Knowledge» Action» Impact.

Transcription

1 Knowledge» Action» Impact

2 Policy Analysis & Social Policy at American University School of Public Affairs AU School of Public Affairs is home to top experts in the field of policy analysis and social policy. Our faculty members study how governmental and non-governmental entities address the challenges of poverty, hunger, health outcomes, educational deficiencies, unemployment, and discrimination. Analytics are employed to evaluate programs and inform critical public policy decisions. From left: SPA students engage in class; Associate Dean Jessica Waters speaks with SPA student in Ward Lobby; Associate Professor Anna Amirkhanyan speaks with SPA student on campus; Assistant Professor Bradley Hardy speaks with Assistant Professor Taryn Morrissey at SPA event in partnership with Feeding America.

3 Path to Success AU is the top school in the nation for Presidential Management Fellows finalists

4 Select Research CHILDCARE SUBSIDIES AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT Erdal Tekin and Chris Herbst conducted research to analyze the effect of childcare subsidies on child development. Their study, The Impact of Childcare Subsidies on Child Well-Being: Evidence from Geographic Variation in the Distance to Social Service Agencies suggests children receiving subsidized care the year before kindergarten score lower on cognitive tests, exhibiting more behavior problems throughout kindergarten. But the negative effects largely disappear by the time children finish third grade. The study suggests that, although the U.S. childcare subsidy policy has been effective at increasing employment among low-income mothers, it has been less successful at enhancing the health and well-being of children and families. This study is forthcoming in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. FOOD PRICES AND OBESITY Taryn Morrissey, Alison Jacknowitz, and Katie Vinopal, SPA/PhD 16, conducted a study suggesting that when the price of fruits and vegetables goes up, families substitute cheaper foods that may not be as healthy or may be more caloric. The research, titled The Influences of Local Food Price on Children s Obesity and Eating Habits, was published in Pediatrics. TEACHERS AND RACIAL BIAS A recent study by Seth Gershenson suggests implicit racial bias may impact teacher expectations of students. The research found that non-black teachers have significantly lower expectations than do black teachers when evaluating the same students. Many believe that teacher expectations have a significant impact on educational achievement and attainment. The working paper, titled Who Believes in Me? The Effect of Student-Teacher Demographic Match on Teacher Expectations, was published by the Upjohn Institute.

5 Recent SPA Grads Earn Top Dollar 31 % are making more than $ 60,000 six months after graduation

6 Faculty Highlights Taryn Morrissey studies the social determinants of child health and development, including obesity, food insecurity, and achievement, and how public policies affect vulnerable children and families. Her work seeks to inform policies related to early care and education, public food assistance, and health care. Professor Morrissey also has public-sector experience; she worked on the President s Early Learning Initiative as a Senior Advisor at the Department of Health and Human Services and as a Health Policy Advisor in the U.S. Senate. Erdal Tekin is an economist with primary research interests in health economics and demographic economics. Within these fields, the main theme of his research is the economic analysis of risky behaviors and the consequences of prenatal and postnatal conditions and risk factors on the short and long-term outcomes of individuals on a multitude of domains, including health, human capital, labor market, and crime. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Family Foundation, and the Danish Council for Independent Research, among others. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), and an editor of the Journal of Population Economics.

7 Concentrations at SPA Social Policy: teaches students how to utilize governmental and nongovernmental tools to address the challenges of poverty, hunger, educational deficiencies, unemployment, and discrimination. Policy Analysis: combines knowledge about the administrative functions essential to policy analysis with the skills necessary to conduct the actual studies. Advanced Policy Analysis: encourages students to take more than the single course in applied policy analysis required of all MPP students. Health Policy: allows students to gain an appreciation for the issues confronting policymakers and analysts working on health issues in the U.S. and abroad. Policy and Management: combines the management and leadership strengths of the MPA program with policy courses for students interested in general policy or a particular policy area. Includes social policy and health policy focus.

8 Faculty Highlights Alison Jacknowitz is chair of SPA s Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research addresses issues related to poverty, food insecurity, food assistance, and children and families. Her work has appeared in a variety of scholarly journals, including: Contemporary Economic Policy, Demography, Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Pediatrics, Maternal and Child Health Journal, Social Service Review, and the Journal of Human Resources. She is on the Technical Advisory Board of Feeding America. Bradley Hardy studies poverty, inequality, economic risk and intergenerational socioeconomic mobility in the U.S., with a focus on socio-economically disadvantaged families. Related to this, he also examines the role and effectiveness of social welfare policies, such as food stamps (SNAP) and the Earned Income Tax Credit in lowering poverty and buffering against negative economic shocks. He currently serves as a research fellow with the D.C. Government Office of Revenue Analysis, where he conducts research on the economic benefits of local tax policies. He received the 2015 National Economic Association (NEA) President s Award in recognition of his exemplary service as a board member to the organization, and he also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.

