Join us Thursday, September 24th at 4:30p.m. to screen filmmaker Tara Moore’s documentary Legacy: Apartheid’s Shadow. The documentary examines the lingering implications of South Africa’s Apartheid system. The event will feature a brief reception and film screening, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Tara Erica Moore.
John Papay is the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Associate Professor of Education and Economics and the Director of the Annenberg Institute. His research focuses on policies that affect teachers and their work, as well as how schools and policies perpetuate or ameliorate educational inequality. Papay conducts the majority of his research in collaborative partnerships with policymakers and practitioners. He currently leads the Educational Opportunity in Massachusetts project, a long-standing partnership with state education agencies in Massachusetts. He is a founding senior researcher of the Research Partnership for Professional Learning, which seeks to identify the features of professional learning that improve teacher development, with a specific focus on improving classroom experiences and outcomes for students from historically marginalized groups. Locally in Rhode Island, he has helped build a multi-sector partnership to bring together the Rhode Island Department of Education, local school districts and local education leaders to solve pressing educational challenges in Rhode Island. A former high school history teacher, John earned his doctorate in Quantitative Policy Analysis from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Nate Schwartz is the Director of Applied Research and a Professor of the Practice at Brown University's Annenberg Institute for School Reform. In 2020, he co-founded the EdResearch for Recovery initiative, which collects requests for pandemic-related research guidance from education leaders and identifies teams of researchers across the country to build out quick-response evidence synthesis. He also serves as the research chair for the Research Partnership on Professional Learning (RPPL), a collaboration between the Annenberg Institute and a group of professional learning providers that aims to produce more actionable research on teacher professional learning.
Schwartz previously held a position as the chief research and strategy officer for the Tennessee Department of Education. In this role, he led the department’s research and strategic planning teams, contributing to the launch of Tennessee Succeeds, a strategic plan and vision aimed at increasing postsecondary and career readiness for Tennessee's one million students, and to the creation of the Tennessee Education Research Alliance, an innovative state-level research partnership with Vanderbilt University. He started his career as a high school physics teacher.
Presented by the Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association (RISSA) and the Annenberg Institute as part of the 2026–27 workshop series.
What does high-quality social and emotional development look like across tiers in secondary schools, and what should leaders prioritize to implement it effectively? In this workshop we will look to research evidence to explore that central question. Together, we will examine promising strategies, share experiences, and consider what it takes to implement effective social and emotional learning (SEL) strategies that help students thrive. Participants will build new knowledge, connect with others doing similar work, and apply what they learn to their own context.
Dr. Alicia Raia-Hawrylak, Rutgers University, and Shannon Garfield, The Mind Trust.
Districts are encouraged to send multiple members of their teams, including superintendents. The series is most applicable to superintendents and assistant superintendents; student support staff and counselors; SEL leaders at the school and district levels; principals and assistant principals; school social workers; and instructional coaches. Both district and school-based leaders are encouraged to participate.
Questions, or want to discuss this or other opportunities for Annenberg partnership? Email Brenda Santos at brenda_santos@brown.edu.
March 9, 2020
Session 1
Effects of Busing on Test Scores and Well-being of Bilingual Pupils: Resources Matter
Helena Skyt Nielsen, Professor at the Department of Economics and Business, Aarhus University
School Finance Reform and Labor Market Outcomes.
Diane Schanzenbach, Director and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research and Margaret Walker Alexander Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University
Direct and spillover effects of vaccine-hesitant providers
Maria Knoth Humlum, Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Business, Aarhus University. (with Julie Berry Cullen, Agne Suziedelyte and Peter Rønø Thingholm)
Session 2
Skill Transmission Between Generations and the Heritability of Comparative Advantage
Mikael Lindahl, Professor of Economics, University of Gothenburg
Wealthy and Wise? Revisiting the Question of Whether Money Matters to Children's Outcomes
Marianne Page, Professor of Economics, University of California at Davis
March 10, 2020
Session 3
Philanthropy and Public-Sector Leadership: The Case of Broad Superintendents.
