Office hours: By appointment. Room 125 SOEB.

Research Interests

Economics of education; Education Policy and Governance; Quantitative methods; School finance

Education

• Ph.D., Economics, University of California, San Diego, June 2001.
• M.A., Economics, University of California, San Diego, March 1997.
• B.A., Economics, University of California, Berkeley, December 1993.
• Education Abroad Program, Universite de Pau et des Pays de L’Adour, France, 1991-1992.

Select Publications

Journal Articles

• “School Board Politics, School District Size, and the Bargaining Power of Teachers’ Unions” (with Jon Sonstelie), Journal of Urban Economics, 2010, 67(3):438-450.
• “An Analysis of Professional Judgments” (with Jon Sonstelie), Education Finance and Policy, 2008, 3(2):151-164.
• “Do Test Score Gains Explain Labor Market Outcomes?” Economics of Education Review, August 2006, 25(4): 430-446.
• “The Effect of Affirmative Action Programs: Evidence from the University of California at San Diego,” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Fall 2005, 27(3): 263-289.
• “Has Curriculum Closed the Test Score Gap in Math?” Topics in Economic Analysis & Policy, May 2004, 4(1): Article 12.
• “The Effect of High School Courses on Earnings” (with Julian Betts), Review of Economics and Statistics, May 2004, 86(2): 497-513.

Note:  Access to journal links will depend on your institution’s agreements with journals.

Books/Reports

• “A Portrait of Underrepresented Minorities at the University of California 1994-2008” (with Tongshan Chang), in Eric Grodsky and Michal Kurlaender, eds., Equal Opportunity in Higher Education: The Past and Future of California’s Proposition 209, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2010.
• Pathways for School Finance in California, (with Jon Sonstelie and Margaret Weston), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, November 2010. [Link] 
• California School Finance Revenue Manual, (with Margaret Weston and Jon Sonstelie), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, June 2009.  [Link]
• Funding Formulas for California Schools II: An Analysis of a Proposal by the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence, (with Ria Sengupta, Jon Sonstelie, and Ray Reinhard), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, July 2008.  [Link]
• Funding Formulas for California Schools: Simulations and Supporting Data, (with Ria Sengupta, Jon Sonstelie, and Ray Reinhard), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, January 2008.  [Link]
• Teacher Compensation and Local Labor Market Conditions in California: Implications for School Funding, (with Ria Sengupta), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, March 2007.  [Link]
• School Resources and Academic Standards in California: Lessons from the Schoolhouse, (with Jon Sonstelie and Ray Reinhard), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, January 2006.  [Link]
• School Budgets and Student Achievement in California: The Principal’s Perspective, (with Jon Sonstelie and Peter Richardson), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, 2004.  [Link]
• High Expectations, Modest Means: The Challenge Facing California’s Public Schools, (with Jon Sonstelie, Ray Reinhard, and Sharmaine Heng), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, 2003.   [Link]
• Math Matters: The Links Between High School Curriculum, College Graduation, and Earnings, (with Julian Betts), Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, 2001.  [Link]
• “The Concept of Adequacy and School Finance”, in Jon Sonstelie and Peter Richardson, eds, School Finance and California’s Master Plan for Education, Public Policy Institute of California, San Francisco, California, 2001.  [Link]

Professional Experience

• Assistant Professor, School of Education, University of California, Davis, 2008 – Present.
• Adjunct Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California, 2008 – Present.
• Research Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California, 2000 – 2007.

Courses Taught at UC Davis

• EDU 284B:  Formulating and Influencing Policy – CANDEL (Ed.D)
• EDU 292:  Advanced Quantitative Methods in Program Evaluation and Policy Analysis (Ph.D.)
• ARE 142:  Personal Finance (Undergraduate)