Professor Bowden’s work is motivated by the goal to improve children’s trajectories by minimizing barriers to learning and engagement in school related to poverty and vulnerability. Her research falls into three domains: 1) methodological improvements in economic evaluation, 2) supplemental support for early literacy, and 3) policy partnership research of student support. Across these domains, her work intends to address current and persistent issues by providing rigorous and actionable evidence to inform policy and practice.

Professor Bowden is an expert in program and policy evaluation that incorporate economic analyses. She is a co-author of the primary text on cost-effectiveness, Economic Evaluation in Education: Cost-Effectiveness and Benefit–Cost Analysis (3rd edition). Her work has recently been published in the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, Education Researcher, AERA Open, and Prevention Science.

Professor Bowden received an early career award from the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness and was named a top “40 for 40” early career scholar by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. She was recently awarded research funding by the State of North Carolina, the Institute for Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education, and Penn Global.

Research Interests and Current Projects

Professor Bowden’s research aims to mitigate the challenges related to poverty that prevent students from experiencing the full value of schooling. Her applied evaluation research focuses on supporting student learning by leveraging external partnerships with families, communities, and other service agencies in order to enrich the resources provided to students.

Recently, Professor Bowden led an economic evaluation of the costs and economic benefits of a comprehensive student support program, City Connects. The reports from this evaluation can be found at the Center for Benefit–Cost Studies of Education. Currently, she is examining school-based approaches to mitigate student hunger, a kindergarten literacy program that leverages home reading and creates efficiencies for teachers, a disciplinary reform focused on improving practices among school police and teachers, and state-level investments in digital learning.

Professor Bowden’s methodological work focuses on simplifying the design and integration of research on costs into randomized field trials. Her goal is to improve the quality and comprehensiveness of evaluations by considering the resources (“ingredients”) that result in treatment contrast and impacts – positive, null, negative, and heterogeneous.

Publications

Featured

Economic Evaluation in Education: Cost-Effectiveness and Benefit-Cost Analysis, 3rd Edition

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

Bowden, A. B., Shand, R., Levin, H. M., Muroga, A., & Wang, A. (2020). An economic evaluation of the costs and benefits of providing comprehensive supports to students in elementary school. Prevention Science, 21(8), 1126–1135.

Bradshaw, C. P., Debnam, K. J., Player, D., Bowden, A. B., Lindstrom Johnson, S. (Online, 2020). A mixed-methods approach for embedding cost-analysis within fidelity assessment in school-based programs. Behavioral Disorders.

Belfield, C., Bowden, A. B., Rodriguez, V. (2019). Evaluating regulatory impact assessments in education policy. American Journal of Evaluation, 40(3).

Belfield, C. & Bowden, A. B. (2019). Using resource and cost considerations to support educational evaluation: Six domains. Educational Researcher, 48(2), 120–127.

Belfield, C., & Bowden, A. B. (2019). Using resource and cost considerations to support educational evaluation: Six domains. Educational Researcher, 48(2), 120–127.

Belfield, C., Bowden, A. B., Rodriguez, V. (Online, 2018). Evaluating regulatory impact assessments in education policy. American Journal of Evaluation.

Bowden, A. B., Shand, R., Belfield, C. R., Wang, A., & Levin, H. M. (2017). Evaluating educational interventions that induce service receipt: A case study application of City Connects. American Journal of Evaluation, 38(3), 405–419.

Reports

Decker-Woodrow, L. E., Muroga, A., Bowden, A. B., & Lamey, G. (2020). Benefit-cost analysis of Pre-K 4 SA: Technical report. San Antonio, TX: Westat.

Bowden, A. B., & Davis, R. (2019). Supporting student learning by mitigating student hunger. Provided to the State of North Carolina.

Bowden, A. B., & Danks, A. (2019). District level implementation and resource allocation for digital learning across five key districts. The Friday Institute, College of Education, North Carolina State University.

Bowden, A. B., Muroga, A., Wang, A., Shand, R., & Levin, H. M. (2018). Examining systems of student support. Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Bowden, A. B., Escueta, M., Muroga, A., Rodriguez, V., & Levin, H. M. (2018). Minnesota Reading Corps pre-K program cost analysis. Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Van Keuren, C. H., & Bowden, A. B. (2018). Reading Enhancement for Advancing Development Bangladesh: Cost-effectiveness analysis. Save the Children International.

