About News Batten Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching, Service, Research and Engagement June 15, 2022 Batten Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching, Service, Research and Engagement Garrett Hall, home of UVA's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.This academic year, Batten School professors won a slew of internal and external recognitions for excellence in teaching, top journal articles, outstanding public impact-focused research, meaningful contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and more. “One of the defining characteristics of the Batten School is the extraordinary quality of our faculty,” said Batten School Dean Ian Solomon. “There is not a more dedicated and outstanding team of interdisciplinary scholars and teachers anywhere in higher education. The awards and recognition our faculty received this year provide only a small glimpse into this group’s remarkable talent and dedication.” Read about Batten’s 2022 award-winners below. Armstead Robinson Faculty Award Brian N. Williams, associate professor of public policy, was awarded the Armstead Robinson Faculty Award on May 31 by the UVA Black Faculty & Staff Employee Resource Group. The award is given annually to an exceptional Black faculty member who has contributed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and who has had a positive impact on the Black experience at the University. Williams studies issues related to demographic diversity, local law enforcement, and public governance, with special attention devoted to the co-production of public safety and public order. He has served as a consultant, trainer and subject matter expert with police departments and governmental entities. This year, Williams led a two-day BattenX workshop called “Reimagining Policing: Procedural Policing to Procedural Justice” in collaboration with the Charlottesville Police Department and other local law enforcement entities. Emerging Scholar Award This week John Holbein, assistant professor of public policy and education, received an Emerging Scholar Award from Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior, a section of the American Political Science Association. The award recognizes a top scholar in the field who is within 10 years of receiving their Ph.D. Holbein’s research centers on political participation and political inequality, and his book “Making Young Voters: Converting Civic Attitudes into Civic Action,” co-authored by D. Sunshine Hillygus, was published in 2020 by Cambridge University Press. Last year Holbein was one of five UVA faculty members to receive a 2020-21 Public Service Award for dedication to work that enhances student experiences and communities nearby and across the world. Jefferson Scholars Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching In April, Gabrielle Adams received an Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, which recognizes faculty members who have “endeavored selflessly to instill in their students the virtues of scholarship and love of learning.” Adams was one of eight UVA faculty members were selected by their peers for their exceptional teaching; the group received awards totaling $40,000. Adams, an associate professor of public policy and business administration, studies organizational behavior and leads Batten’s Applied Public Policy and Leadership Experiments (APPLE) Lab. In 2021 she won an All-University Teaching Award, given by the provost. “Professor Adams is dedicated to her students’ well-being and success,” said Maya Ewart (MPP ’22) in a recent article. “At the APPLE Lab, she built a space that fosters curiosity and creativity. … No other professor has valued my voice or helped me grow the way Adams has.” Public Impact-Focused Research Award Molly Lipscomb, an associate professor of public policy and economics, received a Public Impact-Focused Research Award from the University at the third annual Research Achievement Awards ceremony in January. Lipscomb’s work focuses largely on environmental issues in developing countries and adaptation to lack of centralized health and sanitation services. “Lipscomb’s focus on building strong partnerships with organizations outside of higher education is both unique and useful, and it collapses the boundaries between academia and the real world in a productive way,” Solomon said in a UVA Today article earlier this year. Riccucci-O’Leary Award Last month, Craig Volden, with his co-author Rachel Augustine Potter, was awarded the Riccucci-O’Leary Award for Best Article on Diversity in a Public Management Research Conference Journal for their article “A Female Policy Premium? Agency Context and Women’s Leadership in the U.S. Federal Bureaucracy.” The award committee wrote the following about the piece, which examines the policy impacts of women’s leadership: “The article has implications for leadership of agencies, representation of women across agencies, and the climate in these agencies. They analyze data from 500 agency leaders and the regulations produced by these agencies over three presidential administrations. … The study findings stress the importance of climate to creating workplaces that are supportive of women leadership, which is shown as critical for the success of women leaders and their ability to impact regulation writing in the policy process.” Volden was honored at the Public Management Research Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 26. UVA Student Council 2022 Teaching Awards Isaac Mbiti, associate professor of public policy and economics, and Peter Johannessen, assistant professor of public policy, each won a Student Council 2022 Teaching Award last month. Batten students nominated the professors, highlighting their compassion, wisdom, and humor. “We believe that these professors thoroughly deserve to be honored for their work this year,” said Adriana Gao, UVA Student Council’s director of academic affairs. The professors were honored at a Student Council’s General Body Meeting on May 3, where they were each presented with a Jefferson Cup. Z Society Distinguished Faculty Award In May, the Z Society — one of the University’s secret societies — bestowed its 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award upon Dan Player, associate professor of public policy. The award is given annually to a member of the University faculty who serves as a notable leader and role model to those around them. In Player’s award nomination, one student wrote, “He [Player] is always looking to uplift his students by going to student-run events, cheering us on at sporting events or by acknowledging and sharing our successes.” Another student of Player’s wrote, “He is led by a strong sense of integrity that sets an example for all of us.” 2022 Public Influence Rankings Four Batten professors were ranked as some of the nation’s most influential education scholars in Education Week’s 2022 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, released in January. Daphna Bassok, associate professor of education and public policy; Ben Castleman, Newton and Rita Meyers Associate Professor in the economics of education and associate professor of public policy; Sarah Turner, University Professor of economics, education and public policy; and Jim Wyckoff, professor of education and public policy, were among the 200 scholars deemed by a distinguished committee of 33 members to be highly influential. Christine Mahoney, professor of public policy and politics, was honored on Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential Academics in Government list for her work on social justice advocacy, activism, and direct action through social entrepreneurship. Apolitical celebrated Mahoney’s work on refugee investing initiatives at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). “At the Batten School, when we think about scholarship, we think about impact,” said Jay Shimshack in a Batten article. “These faculty members are making a real difference in the world. They are affecting policy, practice, research and public dialogue. We are thrilled to see them recognized, and we are proud to have them on our faculty.” Batten Faculty Awards The Batten Faculty Awards are voted on yearly by the Batten Executive Committee to celebrate excellence in the four areas of faculty review: research, teaching, engagement and service. This year’s winners are: Sophie Trawalter, associate professor of public policy and psychology, for “research” Trawalter’s work focuses on stress and coping responses to interracial contact, with a special interest in how people learn to thrive in diverse spaces. The executive committee noted a “phenomenal” research year for Trawalter in 2021, including papers published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Psychologist, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, along with several articles about her research in the national press. Dan Player, associate professor of public policy, for “teaching” At Batten, Player teaches courses on policy analysis, education policy, economics, and research methods. The executive committee noted he is a “wizard in the classroom” and celebrated “his commitment to student mentoring, his remarkably strong student qualitative feedback, his commitment to constant pedagogical improvement, and his balance of theory and practice through detailed videos and integration of ethics into research methods courses.” Kirsten Gelsdorf, professor of practice of public policy, for “engagement” Gelsdorf is director of Global Humanitarian Policy at the Batten School and co-directs the UVA Humanitarian Collaborative, which works to develop policy to support the needs of vulnerable populations caught in humanitarian crises. The executive committee noted her “impactful and diverse engagement partnerships on humanitarian leadership.” Partners included the Sesame Street Workshop, the German government, the United Nations, the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, Moving Minds Alliance, and the World Economic Forum. The executive committee particularly valued Gelsdorf’s “concrete and visible outcomes including numerous engagement publications, high profile advisory positions, and integration of students into real-world practice.” Jay Shimshack, professor of public policy and economics, for “service” The executive committee presented this year’s service award to Shimshack for his “tireless dedication to the Batten School in serving and excelling in his role as associate dean for academic affairs throughout this tumultuous year.” Shimshack’s performance as associate dean is “outstanding and unflappable,” the executive committee said, and added that Shimshack is known for his “accessibility and good judgment.” To select each year’s awardees, the Batten Executive Committee performs a peer review of faculty annual reports. The winners receive a letter from the dean, a small monetary award, and their names installed on a plaque in the Great Hall. Gabrielle Adams Gabrielle Adams is an associate professor of public policy and business administration at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and in the Darden School of Business’s Leadership and Organizational Behavior area. Adams studies the processes and dynamics that give rise to ‘good’ decisions, policies and conditions in organizations. Read full bio Daphna Bassok Daphna Bassok is professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia and associate director of EdPolicyWorks, a collaboration between the School of Education and Human Development and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Her research focuses on early childhood education policy and efforts to improve early childhood education at scale, particularly policies aimed at supporting the early childhood education workforce. Read full bio Benjamin Castleman Ben Castleman is an associate professor of public policy and education at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on policies and strategies to improve postsecondary educational and workforce outcomes for individuals from lower-income and historically-marginalized communities. His current work focuses on innovations to increase economic mobility among lower-wage adults, including digital- and health-skills training programs; state-funded career and technical education; and competency-based education models for working adults. Read full bio Kirsten Gelsdorf Kirsten Gelsdorf is a professor of practice of public policy at the Batten School and the Director of Global Humanitarian Policy. Gelsdorf has 19 years of experience working in the humanitarian sector, most recently serving as the Chief of the Policy Analysis and Innovation section at the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Read full bio John Holbein John Holbein is an associate professor of public policy, politics, and education at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Holbein studies political participation, political inequality, democratic accountability, political representation, and education policy. Read full bio Peter Johannessen Peter Johannessen is an assistant professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Johannessen’s research explores how popular participation shapes the local policy-making process, including projects that focus on local electoral responsiveness and the design of participatory governance institutions in Brazil. Read full bio Molly Lipscomb Molly Lipscomb is an associate professor of public policy and economics at the Batten School and the Director of the Center for Social Innovation at the University of Virginia. Lipscomb’s research focuses primarily on environmental issues in developing countries and adaptation to lack of centralized health and sanitation services. Read full bio Christine Mahoney Christine Mahoney is a professor of public policy and politics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She studies social justice advocacy, activism and direct action through social entrepreneurship. Read full bio Isaac Mbiti Isaac M. Mbiti is an associate professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research has focused broadly on African economic development with particular interests in examining the role of education policies such as free primary education and teacher performance pay programs. Mbiti's ongoing research projects in East and West Africa evaluate various policies that aim to improve the livelihoods of African youth through training programs. Read full bio Daniel W. Player Dan Player is an associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research focuses on issues in education policy. His work has examined questions such as how teacher ability is recognized and rewarded in schools, whether teacher performance predicts turnover, and how teachers respond to working conditions. Read full bio Jay Shimshack Jay Shimshack is a professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Shimshack's research focuses on environmental regulation, environmental economics, corporate social