Background, Education & Consulting Engagements
Matthew is an applied economist with expertise in research and evaluation, statistical and econometric methods, education finance and policy, and cost-effectiveness methods and analysis. Matthew’s work aims to identify policies, practices, and interventions that lead to improved educational outcomes. As an educator, Matthew has taught in K-12 public schools and private and public institutions of higher education. As a tenured professor of education and public policy, Matthew’s scholarly research has addressed issues of educational significance at the intersection of the economics of education and education policy – educator evaluation and human capital; accountability and urban school reform; education finance; school safety and student discipline – and has been published in leading education, economics, and public policy journals.
As a policy and evaluation advisor to various organizations and agencies, Matthew provides strategic and technical leadership on the design, implementation, and evaluation of a variety of education policies and programs. As the Managing Director of Research and Evaluation at Accelerate, Matthew led the strategic design and implementation of dozens of experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations of educational programs and interventions, including high-dosage tutoring models and EdTech and AI-enabled products. Through his work, Matthew aims to connect research to policy, practice, and educational innovation to close persistent achievement gaps and improve and accelerate educational attainment across our nation's education system.
Education
University of Chicago, Ph.D. in Public Policy (2012)
University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.P.A. in Public Policy Analysis (2007)
The City College of New York, M.S.Ed. with graduation honors in Childhood Education (2004)
Chase Manhattan Bank Global Investment Banking Analyst Training Program (July-Sept. 2000)
University of Virginia, B.A. with high distinction in Economics and Sociology (2000)
Recent Consulting Engagements
As an applied economist, Matthew provides strategic and technical advisory and leadership services to public and private educational agencies and organizations. Matthew’s areas of expertise include the economics of education, research and evaluation, statistical and econometric methods, education finance and policy, and cost-effectiveness methods and analysis. Matthew’s recent consulting engagements include:
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Center on Reinventing Public Education: As an external policy and evaluation advisor, Matthew led CRPE's working group on school budgets and education finance, convening and leading a panel of national experts in education policy and research. With Matthew's guidance, the panel identified and scoped out a research agenda to inform CRPE's efforts to support pandemic recovery in K-12 public education and to advance evidence-based solutions to address student learning loss in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
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Chicago Public Schools: As an external academic research partner, Matthew advised district leaders on the design of Chicago’s educator evaluation system in an effort to more equitably rate and evaluate teacher performance and on policy efforts to improve student outcomes through teacher evaluation and professional development.
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Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Mid-Atlantic: As a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and former member of the Technical Working Group (TWG), Matthew reviews and provides feedback on all stages of REL products, including research proposals and draft research reports, providing technical advice on the design and content of applied research and training, coaching and technical support for evidence use and applied research. Matthew is currently advising the REL on its work to support high-quality career and technical education (CTE) opportunities for all students by working with the Delaware Department of Education to develop an evidence-based, consistent way to understand and use CTE data.
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Leading Educators: As a member of the Evaluation Advisory Board (EAB), Matthew advises Leading Educators on its Teacher Practice Measurement Project which aims to build empirical evidence on how improvements in content-specific teacher practice in math and English Language Arts impact student learning. Matthew also advises Leading Educators on its internal impact evaluations designed to estimate the effect of teacher leadership training on student academic achievement.
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Pennsylvania Department of Education: As an external academic research partner, Matthew provided technical guidance and consultation to state leaders on a range of policy issues, including: the distribution and mobility of educator human capital across Pennsylvania’s charter and traditional public schools; the impact of principal professional development on teacher and student outcomes; the effect of teacher strikes on student achievement and teacher labor market outcomes; the alignment between students’ reports of bullying experiences and data Pennsylvania collects from school districts; and the frequency, distribution and factors associated with student reports of bullying incidents.
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Virginia Board of Education: As an external academic partner, Matthew provided technical and policy advice to state leaders, including the state Superintendent and Board of Education members, on the design and impact of educator evaluation systems in an effort to improve the validity, equity and efficacy of evaluation efforts across all Virginia schools.
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Virginia Department of Education: As an external academic partner and member of the 25-person Planning Committee for the Virginia Longitudinal Data System (VLDS), Matthew provided technical and policy guidance to support the development of Virginia’s policy-oriented and equity-focused research agenda for the VLDS.
