Our Work
EdPolicyForward engages in the study and analysis of a wide range of important educational topics including:
- College access and affordability
- Dual enrollment and school-to-college transitions
- Early childhood education
- Education evaluation and assessment
- Educator labor markets
- Educator preparation
- Higher education accountability
- International education
- K-12 accountability
- Online learning
- School accountability
- School finance reform
- School segregation
- STEM education
- Teacher effectiveness
- Teacher leadership
- Teacher mobility
Academic Year 2025-26
| Date | Time | Location | Virtual Access | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 25, 2025 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Register | Sarah Lenhoff (Wayne State University) & Jeremy Singer (University of Michigan–Flint) | Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism |
| October 16, 2025 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Register | Meredith Billings (University of Texas, Arlington) |
A Tale of Two States: How are Higher Education Budget Requests Justified to State Legislatures? |
| November 13, 2025 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Thompson Hall 2007 (Fairfax campus) | Laura Rogers (University of Virginia) |
The Long Goodbye? Teacher and Principal Organizational Conditions, Wellbeing, and Turnover | |
| February 26, 2026 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Register | Ilana Umansky (University of Oregon) |
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| March 26, 2026 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Register | Meghan McCormick (Overdeck Family Foundation) |
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| April 23, 2026 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Thompson Hall 2007 (Fairfax campus) | Erik Hines (George Mason University) |
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| May 2026 | Van Metre Hall (Mason Square campus) | GMU PhD students |
Academic Year 2024-25
| Date | Time | Location | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 19, 2024 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Morgan Polikoff (University of Southern California) |
What’s Driving Opposition to Race- and LGBTQ-Related Content in Schools? Evidence from Two National Surveys |
| October 17, 2024 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Erica Harbatkin (Florida State University) |
Should I Stay or Should I Go (Later)? Teacher intentions and turnover in low-performing schools and districts before and during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| November 14, 2024 | 1 pm - 2:30 pm | Thompson Hall 2007 (Fairfax campus) | Najeeb Shafiq (University of Pittsburgh) |
Perceived returns and regrets among college graduates |
| February 13, 2025 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Julie Cohen (University of Virginia) |
Experimental Evidence about Modularizing Content in Teacher Education |
| March 6, 2025 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Susan Dynarski (Harvard University) |
The Power of Certainty Experimental Evidence on the Effective Design of Free Tuition Policies |
| April 10, 2025 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual | Jennifer Jennings (Princeton University) |
How Information Works: Evidence from a Mixed-Methods School Information Experiment in New York City |
| May 8, 2025 | 5 pm - 6:30 pm | Virtual | Beth Davis & Natalie Truong, Alyssa Barone | Critical Analysis of the Invisibility of Immigrant-Origin Students in Public Data Systems, & An Exploratory Analysis Using Machine Learning to Modify Teacher Value-added Models |
Academic Year 2023-24
Fall 2023
| Date | Time | Location | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 21, 2023 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual Only | Dan Goldhaber (University of Washington) |
How Well Do Professional Reference Ratings Predict Teacher Performance? |
| October 26, 2023 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual Only | Morgaen Donaldson (University of Connecticut) |
Following the Money: Investigating Variations in the Design and Implementation of School District ARP-ESSER Plans |
| November 2, 2023 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual Only | Jonathan Collins (Brown University) |
Does Meeting Style Matter? The Effect of Public Deliberation on School Board Meeting Participation |
| December 7, 2023 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual Only | Jason Grissom (Vanderbilt University) |
A Bad Commute: Travel Time to Work Predicts Teacher Turnover and Other Workplace Outcomes |
Spring 2024
| Date | Time | Location | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 25, 2024 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual Only | Anna Egalite (North Carolina State University) |
The Role of Teacher-Student Ethnoracial Matching in Student Identification for Special Education Services |