behavior, and applied microeconomics for public policy. Read full bio Sophie Trawalter Sophie Trawalter, Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professor of Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, studies phenomena related to social diversity, specifically how people navigate intergroup contact and intergroup contexts, with a particular focus on how people develop competencies and learn to thrive in diverse spaces. Read full bio Sarah Turner Sarah Turner is a University Professor of economics, education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Souder Family Endowed Professor. Much of her research focuses on post-secondary education, where she explores the intersection of education and economics policies. Read full bio Craig Volden Craig Volden is a professor of public policy and politics at the University of Virginia, with appointments in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Department of Politics. He studies the politics of public policy, with a focus on what policy choices arise within legislative institutions and within American federalism. He is founder and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Read full bio Brian N. Williams Brian Williams is an associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Director of the Public Engagement in Governance: Looking, Listening and Learning Laboratory (the PEGLLLLab) at UVA. His research centers on issues related to demographic diversity, local law enforcement, and public governance, with special attention devoted to the co-production of public safety and public order. Read full bio James H. Wyckoff Jim Wyckoff is a professor of education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Memorial Professor of Education and Policy. Wyckoff focuses on issues of teacher labor markets, teacher preparation, recruitment, assessment and retention. His current research examines how teacher assessment and evaluation systems influence the quality of teaching, especially in traditionally low performing classrooms. Read full bio Related Content Gabrielle Adams The “Equal-Opportunity Jerk” Defense: Rudeness Can Obfuscate Gender Bias Research In this research, we identified a barrier that makes sexism hard to recognize: rudeness toward men. We found that observers judge a sexist perpetrator as less sexist if he is rude toward men. Anger Damns the Innocent Research False accusations permeate social life—from the mundane blaming of other people to more serious accusations of infidelity and workplace wrongdoing. Importantly, false accusations can have grave consequences, including broken relationships, job loss, and reputational damage. In this article, we document an equally pernicious phenomenon—the misuse of anger as a cue to predict whether a suspect has been falsely accused. Meeting Overload Is a Fixable Problem News Batten School professor Gabe Adams spoke with American Talk about the benefits of adopting a subtraction mindset and how to get it done. When Less is More: How Harnessing the Power of Subtraction Can Add to Life News There’s a lot of thought that goes into adding things to our routines, our closets, our lives. But how much thought goes into subtracting things? Not enough, according to three University of Virginia professors. Daphna Bassok Hard-to-staff centers: Exploring center-level variation in the persistence of child care teacher turnover Research High rates of teacher turnover in child care settings have negative implications for young children's learning experiences and for efforts to improve child care quality. Prior research has explored the prevalence and predictors of turnover at the individual teacher level, but less is known about turnover at the center level––specifically, how turnover varies across child care centers or whether staffing challenges persist year after year for some centers. This study tracks annual turnover rates for all publicly funded child care centers that were continuously operating in Louisiana from the 2015-16 to 2018-19 school years. Measuring the Quality of Teacher-Child Interactions at Scale: The Implications of Using Local Practitioners to Conduct Classroom Observations Research Child Care Centers Are Turning Away Families Due to Teacher Turnover News Batten School professor Daphna Bassok spoke with UVA Today about the how teacher turnover is impacting child care centers. UVA Has 5% of Education Scholars Ranked as 'Most Influential' News Four Batten School faculty members affiliated with the EdPolicyWorks research center once again placed in the national rankings of influential education scholars. Benjamin Castleman Unfinished Business? Academic and Labor Market Profile of Adults With Substantial College Credits But No Degree Research Using data from the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), this case provides the first detailed profile on the academic, employment, and earnings trajectories of the SCND population and how these compare with VCCS graduates. The scholars show that the share of SCND students who are academically ready to re-enroll and would benefit from doing so may be substantially lower than policy makers anticipate. Stacking the Deck for Employment Success: Labor Market Returns to Stackable Credentials Research With rapid technological transformations to the labor market along with COVID-19 related economic disruptions, many working adults return to college to obtain additional training or credentials. Using a comparative individual fixed effects strategy and an administrative panel dataset of enrollment and employment in Virginia, we provide the first causal estimates of credential “stacking” among working adults. Peer Mentoring Improves College Success for Lower-Income Students News In a research update brief, Batten Associate Professor Ben Castleman and colleagues show a sustained positive effect of peer mentoring on college persistence for lower-income students. First Gen Students Are Missing from the Nation’s Top Colleges. Here’s How Virtual Advising Could Help News Batten School professor Ben Castleman spoke with USA Today about the benefits of virtual peer-to-peer advising for first-generation college students. Kirsten Gelsdorf Compassion in Action: Contemplative Science and Practice in the Classroom and the World News In March 2024, Batten School Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer joined dozens of scholars and others from around the world in Dharamsala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama and explore ways to bring contemplative science and practice into teaching, research, policymaking and leadership in all sectors. Dean Solomon, Professors Gelsdorf and Scholer to Meet with the Dalai Lama News Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer will travel to Dharamsala next week with leaders from UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center to spend a week with practitioners and researchers in the contemplative sciences from around the world. They will also have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. John Holbein Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout Research Enrolling young people to participate as Teach For America (TFA) teachers has a large positive effect on rates of voter turnout among those young people who participate. This effect is considerably larger than many previous efforts to increase youth voter turnout. After their 2 years of service, these young adults vote at a rate 5.7 to 8.6 percentage points higher than that of similar nonparticipant counterparts. These results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people show great promise in narrowing the enduring participation gap between younger and older citizens in the United States. 