The Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations welcomes Sean P. Corcoran and Shaun M. Dougherty as associate professors of public policy and education.
Corcoran comes to Peabody from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, where he was associate professor of economics and education policy. He uses applied microeconomics to study the economics of education, including state and local public finance. His papers have examined trends in teacher quality, the impact of income inequality and school finance reform on education funding in the U.S., the properties of “value-added” measures of teacher effectiveness, and the high school choices of middle school students in New York City. With colleagues at Princeton, Columbia, and Seton Hall, Corcoran recently fielded several large-scale randomized controlled trials of information supports for school choice in NYC. He is a senior technical advisor for the Research Alliance of New York City Schools, and he serves on the editorial boards of Education Finance and Policy, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and American Educational Research Journal.
Dougherty was previously assistant professor of education and public policy at the Neag School of Education of the University of Connecticut. His research uses quantitative methods to evaluate the impacts of educational policies and programs. He seeks to understand how the requirements, incentives and behaviors that those policies produce develop human capital and promote equitable outcomes, with a particular focus on how family income, race, and disability status influence policy impact. Dougherty is known for expertise on career and technical education, as well as accountability policy. He has received research funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Institute for Research on Poverty, which also recognized him as an Early Career Scholar. In addition, he is a faculty fellow with the Tennessee Education Research Alliance and a faculty adviser to the Strategic Data Project through the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.
Ellen Goldring, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Education Policy and Leadership and chair of the department, said, “We are delighted to welcome both of these scholars to Peabody, where we expect they will deepen their impact on the study of educational policy and economics. They are important additions to an already strong team.”