Susanna Loeb, Director of the Annenberg Institute and Professor of Education and International and Public Affairs, Brown University. (with Tom Dee and Ying Shi)
Intergenerational Correlations in Longevity
Sandra Black, Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. (with Adriana Lleras-Muney, Nolan Pope and Joe Price)
Support to schools receiving refugee children: Effects of a randomized intervention
Anna Sjögren, Associate Professor in Economics, The Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy. (with Helena Holmlund)
Session 4
Welfare reforms and child outcomes
Marianne Simonsen, Professor, Aarhus University. School of Business and Social Sciences. Department of Economics and Business Economics (with Anne Brink Nandrup, Lars Skipper & Jeff Smith)
Effects of Scaling Up Means-Tested Voucher Programs
David Figlio, Orrington Lunt Professor and Dean, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
This event took place on March 9, 2020.
Colleges routinely encourage students to build relationships with faculty and advisors, treating these connections as pathways to mentorship, academic support, and opportunity. But what are colleges asking of students when access to valuable forms of support depends on relationships they must initiate and cultivate with people who hold authority over them? Drawing on interviews with undergraduates and ethnographic observations at a private university, this talk examines how race and social class shape students’ understandings of institutional authority, their strategies for cultivating relationships, how those relationships develop, and what they yield. While some students approach these relationships with a sense of familiarity and possibility, others carefully manage their self-presentation, maintain boundaries, or seek to minimize the risks of engagement. Together, the findings challenge conventional approaches to student support that emphasize individual initiative while overlooking the unequal relational work involved in turning institutional resources into meaningful educational opportunities.
Sherelle Ferguson is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. Her research explores how schools and universities shape what students are able to do and become, examining the organizational practices and social relationships through which educational opportunities are created, constrained, and unequally realized. Spanning secondary and higher education, her work investigates how schools cultivate students’ capacity for agency, how educators’ judgments and decisions shape educational trajectories, and how race and social class influence students’ navigation of institutional rules and authority. Her emerging research also examines how colleges create or constrain opportunities for recovery after academic setbacks.
Her research has appeared in Sociology of Education, Sociological Forum, and Socius. She is coauthoring an NSF-supported book with Maia Cucchiara examining how progressive urban public high schools cultivate student agency. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
The authors of Trump, the Administrative Presidency, and Federalism will discuss their book, which shows how Donald Trump took unprecedented steps to undermine and otherwise reshape domestic policy programs through executive action. But the book also emphasizes how the forces of federalism, especially state attorneys general, governors, and legislatures, have often undercut Trump’s executive initiatives and reduced their impact on who gets what from government in the health care, climate, and education arenas.
Readers interested in the institutions of American democracy and the nation’s progress (or lack thereof) in dealing with pressing policy problems will find deep insights in this talk. These include careful examination of whether the states, in combination with the courts, can check the threat to the rule of law and democracy posed by an administrative presidency on steroids.
Frank J. Thompson is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor at the School of Public Affairs and Administration and the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University. He has published extensively on issues of health policy with particular attention to the impact of federalism. His most recent book is Medicaid Politics: Federalism, Policy Durability, and Health Reform. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Kenneth K. Wong is the Annenberg Professor of Educational Policy, Director of Urban Education Policy Program, and Professor of Political Science, Public Policy, and Urban Studies at Brown University. He has published several books on education policy, governance, and accountability, including The Education Mayor and Funding Public Schools: Politics and Policy.
Barry G. Rabe is the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He has received four research awards from the American Political Science Association and has published widely in the areas of environmental policy and federalism. Recent books include Can We Price Carbon?, Greenhouse Governance, and Statehouse and Greenhouse.
Frank J. Thompson, Kenneth K. Wong, and Barry G. Rabe, authors of Trump, the Administrative Presidency, and Federalism, presented “Trump, the Administrative Presidency, and Federalism” at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University on October 1, 2020 in a virtual session.
Last May, the Equity Institute, in partnership with the Latino Policy Institute and the Annenberg Institute held a policy forum to discuss the shortage of teachers of color in the state of Rhode Island. Currently, students of color represent roughly 40 percent of the public school population in Rhode Island. In the urban core, students of color represent 80 percent of the public school population. However, less than 5 percent of all public school teachers in the state of Rhode Island are teachers of color.
Please join the Equity Institute, Latino Policy Institute, and the Annenberg Institute for a second policy forum on "Educational Equity & Teacher Diversity" on Wednesday, November 13th at 6:00pm at Brown University.