400 million voting records show profound racial and geographic disparities in voter turnout in the United States Research This paper documents the extent and nature of inequities in voter participation in the United States with a level of granularity and precision that previous research has not afforded. John Holbein Among UVA's Inaugural Shannon Fellows News Batten professor Holbein is one of 15 faculty members chosen for a new UVA fellowship program recognizing groundbreaking research and commitment to service at UVA. How gender, race, age and voter ID laws affect whether a voter actually casts a ballot News Young Americans say they are interested in politics, but few of them vote. Writing for The Conversation, Batten School professor John Holbein offers some ideas on how to encourage them. Peter Johannessen Batten Professor Peter Johannessen wins UVA All-University Teaching Award News Teaching awards presented annually at the University of Virginia honor dedicated, passionate faculty members who contribute to an environment of excellence, rigor and academic growth for students. Batten Hosts Candidate Forum with Democratic Contenders for Virginia’s 5th District Seat News Earlier this week, Batten professors moderated a discussion between the four candidates on issues ranging from racial justice to gun control. Molly Lipscomb Decentralization and Pollution Spillovers: Evidence from the Re-Drawing of County Borders in Brazil Research Service Reform and Manufacturing Performance: Evidence from India Research Batten's Lipscomb Receives UVA's Prestigious Public Impact-Focused Research Award News Batten professor Molly Lipscomb was honored with the university's Public Impact-Focused Research Award for her work examining the impact of bringing public services to low-income households in countries where services are needed. Faculty Spotlight: The Social Innovator News Batten professor Molly Lipscomb has a creative solution to a public sanitation crisis—and a new vision for the center that’s helping to address it. Christine Mahoney On the Advantages of a Well-Constructed Lobbying System: Towards a More Democratic, Modern Lobbying Process Research On the Advantages of a Well-Constructed Lobbying System: Towards a More Democratic, Modern Lobbying Process by Christine Mahoney Lee Drutman The American lobbying information processing system is woefully outdated. The mechanisms by which citizen, interest group, and business concerns are incorporated into the policymaking process have largely not been updated in over 200 years. Failure and Hope: Fighting for the Rights of the Forcibly Displaced Research In 2015, 60 million people were displaced by violent conflict globally - the highest since World War II. National and international policy prevents the displaced from working or moving freely outside the camps set up to ‘temporarily’ house them. Advancing Innovative Policy in Rural Virginia and Beyond News The Batten School is making significant strides in advancing rural policy and economic development through its inaugural Tadler Fellowship in Impact Investing. This innovative program is not only supporting the White House's Rural Partner Network (RPN) Initiative to strengthen rural economies, but is also working directly with communities in Southwest Virginia to develop solutions for their unique economic and social challenges. Batten Launches Inaugural Tadler Fellowship with Major Impact in Southwest Virginia News Thanks to a generous gift from University of Virginia alumni Richard and Donna Tadler, a cohort of Batten students are poised to make a big difference in the economic future of rural Southwest Virginia. Isaac Mbiti Can Education Be Standardized? Evidence from Kenya Research Isaac Mbiti and co-authors examine the impact of enrolling in schools that employ a highly-standardized approach to education, using random variation from a large nationwide scholarship program. The Need for Accountability in Education in Developing Countries Research Armed with Humor, Batten Student Named Among Nation's Top Four Army ROTC Cadets News The Navy Federal Credit Union has selected Batten student Jacob Shapero (MPP '21) as one of four Army ROTC All-Americans nationwide. Daniel W. Player Measuring the Quality of Teacher-Child Interactions at Scale: The Implications of Using Local Practitioners to Conduct Classroom Observations Research Are Parents’ Ratings and Satisfaction with Preschools related to Program Features? Research This study examines whether parents’ overall satisfaction with their child’s early childhood education (ECE) program is correlated with a broad set of program characteristics, including (a) observational assessments of teacher-child interactions; (b) structural features of the program, such as teacher education and class size; (c) practical and convenience factors (e.g., hours, cost); and (d) a measure of average classroom learning gains. It then describes associations between parents’ evaluation of specific program characteristics and externally collected measures of those features. Building Connections & Finding Purpose: Prof. Daniel Player on Teaching News Daniel Player, associate professor of public policy with a focus on education policy, found his "dream job" teaching at the Batten School. New Batten and School of Education Program Helps Virginia Schools Respond to the Pandemic News Students in the inaugural class of Ed Policy Associates are collaborating with Virginia policymakers on vital research, and gaining vital experience at the same time. Jay Shimshack Disparities in PM2.5 air pollution in the United States Research Particulate air pollution in the contiguous United States has decreased considerably over recent decades, but where exactly has that progress been made? Batten's Jay Shimshack and his co-authors dive in. Costly Sanctions and the Treatment of Frequent Violators in Regulatory Settings Research Regulators typically treat frequent violators more harshly. When does such harsh treatment maximize overall compliance? Batten Showcase 2022: Environmental Inequality and Public Policy ft. Jay Shimshack News In this lecture, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, Jay Shimshack, probes the concept of environmental inequality - how it both shapes and is shaped by public policy. Batten's Lipscomb Receives UVA's Prestigious Public Impact-Focused Research Award News Batten professor Molly Lipscomb was honored with the university's Public Impact-Focused Research Award for her work examining the impact of bringing public services to low-income households in countries where services are needed. Sophie Trawalter Gender Differences in Law School Classroom Participation: The Key Role of Social Context Research Even though women make up roughly half of the students enrolled in law school today, they do not take up roughly half of the speaking time in law school classes. We found that women, more than men, report backlash for speaking in class, and this difference affects their willingness to participate in the law school classroom. Racial Bias in Perceptions of Disease and Policy Research Narratives about Africa as dark, depraved, and diseased justified the exploitation of African land and people. Today, these narratives may still have a hold on people’s fears about disease. This group of scholars conducts