9 We Know Success SAMPLE EMPLOYERS Brookings Institution Deloitte Pew Research Center U.S. Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Department of State SAMPLE INTERNSHIP PLACEMENTS American Civil Liberties Union Central Intelligence Agency Facebook Federal Bureau of Investigation U.S. House of Representatives United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

10 SPA Partnerships Global Labor Markets Three School of Public Affairs (SPA) faculty members have been named Research Fellows by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Seth Gershenson is the most recent faculty member to be chosen for the prestigious honor. He joins Erdal Tekin and Dave Marcotte who have been IZA Research Fellows since 2004 and 2006, respectively. Earlier this year, IZA and SPA jointly organized the 7th Annual Meeting on the Economics of Risky Behaviors in Izmir, Turkey. Established in 1998 IZA is a private, independent economic research institute that analyzes global labor markets, operating an international network of 1,500 economists and researchers spanning more than 50 countries. Environmental Policy SPA s Center for Environmental Policy, led by Daniel Fiorino, partnered with the Children s Environmental Health Network and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to present a half-day forum on The Social and Economic Costs of Climate Change for Children s Health. The discussion featured policy and public health experts, environmental organization representatives, and economists who addressed the current state of climate change on children s health, and steps for mitigating impacts. Top, from left: Seth Gershenson, assistant professor; Dave Marcotte, professor and director of the Washington Institute of Public Affairs; Erdal Tekin, professor. Middle: At the IZA conference in Izmir. From left to right: Katie Vinopal, SPA PhD Candidate; Seth Gershenson, Assistant Professor; Barbara Romzek, SPA Dean; Erdal Tekin, Professor; Taryn Morrissey, Assistant Professor. Bottom: Director of SPA s Center for Environmental Policy Daniel Fiorino, far left, speaks at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

11 SPA CENTER HIGHLIGHT: Metropolitan Policy Center SPA s Metropolitan Policy Center was launched in 2014 to examine ever-changing metropolitan and urban landscapes and how those landscapes are affected by social, economic, and political processes. Under the leadership of SPA s Derek Hyra, the center focuses on the various relationships that affect affordable housing, economic and neighborhood development, racial and ethnic diversity, social service provision, and urban and regional governance. The forthcoming book, Capital Dilemma: Growth and Inequality in Washington, DC, (Routledge Press) is one of the center s landmark projects, and it examines the unique city that is the nation s capital and how it has developed into a 21st-century urban powerhouse.

12 Recent Awards and Grants Research by SPA s Laura Langbein and Pablo Sanabria, SPA/PhD 12, found changes in laws had little effect on bribe-seeking in Latin American countries. The study, titled Independent Professional Bureaucracies and Street-Level Corruption: Evidence From Latin America, compared levels of local bribery with regulatory advances in nine countries with similar levels of democracy and economic growth between Langbein and Sanabria received the JCPA and ICPA-Forum Best Comparative Paper Award. They will be recognized at the fall 2015 APPAM conference. Assistant Professors Bradley Hardy and Taryn Morrissey recently won grants from the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Morrissey, with Daniel Miller of Boston University, will investigate Using Natural Experiments to Identify the Impacts of SNAP on Child and Adult Health. Hardy, with Tom Deleire of Georgetown University and Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University, will examine How Well Do SNAP and Other Social Safety Net Programs Protect Families against the Risk of Food Insecurity and Poor Health during Economic Downturns? From left: Laura Langbein, professor; Pablo Sanabria, SPA/PhD 12; Bradley Hardy, assistant professor; Taryn Morrissey, assistant professor.

13 Knowledge» Action» Impact School of Public Affairs Faculty on the steps of Ward Circle Building.

14 Recent Events Improving Community-Based Food Assistance Programs The School of Public Affairs partnered with the nonprofit Feeding America to present unique insights into how food pantry clients combine aid from pantries and government assistance. In advance of the event, SPA faculty members and graduate students Alison Jacknowitz, Anna Amirkhanyan, Jane Palmer, Michael Hatch, Whitney Hoft, Fata Karva, and Clinton Silvey completed a report on the topic for Feeding America. The report suggests ways to better serve food pantry clients and direct them toward resources. Using Time Diary Data in Education Research The School of Public Affairs hosted a conference titled Using Time Diary Data in Education Research with support from the American Educational Research Association. Participants and presenters at the two-day event came from a number of institutions, including the Harvard Kennedy School, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the University of Chicago, Oxford University, American University, and the University of Maryland. The program explored the benefits of time diary data use in academic research, and in social and education policy regarding parental involvement, teacher and classroom evaluations, and children s time use both inside and outside the traditional school day. The conference generated several interdisciplinary research collaborations, currently in progress. Top: Panelists present social policy analysis at the In Tandem event. Above: AERA provided support for SPA s Using Time Diary Data in Education Research conference.

15 In Memory of Julian Bond, A LEGENDARY ADVOCATE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE The AU School of Public Affairs community was saddened by the loss of Julian Bond, distinguished adjunct professor, who died Saturday, August 15. Julian Bond brought to the School of Public Affairs a proud legacy as a leader of the civil rights movement and as an advocate for social change. Bond said of his experience at AU School of Public Affairs: After teaching at many fine schools, the students I am closest to are those I met and taught at SPA. We have developed lasting and continuing relationships. Bond joined SPA in 1991 as a distinguished adjunct professor of government. During his time here, he taught more than 500 students. His classes an honors course focusing on the oral history of the civil rights movement, and an advanced study of the politics of civil rights were always filled with students eager to learn from a legend.