USC Professor to Discuss School Choice in Los Angeles

The department of education reform at the University of Arkansas kicks off its annual lecture series at noon Friday, Sept. 7 with a lecture by Katharine Strunk, an assistant professor of education and policy at the University of Southern California.

Strunk’s lecture is titled “The Efficacy of the Los Angeles Unified School District Public School Choice Initiative for Student Achievement Outcomes: Early Evidence from the First Year.”

The lectures in the annual series, now in its seventh year, are free and open to the public. They begin at noon in Room 343 of the Graduate Education Building. RSVP is requested for a light lunch and can be done online.

Doctoral students in the department’s education policy coordinate the lecture series. Lecturers come from universities and think tanks across the country to discuss many of the topics these students are studying.

Other dates, presenters and topic information, if available:

• Oct. 5, John Cronin, director of the Kingsbury Center at the Northwest Evaluation Association.
• Oct. 18, Russ Whitehurst, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.
• Nov. 16, Christina Clark Tuttle, senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, “Understanding the Effectiveness of KIPP: Factors Related to Impacts.”
• Nov. 30, Kimberly Sheridan, assistant professor of art education and educational psychology at George Mason University.
• Dec. 7, Martin West, assistant professor of education and American politics at Harvard University.
• Jan. 18, Michael Kremer, Gates Professor of Developing Societies in the department of economics at Harvard University.
• Jan. 25, Scott Imberman, associate professor of economics at Michigan State University.
• Feb. 8, Cory Koedel, assistant professor of economics at the University of Missouri, “Who Benefits from Pension Enhancements?”
• Feb. 22, Cassandra Hart, assistant professor of education policy at the University of California, Davis, “Education Policy Shocks and Private School Supply.”
• March 1, Charles Payne, Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, “Urban School Reform: Dumbing Down.”
• March 8, Jonah Rockoff, associate professor of finance and economics at Columbia University, “Identifying Effective Teachers During the Hiring Process.”
• March 29, Maria Perez, assistant professor of policy analysis at the University of Washington, “Making Decisions About Teachers Based on Imperfect Data.”
• April 5, Eric Bettinger, associate professor of education at Stanford University.

More information about the speakers and their work is available on the lecture series website.