tests and studies that, when taken together, make clear that reactions to pandemics are biased, and in a way consistent with historical narratives about race and Africa. Professors Chou and Trawalter Announced as Inaugural Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professors News The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia announces the appointment of Eileen Chou and Sophie Trawalter as inaugural Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professors. Why Professors Should Call on Law Students — With a Plan News A new paper by Batten School professor Sophie Trawalter finds gender dynamics in classes are not fixed. Sarah Turner Waivers for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: Who Would Benefit from Takeup? Research This research identifies more than $100 billion in loan forgiveness available to as many as 3.5 million borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver program. Potential beneficiaries of this initiative are disproportionately employed in occupations like teaching and health care. However, the distribution of potential benefits of the PSLF waiver depends critically on the extent to which those with high income or advanced degrees are differentially likely to take-up benefits conditional on eligibility. Progressivity of Pricing at US Public Universities Research New research describes recent shifts in net tuition by family income and institution type and assesses the role of changes in state funding in generating these shifts. Jefferson Scholars Foundation Honors Six Outstanding UVA Faculty Members News Batten Professor of economics, education and public policy Sarah Turner was selected as this year's recipient of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Faculty Prize. Student Loan Payment Pause Benefits High-Income Households the Most News Batten School Professor Sarah Turner, Batten student Eileen Powell and UVA economics doctoral candidate Diego Briones researched who benefits the most from the pause on student loan payments in a piece for Education Next. Craig Volden Legislative Effectiveness, Progressive Ambition, and Electoral Success Research Are effective state lawmakers more likely than ineffective state lawmakers to be elected to Congress? Our findings offer important insights into how American federalism contributes to representation by effective lawmakers. The Primary Path for Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success Research Effective lawmakers are the workhorses of the US Congress, yet we know little about the electoral payoffs of their efforts. Are effective lawmakers better at warding off challengers in the next election? Do they win at a greater rate? Effective Lawmaking in Virginia: Past, Present and Future News This week’s Batten Hour featured Bill Howell, former Speaker of the House of Delegates, and David Toscano, former House Minority Leader, in a discussion about how the legislature is addressing past, present and future policy challenges. Their discussion was moderated by Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Improving Expertise of Congressional Staff News In an op-ed published in The Messenger, Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman of the Center for Effective Lawmaking write that without proper career training for congressional staffers, expertise gaps on Capitol Hill will continue to be problematic. Brian N. Williams Batten Professors Focus on Community Well-Being News About 50 people from across the state and beyond and from all walks of life were invited by Batten professors Kyle Dobson and Brian Williams to a daylong workshop to share, listen and learn with each other as they envisioned the steps needed to enhance safety and health in troubled communities. Beyond Boundaries: Youth Empowerment and Conflict Resolution at CVLLE 2023 News Almost 200 young people from across Central Virginia attended a daylong workshop on conflict resolution and violence reduction held by UVA Batten's PEGLLLLAB using an innovative model for sharing stories and dialogue. James H. Wyckoff Teacher Turnover, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement in DCPS Research In practice, teacher turnover appears to have negative effects on school quality as measured by student performance. However, some simulations suggest that turnover can instead have large positive effects under a policy regime in which low-performing teachers can be accurately identified and replaced with more effective teachers. Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority v. Measures of Effectiveness Research School districts are confronting difficult choices in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Today, the financial imbalance in many school districts is so large that there may be few alternatives to teacher layoffs. UVA Has 5% of Education Scholars Ranked as 'Most Influential' News Four Batten School faculty members affiliated with the EdPolicyWorks research center once again placed in the national rankings of influential education scholars. Four Batten Professors Ranked as Nation’s Most Influential Education Scholars News Batten School professors Daphna Bassok, Ben Castleman, Sarah Turner and Jim Wyckoff were among 200 scholars nationwide to rank as highly influential in education policy, according to Education Week. Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Gabrielle Adams Gabrielle Adams is an associate professor of public policy and business administration at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and in the Darden School of Business’s Leadership and Organizational Behavior area. Adams studies the processes and dynamics that give rise to ‘good’ decisions, policies and conditions in organizations. Read full bio
Daphna Bassok Daphna Bassok is professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia and associate director of EdPolicyWorks, a collaboration between the School of Education and Human Development and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Her research focuses on early childhood education policy and efforts to improve early childhood education at scale, particularly policies aimed at supporting the early childhood education workforce. Read full bio
Benjamin Castleman Ben Castleman is an associate professor of public policy and education at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on policies and strategies to improve postsecondary educational and workforce outcomes for individuals from lower-income and historically-marginalized communities. His current work focuses on innovations to increase economic mobility among lower-wage adults, including digital- and health-skills training programs; state-funded career and technical education; and competency-based education models for working adults. Read full bio
Kirsten Gelsdorf Kirsten Gelsdorf is a professor of practice of public policy at the Batten School and the Director of Global Humanitarian Policy. Gelsdorf has 19 years of experience working in the humanitarian sector, most recently serving as the Chief of the Policy Analysis and Innovation section at the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Read full bio
John Holbein John Holbein is an associate professor of public policy, politics, and education at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Holbein studies political participation, political inequality, democratic accountability, political representation, and education policy. Read full bio
