Education, Background & Consulting Engagements
Dr. Matthew P. Steinberg is an Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy in the College of Education and Human Development and the Schar School of Policy and Government and the Director of EdPolicy Forward: The Center for Education Policy at George Mason University. Matthew is a Faculty Affiliate with the Center for Micro-Economic Policy Research and The Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science, both at George Mason University. Matthew is an Affiliated Researcher with the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, a Faculty Affiliate with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University and an IUR Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research. A recipient of the 2016 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, Matthew received his PhD in public policy from the University of Chicago. During Matthew's tenure as a doctoral student, Matthew was an Institute of Education Sciences Pre-Doctoral Fellow with the University of Chicago Committee on Education, a researcher at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research and a Mathematica Policy Research Summer Fellow. Prior to graduate school, Matthew was an investment banker and a New York City Teaching Fellow.
Matthew's research addresses issues of educational significance at the intersection of the economics of education and education policy, including: educator evaluation and human capital; accountability and urban school reform; education finance; and school safety and student discipline. Matthew's work aims to inform local and national policy discussions on the impact of education policies and practices on the distribution of teacher effectiveness and the educational outcomes of students, particularly the most disadvantaged among the population. To do so, Matthew matches rigorous econometric methods with rich administrative data to produce empirical evidence that answers fundamentally important education policy questions. Matthew's research has appeared in leading education and economics journals, including the American Journal of Education, Economics of Education Review, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Education Finance and Policy, Educational Researcher, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, National Tax Journal, and Regional Science and Urban Economics. Matthew's research has also appeared in policy and practice publications that reach district, state, and national policymakers and school leaders, including Cityscape, Education Next and The State Education Standard.
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)
Current Academic Positions
Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy, College of Education and Human Development & Schar
School of Policy and Government (joint appointment, with tenure), George Mason University
Director, EdPolicyForward: The Center for Education Policy, George Mason University
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Micro-Economic Policy Research, Schar School of Policy and Government,
George Mason University
Affiliated Researcher, University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research
Faculty Affiliate, Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Brown University
IUR Scholar, University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research
Recent Consulting Engagements
Matthew is a Public Policy PhD focusing on the economics of education and applied education policy evaluation and research. Matthew’s areas of expertise include the economics of education; education policy; program evaluation; and applied econometrics. Matthew’s recent consulting engagements include:
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Chicago Public Schools: As an external academic research partner, Matthew advises 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 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.
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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 provides 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 provides 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.
