Ph.D., Economics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2000
Dissertation: School Finance Reform and the Market for Teachers
Fields of Concentration: Applied Microeconomics (Public and Labor Economics), Economics of Education
M.S., Economics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1997
B.A., Economics, cum laude, Pomona College in Claremont, CA, 1993
Professor, San Diego State University, 2010 – present
Associate Professor, San Diego State University, 2006 – 2010
Assistant Professor, San Diego State University, 2000 – 2006
Lecturer, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1998-99
The Data Game: Controversies in Social Science, Fourth Edition (with Mark H. Maier). M.E. Sharpe: New York. (2013)
School finance
“Deregulating School Aid in California: Revenues and Expenditures in the Second Year of Categorical Flexibility,” RAND Research Brief, 2012.
“Deregulation of School Aid in California: Revenues and Expenditures in the First Year of Categorical Reform,” PACE Policy Brief (2011).
“Economic Approaches to Adequacy,” in The International Encyclopedia of Education, 3rd Edition, edited by Barry McGaw, Penelope Peterson and Eva Baker, Elsevier, 2010.
"Universal vouchers and racial and ethnic segregation" (with Eric Brunner and Stephen Ross), Review of Economics and Statistics, November 2010, Vol. 92, No. 4, Pages 912-927
"Meeting the Challenge: Performance Trends in California Schools," PACE Policy Brief (2008)
"Tiebout Choice and Universal School Vouchers” (with Eric Brunner), Journal of Urban Economics 63 (2008), 253-279
"Assessing the Costs of Adequacy in California Public Schools: A Cost Function Approach," Education Finance and Policy 3 (Winter 2008) 90-108.
"School Funding Formulas: What Works and What Doesn't? Lessons for California," Report for the Senate Office of Research (commissioned through the CSU Faculty Research Fellows Program) (2007)
“Assessing the Costs of K-12 Education in California Public Schools”, part of the Getting Down to Facts project, Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice (2007).
“Does No Child Left Behind Place a Fiscal Burden on States? Evidence from Texas” (with Andrew Reschovsky), Education Finance and Policy 1 (Spring 2006), 217-246.
“Fiscal Stress and Voluntary Contributions to Public Schools” (with Eric Brunner), Developments in School Finance (2005), National Center for Education Statistics.
“Assessing the Use of Econometric Analysis in Estimating the Costs of Meeting State Education Accountability Standards: Lessons from Texas” (with Andrew Reschovsky), Peabody Journal of Education 80 (2005), 96-125.
“Is No Child Left Behind an Un(or under)funded Federal Mandate? Evidence from Texas” (with Andrew Reschovsky), National Tax Journal 57 (2004), 571-588.
“School Finance Reform in Texas: A Never Ending Story?” (with Andrew Reschovsky), Helping Children Left Behind: State Aid and the Pursuit of Educational Equity, John Yinger, ed., MIT Press (2004), 251-281.
“Financing Adequate Education in Rural Settings” (with Andrew Reschovsky), Journal of Education Finance 29 (Summer 2003), 137-156.
“Let No Child Be Left Behind: Determining the Cost of Improving Student Performance” (with Andrew Reschovsky), Public Finance Review 31 (May 2003), 263-290.
“Achieving Educational Adequacy through School Finance Reform” (with Andrew Reschovsky), Journal of Education Finance 26 (Spring 2001), 373-396.
"The Development of School Aid Formulas to Guarantee Adequacy" (with Andrew Reschovsky), in Developments in School Finance 1997, National Center for Education Statistics, 121-148.
Teachers
“Probation Length and Teacher Salaries: Does Waiting Pay Off?” (with Eric Brunner), Industrial Relations and Labor Review, 64(1), October 2010.
“The Distribution of Highly Qualified, Experienced Teachers: Challenges and Opportunities” (with Laura Goe), TQ Research and Policy Brief, TQ Center, 2009
“Teacher Salaries and Teacher Attrition,” Economics of Education Review 24 (2005), 431-449.
"Class-Size Reduction and Teacher Quality: Evidence from California," School Finance and Teacher Quality: Exploring the Connections, David Monk and Margaret Plecki, eds. (2003), 159-178.
"Teacher Attrition and Mobility in Urban Districts: Evidence from Wisconsin," Fiscal Issues in Urban Schools; Research in Education: Fiscal Policy and Practice, Volume 1, Jennifer King Rice and Christopher Roelke, eds. Information Age Publishing Inc.: Greenwich, CT (2002), 119-136.
Working paper: Teaching Quantitative Literacy in Economics, May 2014
Getting students to do economics: An introduction to Team-Based Learning, International Advances in Economic Research, November 2015, Volume 21, Issue 4, pp 399-412.
“Bring-Your-Own-Device: Turning Cell Phones into Forces for Good,” Journal of Economic Education 45(3), 240-250, 2014.
"A Primer for New Teachers of Economics" (with Brandon Sheridan and Gail Hoyt) in Southern Economic Journal 80(3), 839-854, January 2014.
“Not Just for Seniors: Making Space for Economics in K-11,” Social Studies Review, vol. 52, 2013
"Making the large-enrollment course interactive and engaging," (with Stephen Buckles and Gail Hoyt) in International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics, edited by KimMarie McGoldrick and Gail Hoyt, Edward Elgar, pp. 118-128 (2012).
“Interactive Large Enrollment Economics Courses” (with Gail Hoyt, Mary Kassis and David Vera), in Teaching Innovations in Economics, edited by Michael K. Salemi and William B. Walstad, Edward Elgar (2010).
California State University (2009), "Transforming Course Design in Principles of Microeconomics," available on CSU Transforming Course Design website.
[Also see my teaching portfolio and blog for more information about scholarship related to economics education]