Works in Progress

Sparks, D. & Mulhern, C. (R&R). Expanding School Counseling: The Impacts of California Funding Changes. Also available as EdWorkingPaper: 24-1063. Annenberg Institute at Brown University. 

Bonilla, S. & Sparks, D. (under review). Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead? Evaluating the Effects of Virginia's G3 Program. Link to Pre-Registration. Link to working paper. 

Sparks, D. & Bonilla, S. (in progress). Grant Aid Effects on Earnings & Employment: Evidence from Virginia's Tuition-Free College Program.

Minaya, V. & Sparks, D. (in progress). Whole College Reforms in Community Colleges: Guided Pathways Practices and Early Academic Success in Three States. 

Velasco, T., Fink, J., Sparks, D., Schudde, L. Ryu, W., Jobman, K., & Lin, Y. (in progress). Dual Enrollment Momentum Metrics. 

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles & Policy Briefs

Sparks, D. (in press). The Shift Toward Work-Based Policies in Higher Education. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. 

Sparks, D. & Bonilla, S. (in press). Institutional and Student Responses to a Free College Program: Evidence from Virginia. Education Finance & Policy. Also available as CCRC Working Paper No. 137. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.  Link to corresponding blog post. 

Sparks, D. (in press). Does the TEACH Grant Improve Teacher Degree Production? Journal of Student Financial Aid. Link to Working Paper. 

Sparks, D., Griffin, S., & Fink, J. (2025). " Waiving" Goodbye to Placement Testing: Broadening the Benefits of Dual Enrollment through Statewide Policy. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. Also available as CCRC Working Paper No. 135. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Sparks, D. (2025). To Give or To Take: Exploring Effects of Reductions in Pell Lifetime Eligibility. Journal of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2024.2385113.

Sparks, D. (2025). Dollars to Degrees: How Pell Grant Aid Impacts Community College Student Outcomes. Community College Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/00915521251322524

Sparks, D. (2024). A Promise to Work? An Exploration of State Free College Policies with Program Eligibility Requirements. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2024.2385277

Sparks, D. (2024). Why Do So Many Colleges Decline to Participate in a Federal Grant Program for Teachers? Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/why-do-so-many-colleges-decline-participate-federal-grant-program-teachers

Wasserman, E., Sparks, D., & Azimi, Haleh (2024). Supporting Faculty to Meet the Needs of Adult Students in Online Learning. New Directions for Community Colleges. http://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20649

Sparks, D. (2023). How Community Colleges Can Help Address Teacher Shortages. Research Brief. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Fink, J., Myers, T., Sparks, D., & Jaggars, S. (2023). Early momentum metrics for formative evaluation of community college STEM transfer reforms. Research in Higher Education. Also available as CCRC Working Paper No. 127.

Cho, S., Bickerstaff, S., Sparks, D., & Schanker, J. (2023). A Foundation and a Fire: Strengthening Humanities Education in Community Colleges. Research Brief. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Bickerstaff, S., Cho, S., Sparks, D., & Fink, J. (2023). Smoothing Pathways to Transfer in the Humanities. Research Brief. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Sparks, D. (2022). Privatizing School Boards: A Case Study of NYC Charter Schools. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies.

Scott-Clayton, J., Libassi, C.J., & Sparks, D. (2022). The Fine Print on Free College: Who Benefits from New York’s Excelsior Scholarship? Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/fine-print-free-college-who-benefits-new-yorks-excelsior-scholarship

Fink, J., Myers, T., Sparks, D., & Jaggars, S. S. (2021). Measuring STEM Momentum: Early Indicators of STEM Transfer Success for Community College Students. Research Brief. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Streeter, M. & Sparks, D. (2022). How Reforming Income-Driven Repayment Can Reduce the Burden of Student Debt. The Institute for College Access and Success. Link to report.

Dissertation

Sparks, D. (2023). More Money, Less Problems? Essays on Improving College Access & Success. Columbia University. 

Commentaries, Book Reviews, & Other Writing

Sparks, D. (in press). Review of Discredited by Lauren Schudde & Huriya Jabbar. Review of Higher Education. 

Sparks, D. (2025). A Moment of Reckoning for Higher Ed. Hechinger Report. https://hechingerreport.org/student-voice-a-moment-of-reckoning-for-higher-ed/

Sparks, D. (2023). For Better Transfer Outcomes, Pa. Needs to Transfer More Money. Community College Daily. https://www.ccdaily.com/2023/11/for-better-transfer-student-outcomes-pa-needs-to-transfer-more-money/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=for-better-transfer-student-outcomes-pa-needs-to-transfer-more-money

Sparks, D. (2023). Sandy Baum & Michael McPherson on Higher Ed in an Unequal America. National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. https://ncspe.tc.columbia.edu/center-news/2023/book-excerptreview-sandy-baum--michael-mcpherson/

Sparks, D. (2023). Student Loan Debt as a Wicked Problem: Moving from Pessimism to Possibility and Hell to Hope, by Nicholas Hartlep, Lewes, DE: DIO Press. Teachers College Record.

Sparks, D. (2022). Student perceptions of college—how to move beyond transactional approaches to higher education. Higher Education.

Sparks, D. (2022). The Costs of Completion: Student Success in Community College, by Robin G. Isserles, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.

Sparks, D. (2022). The Path to Free College: In Pursuit of Access, Equity, and Prosperity, by Michelle Miller-Adams. Teachers College Record.

Sparks, D. (2022). Cohen and Mikaelian on Privatization Here, There, and Everywhere. National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. https://ncspe.tc.columbia.edu/center-news/2022/cohen-and-mikaelian-on-privatization-here-there-and-everywhere/

Sparks, D. (2022). Improving Community College Transfer Pathways Could Help With Teacher Shortages. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/beyond-transfer/improving-community-college-transfer-pathways-could-help-teacher-shortages

Sparks, D. (2021) Entrepreneurship is fine but it's time to fix the academic job market. HigherEd Dive. https://www.highereddive.com/news/entrepreneurship-is-fine-but-its-time-to-fix-the-academic-job-market/608827/

Sparks, D. (2021). Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost, by Caitlin Zaloom. Teachers College Record.