Peter Johannessen Peter Johannessen is an assistant professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Johannessen’s research explores how popular participation shapes the local policy-making process, including projects that focus on local electoral responsiveness and the design of participatory governance institutions in Brazil. Read full bio
Molly Lipscomb Molly Lipscomb is an associate professor of public policy and economics at the Batten School and the Director of the Center for Social Innovation at the University of Virginia. Lipscomb’s research focuses primarily on environmental issues in developing countries and adaptation to lack of centralized health and sanitation services. Read full bio
Christine Mahoney Christine Mahoney is a professor of public policy and politics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She studies social justice advocacy, activism and direct action through social entrepreneurship. Read full bio
Isaac Mbiti Isaac M. Mbiti is an associate professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research has focused broadly on African economic development with particular interests in examining the role of education policies such as free primary education and teacher performance pay programs. Mbiti's ongoing research projects in East and West Africa evaluate various policies that aim to improve the livelihoods of African youth through training programs. Read full bio
Daniel W. Player Dan Player is an associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research focuses on issues in education policy. His work has examined questions such as how teacher ability is recognized and rewarded in schools, whether teacher performance predicts turnover, and how teachers respond to working conditions. Read full bio
Jay Shimshack Jay Shimshack is a professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Shimshack's research focuses on environmental regulation, environmental economics, corporate social behavior, and applied microeconomics for public policy. Read full bio
Sophie Trawalter Sophie Trawalter, Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professor of Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, studies phenomena related to social diversity, specifically how people navigate intergroup contact and intergroup contexts, with a particular focus on how people develop competencies and learn to thrive in diverse spaces. Read full bio
Sarah Turner Sarah Turner is a University Professor of economics, education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Souder Family Endowed Professor. Much of her research focuses on post-secondary education, where she explores the intersection of education and economics policies. Read full bio
Craig Volden Craig Volden is a professor of public policy and politics at the University of Virginia, with appointments in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Department of Politics. He studies the politics of public policy, with a focus on what policy choices arise within legislative institutions and within American federalism. He is founder and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Read full bio
Brian N. Williams Brian Williams is an associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Director of the Public Engagement in Governance: Looking, Listening and Learning Laboratory (the PEGLLLLab) at UVA. His research centers on issues related to demographic diversity, local law enforcement, and public governance, with special attention devoted to the co-production of public safety and public order. Read full bio
James H. Wyckoff Jim Wyckoff is a professor of education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Memorial Professor of Education and Policy. Wyckoff focuses on issues of teacher labor markets, teacher preparation, recruitment, assessment and retention. His current research examines how teacher assessment and evaluation systems influence the quality of teaching, especially in traditionally low performing classrooms. Read full bio
The “Equal-Opportunity Jerk” Defense: Rudeness Can Obfuscate Gender Bias Research In this research, we identified a barrier that makes sexism hard to recognize: rudeness toward men. We found that observers judge a sexist perpetrator as less sexist if he is rude toward men.
Anger Damns the Innocent Research False accusations permeate social life—from the mundane blaming of other people to more serious accusations of infidelity and workplace wrongdoing. Importantly, false accusations can have grave consequences, including broken relationships, job loss, and reputational damage. In this article, we document an equally pernicious phenomenon—the misuse of anger as a cue to predict whether a suspect has been falsely accused.
Meeting Overload Is a Fixable Problem News Batten School professor Gabe Adams spoke with American Talk about the benefits of adopting a subtraction mindset and how to get it done.
When Less is More: How Harnessing the Power of Subtraction Can Add to Life News There’s a lot of thought that goes into adding things to our routines, our closets, our lives. But how much thought goes into subtracting things? Not enough, according to three University of Virginia professors.
Hard-to-staff centers: Exploring center-level variation in the persistence of child care teacher turnover Research High rates of teacher turnover in child care settings have negative implications for young children's learning experiences and for efforts to improve child care quality. Prior research has explored the prevalence and predictors of turnover at the individual teacher level, but less is known about turnover at the center level––specifically, how turnover varies across child care centers or whether staffing challenges persist year after year for some centers. This study tracks annual turnover rates for all publicly funded child care centers that were continuously operating in Louisiana from the 2015-16 to 2018-19 school years.
Measuring the Quality of Teacher-Child Interactions at Scale: The Implications of Using Local Practitioners to Conduct Classroom Observations Research
Child Care Centers Are Turning Away Families Due to Teacher Turnover News Batten School professor Daphna Bassok spoke with UVA Today about the how teacher turnover is impacting child care centers.
UVA Has 5% of Education Scholars Ranked as 'Most Influential' News Four Batten School faculty members affiliated with the EdPolicyWorks research center once again placed in the national rankings of influential education scholars.
Unfinished Business? Academic and Labor Market Profile of Adults With Substantial College Credits But No Degree Research Using data from the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), this case provides the first detailed profile on the academic, employment, and earnings trajectories of the SCND population and how these compare with VCCS graduates. The scholars show that the share of SCND students who are academically ready to re-enroll and would benefit from doing so may be substantially lower than policy makers anticipate.
Stacking the Deck for Employment Success: Labor Market Returns to Stackable Credentials Research With rapid technological transformations to the labor market along with COVID-19 related economic disruptions, many working adults return to college to obtain additional training or credentials. Using a comparative individual fixed effects strategy and an administrative panel dataset of enrollment and employment in Virginia, we provide the first causal estimates of credential “stacking” among working adults.
