the importance of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to scrutinize existing recruitment pathways.
Financial Aid For Future Educators: Assessing A Federal Grant's Impact On Students' Postsecondary Decisions
Created in 2007, the federal TEACH grant program is a large federal financial aid program that seeks to attract postsecondary students to the teaching profession by providing financial assistance to help pay for a teaching degree. This paper describes the uptake and usage of the federal TEACH… more →
The Many Paths to College Enrollment: Re-Conceptualizing the Transition to College
Traditional college choice models often fall short in capturing the complex paths that today’s student population takes to postsecondary enrollment. This paper identifies the limitations of the predominant frameworks, such as Hossler and Gallagher’s (1987) three-phase model, arguing that they… more →
Behind the Push for Licensure Reform: How Beliefs About the Teaching Profession Unite and Divide Coalitions
A long history of scholarship on teacher professionalism documents how different narratives about teaching animate education policy and practice. We bridge the Advocacy Coalition Framework with institutional logics to examine how beliefs about teaching unite and divide a state-level coalition… more →
Inequality Beyond Standardized Tests: Trends in Extracurricular Activity Reporting in College Applications Across Race and Class
For years, discussions on inequality in college admissions have addressed standardized tests, but less is known about inequality in non-standardized components of applications. We analyzed extracurricular activity descriptions in 6,054,104 applications submitted through the Common Application… more →
Differential Responses to Teacher Evaluation Incentives: Expectancy, Race, Experience, and Task
Teacher evaluation systems and their associated incentives have produced fairly mixed results. Our analyses are motivated by theory and descriptive evidence that accountability systems are highly racialized, and that individuals are less likely to respond to incentives when they have low… more →
Pathways into the CTE Teaching Profession: A Descriptive Analysis of Degrees, Licenses, and Race in Maryland
Despite substantial interest in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses in U.S. high schools—and associated scholarship on this topic—very little is known about characteristics of CTE teachers who are a critical resource for program implementation and expansion. Using eight years of… more →
Inequity and College Applications: Assessing Differences and Disparities in Letters of Recommendation from School Counselors with Natural Language Processing
Letters of recommendation from school counselors are required to apply to many selective colleges and universities. Still, relatively little is known about how this non-standardized component may affect equity in admissions. We use cutting-edge natural language processing techniques to… more →
Teachers of Color, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Student Outcomes: Experimental Evidence from the Random Assignment of Teachers to Classes
Black teachers are critical resources for our children and schools.
Computer Science for All? The Impact of High School Computer Science Courses on College Majors and Earnings
This study provides the first causal analysis of the impact of expanding Computer Science (CS) education in U.S. K-12 schools on students’ choice of college major and early career outcomes. Utilizing rich longitudinal data from Maryland, we exploit variation from the staggered rollout of CS… more →
Who refers whom? The effects of teacher characteristics on disciplinary office referrals
Teachers affect a wide range of students’ educational and social outcomes, but how they contribute to students’ involvement in school discipline is less understood. We estimate the impact of teacher demographics and other observed qualifications on students’ likelihood of receiving a… more →