Education & Child Development Research

Led by Professors Rucker Johnson and Jesse Rothstein, the Education and Child Development Initiative is focused on investigating the impacts of childhood experiences on opportunity for life-long success. Our scholars lead the discussion on the impact of educational institutions on equality of opportunity. Central research topics include the effects of preschool programs for disadvantaged children, the role of elementary and secondary school funding, teacher quality, and the impact of segregation on student outcomes. Our work also extends to postsecondary education, including the measurement of colleges’ “value-added” for their graduates’ earnings, admissions policies and racial diversity, and the role of student debt in occupational choices.

Our flagship initiative in this subject area, the Initiative on Child and Family Economic Security, began in 2022 as a partnership with The Urban Institute and the California Policy Lab, with generous financial support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Led by O-Lab Faculty Director Hilary Hoynes, the initiative aims to produce new findings on how the 2021 expansion of the Child Tax Credit has impacted families with children.

Faculty Leadership