Peer Mentoring Improves College Success for Lower-Income Students News In a research update brief, Batten Associate Professor Ben Castleman and colleagues show a sustained positive effect of peer mentoring on college persistence for lower-income students.
First Gen Students Are Missing from the Nation’s Top Colleges. Here’s How Virtual Advising Could Help News Batten School professor Ben Castleman spoke with USA Today about the benefits of virtual peer-to-peer advising for first-generation college students.
Compassion in Action: Contemplative Science and Practice in the Classroom and the World News In March 2024, Batten School Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer joined dozens of scholars and others from around the world in Dharamsala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama and explore ways to bring contemplative science and practice into teaching, research, policymaking and leadership in all sectors.
Dean Solomon, Professors Gelsdorf and Scholer to Meet with the Dalai Lama News Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer will travel to Dharamsala next week with leaders from UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center to spend a week with practitioners and researchers in the contemplative sciences from around the world. They will also have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout Research Enrolling young people to participate as Teach For America (TFA) teachers has a large positive effect on rates of voter turnout among those young people who participate. This effect is considerably larger than many previous efforts to increase youth voter turnout. After their 2 years of service, these young adults vote at a rate 5.7 to 8.6 percentage points higher than that of similar nonparticipant counterparts. These results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people show great promise in narrowing the enduring participation gap between younger and older citizens in the United States.
400 million voting records show profound racial and geographic disparities in voter turnout in the United States Research This paper documents the extent and nature of inequities in voter participation in the United States with a level of granularity and precision that previous research has not afforded.
John Holbein Among UVA's Inaugural Shannon Fellows News Batten professor Holbein is one of 15 faculty members chosen for a new UVA fellowship program recognizing groundbreaking research and commitment to service at UVA.
How gender, race, age and voter ID laws affect whether a voter actually casts a ballot News Young Americans say they are interested in politics, but few of them vote. Writing for The Conversation, Batten School professor John Holbein offers some ideas on how to encourage them.
Batten Professor Peter Johannessen wins UVA All-University Teaching Award News Teaching awards presented annually at the University of Virginia honor dedicated, passionate faculty members who contribute to an environment of excellence, rigor and academic growth for students.
Batten Hosts Candidate Forum with Democratic Contenders for Virginia’s 5th District Seat News Earlier this week, Batten professors moderated a discussion between the four candidates on issues ranging from racial justice to gun control.
Decentralization and Pollution Spillovers: Evidence from the Re-Drawing of County Borders in Brazil Research
Batten's Lipscomb Receives UVA's Prestigious Public Impact-Focused Research Award News Batten professor Molly Lipscomb was honored with the university's Public Impact-Focused Research Award for her work examining the impact of bringing public services to low-income households in countries where services are needed.
Faculty Spotlight: The Social Innovator News Batten professor Molly Lipscomb has a creative solution to a public sanitation crisis—and a new vision for the center that’s helping to address it.
On the Advantages of a Well-Constructed Lobbying System: Towards a More Democratic, Modern Lobbying Process Research On the Advantages of a Well-Constructed Lobbying System: Towards a More Democratic, Modern Lobbying Process by Christine Mahoney Lee Drutman The American lobbying information processing system is woefully outdated. The mechanisms by which citizen, interest group, and business concerns are incorporated into the policymaking process have largely not been updated in over 200 years.
Failure and Hope: Fighting for the Rights of the Forcibly Displaced Research In 2015, 60 million people were displaced by violent conflict globally - the highest since World War II. National and international policy prevents the displaced from working or moving freely outside the camps set up to ‘temporarily’ house them.
Advancing Innovative Policy in Rural Virginia and Beyond News The Batten School is making significant strides in advancing rural policy and economic development through its inaugural Tadler Fellowship in Impact Investing. This innovative program is not only supporting the White House's Rural Partner Network (RPN) Initiative to strengthen rural economies, but is also working directly with communities in Southwest Virginia to develop solutions for their unique economic and social challenges.
Batten Launches Inaugural Tadler Fellowship with Major Impact in Southwest Virginia News Thanks to a generous gift from University of Virginia alumni Richard and Donna Tadler, a cohort of Batten students are poised to make a big difference in the economic future of rural Southwest Virginia.
Can Education Be Standardized? Evidence from Kenya Research Isaac Mbiti and co-authors examine the impact of enrolling in schools that employ a highly-standardized approach to education, using random variation from a large nationwide scholarship program.
Armed with Humor, Batten Student Named Among Nation's Top Four Army ROTC Cadets News The Navy Federal Credit Union has selected Batten student Jacob Shapero (MPP '21) as one of four Army ROTC All-Americans nationwide.
Measuring the Quality of Teacher-Child Interactions at Scale: The Implications of Using Local Practitioners to Conduct Classroom Observations Research
Are Parents’ Ratings and Satisfaction with Preschools related to Program Features? Research This study examines whether parents’ overall satisfaction with their child’s early childhood education (ECE) program is correlated with a broad set of program characteristics, including (a) observational assessments of teacher-child interactions; (b) structural features of the program, such as teacher education and class size; (c) practical and convenience factors (e.g., hours, cost); and (d) a measure of average classroom learning gains. It then describes associations between parents’ evaluation of specific program characteristics and externally collected measures of those features.
Building Connections & Finding Purpose: Prof. Daniel Player on Teaching News Daniel Player, associate professor of public policy with a focus on education policy, found his "dream job" teaching at the Batten School.