| February 22, 2024 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual Only | Heather L. Schwartz (RAND Corporation) |
Surveying Educators About Hot Topics in Education, and the Results That Surprised Us |
| March 21, 2024 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual Only | Christopher Cleveland (Boston University) |
A Text-as-Data Approach to Understanding Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) at Scale |
| April 18, 2024 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual Only | Rebecca Jacobsen (Michigan State University) |
When Losing is Winning: The Lasting Impact of the Politics of Disruption |
| May 16, 2024 | 3:30 pm - 5 pm | Van Metre Hall 716 | Natalie Troung and Sara Townsend (GMU Students) |
"Data disaggregation and the inadequacies of pan-ethnic inferences: An exploration of Southeast Asian American experiences in K-12 education" AND "How Local Education Policymakers Define the Teacher Turnover Problem: A Case Study" |
Academic Year 2022-23
Fall 2022
| Date | Time | Location (in person) | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 22, 2022 | 2 pm - 3:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 468 | Doug Harris (Tulane University) |
The Effects of COVID on Educational Attainment |
| October 20, 2022 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 468 | Cara Jackson (Abt Associates) |
Democratizing the Development of Evidence |
| November 10, 2022 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 468 | Samantha Viano (George Mason University) |
The oversimplification of the Black-White high school graduation gap: Examining policy guidance and student outcomes through critical structural capital analysis |
| December 8, 2022 | 2 pm - 3:30 pm | Virtual only | Travis Bristol (University of California, Berkeley) |
Developing and Retaining Teachers of Color |
Spring 2023
| Date | Time | Location (in person) | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 19, 2023 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 468 | Luis Rodriguez (NYU) |
Well, What About Teachers? Exploring Relationships Between Parent Involvement and Trust With Teacher Job Satisfaction and Retention |
| February 23, 2023 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual only | David Blazar (University of Maryland) |
Differential Responses to Teacher Evaluation Incentives |
| March 16, 2023 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 467 | Melissa Lyon (SUNY Albany) |
The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction over the Last Half Century |
| April 20, 2023 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Virtual only | Julia Burdick-Will (Johns Hopkins University) |
Anywhere But Here: Neighborhood Violence and Local School Preferences in Baltimore City |
| May 11, 2023 | 3:30 pm - 5 pm | Van Metre Hall 716 | PhD Student Colloquium: Kevin Monnin (George Mason University) and Beth Davis (George Mason University) | TBD |
Academic Year 2021-22
Fall 2021
| Date | Time | Location (in person) | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 9, 2021 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 322 | Susanna Loeb (Brown University) |
Home-School Bridges: The Effects of Teacher-Family Visitations on Student Engagement and Learning |
| October 14, 2021 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 322 | Brian Gill (Mathematica) |
Measuring educational performance for improvement: A framework for diagnostic use of data |
| November 18, 2021 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 322 | Seth Hunter (George Mason University) and Matthew Steinberg (George Mason University) |
Do You Observe What I Observe? Exploring the Discordance in Teacher and Evaluator Ratings of Teacher Performance |
| December 9, 2021 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 322 | Jing Liu (University of Maryland) |
From Referrals to Suspensions: New Evidence on Racial Disparities in Exclusionary Discipline |
Spring 2022
| Date | Time | Location (in person) | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 27, 2022 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 322 | Constance Lindsay (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) |
A Scalable Empathic-Mindset Intervention Reduces Group Disparities in School Suspensions |
| February 24, 2022 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 322 | David Houston (George Mason University) |
COVID-19 School Closures and Public Support for Educators |
| March 24, 2022 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Online | Matt Chingos (Urban Institute) |
Democratizing Education Data and Policy Analysis |
| April 21, 2022 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Online | Beth Schueler (University of Virginia) |
Does Policy Debate Improve Academic Achievement? Evidence from Boston |
| May 12, 2022 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | Van Metre Hall 468 | Katherine Bowser (George Mason University) and Elizabeth Davis (George Mason University) |
TBD |