The forum will launch a year-long initiative to bring together community stakeholders, researchers, policymakers, equity advocates, educators and leaders to examine why Rhode Island ranks among the bottom in teacher diversity and discuss policies to address the shortage of teachers of color in the state.
The panel will be moderated by Domingo Morel who is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, Newark. He is the author of Takeover: Race, Education, and American Democracy. He is also co-editor of Latino Mayors: Power and Political Change in the Postindustrial City. In addition to his scholarship, Dr. Morel has years of applied experience in education, political affairs, and public policy. He is a co-founder of the Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University and past president of the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Brown University in 2014.
Our speakers represent diverse backgrounds and a wide range of experiences:
Matthew J. Buchanan, M.Ed
Matthew was recently named Principal at Hope High School. He was born and raised in Providence, RI and is a product of the Providence Public Schools. He grew up in Roger Williams Projects with his parents (Joan and Joseph), three older sisters and one older brother. At the tender age of 10 in 1986, Matt Buchanan was an innocent victim of a gunshot wound in his lower back. He awoke in the hospital bed with 75 stitches inside and 75 staples on the outside. This incident and second chance in life is one of the reasons why Mr. Buchanan is so passionate, energetic and dedicated because he was given another opportunity in life. He lives life vivaciously and advocates, educates, and mentors youth/students daily.
Tammy Vargas Warner, Ph.D.
Dr. Warner is the assistant dean for academic and student affairs in the Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Education and Professional Studies at the University of Rhode Island. As the academic dean for undergraduate students, she oversees progression from admissions to degree completion for students enrolled in teacher education and professional studies programs. Dr. Warner also currently serves as the acting director for the school of professional and continuing studies. Located at the University’s Feinstein Providence Campus, the school focuses on degree programs for adult populations including working professionals. In this role, she oversees curriculum, faculty, and academic programs which focus around the areas of interdisciplinary studies, non-profit administration, and professional studies. With over 15 years of higher education experience and a passion for innovation and change, Dr. Warner’s professional interests focus on ways to improve pathways to degree completion for all college students and the ways in which systemic leadership plays a role on the organizational capacity for student success. As a critical quantitative scholar, her research interests include the role of racialized classroom environments, faculty interactions, and systemic inequities on success and outcome measures for students of color.
Dr. Warner received her Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She earned a B.S. and M.S. in Human Development from the University of Rhode Island. Prior to transitioning into higher education, Dr. Warner enjoyed a successful management career in the textile industry. In her leisure time, she enjoys mastering gluten-free cooking and baking for her husband and three children.
Nancy Diaz Bain
Nancy Diaz Bain, Co-Director of the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, was born and raised on the South Side of Providence, where she was one of six children. She graduated from Rhode Island College with a major in secondary education and the social sciences.
Nancy began to volunteer at the Met while in college after a chance meeting with Dennis Littky. After graduating in 1998 from RIC, she was hired as an Advisor. Upon graduating her students, she became a Principal in 2002. She returned to school herself earning a Master’s in School Administration from Cambridge College in 2003. Nancy rose to the position of Co-Director in 2006. In this role, she oversees the three campuses of the Met: the Public Street Campus located at 325 Public Street (South Side), the Peace Street Campus located at 362 Dexter Street (West End) of Providence, and the Paul W. Crowley Campus located at 115 Girard Avenue in Newport. Nancy oversees the day-to-day operations of the schools, helps Principals and Departmental Directors to collaborate with one another, and encourages students to succeed. Her passion is to lead the school so that staff and students are given every opportunity to excel. "My family wanted to give me a lot but they couldn't do so financially. The Met opens doors to a lot of students. I would have loved the opportunity to attend a school like ours when I was in high school, so I am energized by helping students be successful.”
Peter McWalters
Peter is currently a board member and chairman elect of the Big Picture Learning Board, a trustee of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (NCIEA), and a consultant to Education Reimagined. A lifelong educator, Peter began his career in the Rochester Public Schools in New York, where he served in the roles of ESL teacher, social studies teacher, alternative middle school advisor and team leader, magnet school program planner, strategic planner, budget director, and labor/management collaborator. He then served as superintendent of City School District of Rochester, NY for six years. Subsequent to his superintendency, he became Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education for the state of Rhode Island (1992-2009), where he made significant gains in creating a better state-led system of education and partnered in founding the New England Common Assessment Program. Following his tenure as Rhode Island Commissioner, Peter joined the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) leadership team.