New Batten and School of Education Program Helps Virginia Schools Respond to the Pandemic News Students in the inaugural class of Ed Policy Associates are collaborating with Virginia policymakers on vital research, and gaining vital experience at the same time.
Disparities in PM2.5 air pollution in the United States Research Particulate air pollution in the contiguous United States has decreased considerably over recent decades, but where exactly has that progress been made? Batten's Jay Shimshack and his co-authors dive in.
Costly Sanctions and the Treatment of Frequent Violators in Regulatory Settings Research Regulators typically treat frequent violators more harshly. When does such harsh treatment maximize overall compliance?
Batten Showcase 2022: Environmental Inequality and Public Policy ft. Jay Shimshack News In this lecture, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, Jay Shimshack, probes the concept of environmental inequality - how it both shapes and is shaped by public policy.
Batten's Lipscomb Receives UVA's Prestigious Public Impact-Focused Research Award News Batten professor Molly Lipscomb was honored with the university's Public Impact-Focused Research Award for her work examining the impact of bringing public services to low-income households in countries where services are needed.
Gender Differences in Law School Classroom Participation: The Key Role of Social Context Research Even though women make up roughly half of the students enrolled in law school today, they do not take up roughly half of the speaking time in law school classes. We found that women, more than men, report backlash for speaking in class, and this difference affects their willingness to participate in the law school classroom.
Racial Bias in Perceptions of Disease and Policy Research Narratives about Africa as dark, depraved, and diseased justified the exploitation of African land and people. Today, these narratives may still have a hold on people’s fears about disease. This group of scholars conducts tests and studies that, when taken together, make clear that reactions to pandemics are biased, and in a way consistent with historical narratives about race and Africa.
Professors Chou and Trawalter Announced as Inaugural Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professors News The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia announces the appointment of Eileen Chou and Sophie Trawalter as inaugural Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professors.
Why Professors Should Call on Law Students — With a Plan News A new paper by Batten School professor Sophie Trawalter finds gender dynamics in classes are not fixed.
Waivers for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: Who Would Benefit from Takeup? Research This research identifies more than $100 billion in loan forgiveness available to as many as 3.5 million borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver program. Potential beneficiaries of this initiative are disproportionately employed in occupations like teaching and health care. However, the distribution of potential benefits of the PSLF waiver depends critically on the extent to which those with high income or advanced degrees are differentially likely to take-up benefits conditional on eligibility.
Progressivity of Pricing at US Public Universities Research New research describes recent shifts in net tuition by family income and institution type and assesses the role of changes in state funding in generating these shifts.
Jefferson Scholars Foundation Honors Six Outstanding UVA Faculty Members News Batten Professor of economics, education and public policy Sarah Turner was selected as this year's recipient of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Faculty Prize.
Student Loan Payment Pause Benefits High-Income Households the Most News Batten School Professor Sarah Turner, Batten student Eileen Powell and UVA economics doctoral candidate Diego Briones researched who benefits the most from the pause on student loan payments in a piece for Education Next.
Legislative Effectiveness, Progressive Ambition, and Electoral Success Research Are effective state lawmakers more likely than ineffective state lawmakers to be elected to Congress? Our findings offer important insights into how American federalism contributes to representation by effective lawmakers.
The Primary Path for Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success Research Effective lawmakers are the workhorses of the US Congress, yet we know little about the electoral payoffs of their efforts. Are effective lawmakers better at warding off challengers in the next election? Do they win at a greater rate?
Effective Lawmaking in Virginia: Past, Present and Future News This week’s Batten Hour featured Bill Howell, former Speaker of the House of Delegates, and David Toscano, former House Minority Leader, in a discussion about how the legislature is addressing past, present and future policy challenges. Their discussion was moderated by Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking.
Improving Expertise of Congressional Staff News In an op-ed published in The Messenger, Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman of the Center for Effective Lawmaking write that without proper career training for congressional staffers, expertise gaps on Capitol Hill will continue to be problematic.
Batten Professors Focus on Community Well-Being News About 50 people from across the state and beyond and from all walks of life were invited by Batten professors Kyle Dobson and Brian Williams to a daylong workshop to share, listen and learn with each other as they envisioned the steps needed to enhance safety and health in troubled communities.
Beyond Boundaries: Youth Empowerment and Conflict Resolution at CVLLE 2023 News Almost 200 young people from across Central Virginia attended a daylong workshop on conflict resolution and violence reduction held by UVA Batten's PEGLLLLAB using an innovative model for sharing stories and dialogue.
Teacher Turnover, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement in DCPS Research In practice, teacher turnover appears to have negative effects on school quality as measured by student performance. However, some simulations suggest that turnover can instead have large positive effects under a policy regime in which low-performing teachers can be accurately identified and replaced with more effective teachers.
Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority v. Measures of Effectiveness Research School districts are confronting difficult choices in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Today, the financial imbalance in many school districts is so large that there may be few alternatives to teacher layoffs.
UVA Has 5% of Education Scholars Ranked as 'Most Influential' News Four Batten School faculty members affiliated with the EdPolicyWorks research center once again placed in the national rankings of influential education scholars.
Four Batten Professors Ranked as Nation’s Most Influential Education Scholars News Batten School professors Daphna Bassok, Ben Castleman, Sarah Turner and Jim Wyckoff were among 200 scholars nationwide to rank as highly influential in education policy, according to Education Week.