Op-Eds

Bowden, A. B., & Davis, R. (2020). With fewer funds and greater needs, schools should pursue cost-effectiveness strategies. The Brown Center Chalkboard at Brookings.

Bowden, A. B. (2016). Wrap-around cost estimates for wrap-around services. The Brown Center Chalkboard at Brookings.

Courses

Advanced Analysis in Economics of Education
Methods of Economic Evaluation: Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of Educational Alternatives

News & Media

Penn GSE News

Bowden: New budget formula could lead to "stunning losses" for some Pa. schools

A new way of measuring how many students in a district qualify as low income could negatively impact funding for schools across the state.

July 16, 2024

Penn GSE’s Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education makes the case for $5.1 billion education funding overhaul in Pennsylvania

Associate Professor Brooks Bowden explained the benefits of better school quality and fairness, which could include increases in high school graduation rates, college enrollment, new jobs, and long-term economic gains for the state, would greatly outweigh the hefty cost.

June 21, 2024

With pandemic stimulus funds sunsetting, Penn GSE expert offers investment ideas

Brooks Bowden recommends school districts prioritize spending projects with long-term benefits, including facilities, data analytics, student support, and professional development.

June 4, 2024

Back Where She Began: A. Brooks Bowden's Journey from Student to Change-Maker

A. Brooks Bowden, now a tenured associate professor at Penn GSE, transforms her early passion for psychology into influential educational policy research, driving change and shaping futures from the very institution that once inspired her own.

April 30, 2024

Brooks Bowden highlights consequences of lenient grading in "The Economist"

Bowden’s research demonstrates how lenient grading policies in North Carolina high schools lead to reduced student effort and wider academic gaps, questioning current educational reforms.

March 15, 2024

Penn Global awards grants to four Penn GSE faculty projects targeting underserved communities around the world

Four projects led by Penn GSE faculty members are among those receiving grants from the Penn Global Research and Engagement Grant Program this year, including A. Brooks Bowden, Bodong Chen, Zachary Herrmann, and Dan Wagner.

May 10, 2023

A. Brooks Bowden receives prestigious Early Career Award for research on education costs

The Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) recently recognized A. Brooks Bowden for her impressive contributions to education research.

October 18, 2022

Institute of Education Sciences announces 2021 fellows

The University of Pennsylvania’s IES predoctoral training program, led by Penn GSE’s Brooks Bowden and Rebecca Maynard, has announced this year’s nine awardees.

October 19, 2021

Penn GSE is the new home for two prestigious IES grants

Rebecca Maynard and Brooks Bowden will lead a $4.6 million training program for doctoral fellows from across the University of Pennsylvania pursuing data-driven education research.

October 2, 2020

In the Media

Penn Global awards $1.7 million in Research and Engagement Awards

Brooks Bowden, Bodong Cheng, Zachary Hermmann and Dan Wagner are among the GSE faculty to receive Penn Global awards this year. The Penn Global Research and Engagement Grant Program prioritizes projects that bring together leading scholars and practitioners across the University community and around the world to develop new insight on significant global issues, a core pillar of Penn’s global strategic framework.

Penn Global | April 19, 2023

New Data Shows Building Knowledge Can Boost Reading Comprehension

Brooks Bowden cautions that while the effect sizes in the ARC Core research study were large compared to studies of older students, there are few similar studies of kindergarteners to provide a basis for comparison.

Forbes | September 8, 2021

Thousands of kindergartners didn’t show up for school last year. Here’s what that means for the school year to come.

Brooks Bowden comments on the amount of work that needs to be done before and after school reopen for the fall. “We’ve all got a lot of work to do,” she said. Bowden thinks “educator coaches, tutoring services, and supports for families can go a long way.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer | August 14, 2021

Press Releases

Penn GSE's Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education releases new policy brief on Pennsylvania's Basic Education Funding proposal

Proposed funding would drastically narrow PA student-teacher and student-counselor ratios across the state and increase college enrollment.

June 18, 2024

Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education moves from Teachers College, Columbia University to Penn’s Graduate School of Education

Penn GSE Assistant Professor Brooks Bowden now leads the center.

January 14, 2021

Journal Editorial Boards

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

Editor