Having served in all of these roles, Peter’s expertise in education is extensive, drawing from significant contributions to school finance system reform; designing and implementing legislatively-motivated accountability systems; the improvement of education for students with disabilities; establishing grade-level content standards; leading the transition to individual professional improvement plans; and early childhood education advocacy. Previously held positions include President of the Council of Chief State School Officers; board member of the Nation Center for Education and the Economy; and member of the Council of Great City Schools.
Dia Bryant
Dia's commitment to urban education began as a New York City Teaching Fellow in 2004. She has over fifteen years of professional experience and has held multiple positions including teacher, math coach, new teacher trainer, and founding principal. Dia maintains a deep conviction that "all children can learn," provided that their environment is academically focused, emotionally supportive, diverse and physically safe. Dia Bryant believes that improving American classrooms requires a deep contextual understanding rooted in the history of the community and its people. She is committed to creating diverse and equitable learning environments for children, adults, families, and communities.
Dia earned her bachelor's in economics at Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan; a master's degree in Middle Childhood Mathematics, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY; and a School Building Leader Certificate at the College of St. Rose, Albany, NY. Dia is currently a Doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. While in her third year of the program, Dia is serving as the Special Assistant to the First Deputy Chancellor of New York City Public Schools. In her free time, Dia enjoys reading, following pop culture, and enjoying the company of her small children.
Christine Alves
Christine Alves is a co-founder and the Executive Director of RISPE. She has been working on developing and launching RISPE since 2015. Christine has been an educator in Rhode Island for 19 years, having earned a BA in Biology and subsequently an MAT in Elementary Education, both at Brown University. Christine has been a classroom teacher, an instructional coach, a co-director of curriculum, and the director of a professional development organization. Her experience and expertise in the education field has been crucial to the success of RISPE's development and approval by the Rhode Island Department of Education and Council on Postsecondary Education.
As a former coach, Christine has a deep understanding of what experiences and challenges candidates need in order to grow into highly skilled, reflective, culturally competent practitioners, along with a keen eye for detail that ensures no aspect of programming is overlooked. She is also wholly committed to RISPE's mission to recruit and retain educators of color, and believes wholeheartedly that diversifying the teacher workforce is essential to improving outcomes for public school students. When she’s not at work, Christine loves spending time with her husband and children and traveling to visit family in New York, Maryland, Florida, and Trinidad.
This event took place on November 13, 2019.
The talk examined the effect of state takeover on school district finance. Melissa Arnold Lyon and Joshua Bleiberg, Postdoctoral Research Associates, Brown University, and Beth Schueler, University of Virginia, presented “Effect of State Takeover on School District Finance” at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University on October 19, 2021. The talk was part of Annenberg’s Education Policy Workshop Series, an hour-long “works in progress” seminar centered on empirical research related to education and education policy. Speakers come from a variety of disciplinary traditions, and the series welcomes faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and research staff from across the university who are interested in empirical research in education.
The COVID-19 pandemic has widened existing racial and socioeconomic educational inequities. In this panel discussion, three experts in educational policy and practice panel discuss one possible policy intervention that could help to address these growing gaps: tutoring. Research shows that tutoring is among the most effective educational interventions ever to be empirically tested. Private tutoring is a $47 billion dollar industry in the United States and has been much more available to affluent families, a dynamic that has increased, and increased inequality, during the pandemic. The panelists will consider what we know from the research about tutoring, how tutoring might be imagined as a policy intervention at scale to reduce inequality and improve student outcomes, and some efforts underway to implement tutoring programs as an equity reform, including the TMS/Brown Tutoring Initiative.
Panelists:
Matthew Kraft, Associate Professor of Education and Economics
Susanna Loeb, Professor of Education, Professor of International and Public Affairs, and Director of Annenberg Institute
Soljane Martinez, Education Coordinator, Annenberg Institute
Moderated by Carrie Nordlund, Associate Director, Annenberg Institute
This event took place on December 3, 2020 as a virtual session.