Matthew Steinberg named an Emerging Education Policy Scholar by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and American Enterprise Institute
Matthew Steinberg, Penn GSE Assistant Professor of Education Policy, was recently selected to join the 2015 cohort of the Emerging Education Policy Scholars program.
The goal of the program — backed by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the American Enterprise Institute — is to connect early career scholars with policymakers. Twice a year, these scholars gather in Washington D.C. to offer research that can lead to better real world outcomes.
“That’s a clear aim of my work – that it informs policy making,” Steinberg said. “The Emerging Education Policy Scholars program provides an opportunity to not only interact with other young policy researchers in education, but also to begin to build a network with policymakers and get my research in front of them.”
His research often explores the benefits that can occur when educators, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners collaborate to achieve certain educational outcomes.
Steinberg began his career as a 5th grade teacher in a low-income New York City community, an experience that still grounds his work today. Steinberg seeks to explore the ways in which education policy can impact the educational experiences and outcomes for students, teachers, and schools.
He is currently studying school reform within the Philadelphia school system, Pennsylvania school funding, and teacher evaluation policy nationally and in large urban school districts including Chicago Public Schools. Previously, his subjects have included the free tutoring provision of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation and access in higher education.
“My work is largely around issues related to teacher evaluation reform, urban school reform, and school finance,” he said. “These have been, and continue to be, pressing policy issues in education. Hopefully this work informs, to some extent, work others are doing and decisions about policy and practice.”