Orrington Lunt Professor of Education & Social Policy; Professor of Economics
Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research
Northwestern University
2040 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
figlio@northwestern.edu
Ph.D., Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Curriculum Vitae
Expertise: school accountability, school finance, school vouchers, testing policy, education and health policy
Biography
David N. Figlio is the Orrington Lunt Professor of Education and Social Policy, and Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, and Economics (by courtesy) at Northwestern University. Dr. Figlio is a member of the CALDER Management Team and directs the CALDER Florida work. He is also a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research, Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Associate with the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is the inaugural co-editor of the American Education Finance Association’s journal, Education Finance and Policy (MIT Press).
Dr. Figlio’s research on education and social policy, including influential work on school accountability, standards, welfare policy, and policy design, has been published in numerous leading journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, and Journal of Human Resources. His work has examined the efficacy of pre-kindergarten programs and the determinants and effects of teacher expectations on students. He has also extensively studied the intended and unintended consequences of accountability systems: Food for Thought? The Effects of School Accountability Plans on School Nutrition; Accountability, Ability, and Disability: Gaming the System?; and Testing, Crime, and Punishment. More recently, Dr. Figlio mounted an impressive survey of Florida principals to identify their responses to accountability pressures. (See CALDER Working Paper 13: Feeling the Florida Heat? How Low-Performing Schools Respond to Voucher and Accountability Programs).
His current research involves evaluating the Florida Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program, the largest school voucher program in the United States and conducting a large-scale study of school accountability in Florida that involves survey data on a census of public school principals in the state and state administrative data on student achievement.
Dr. Figlio has served on numerous national education task forces and panels, and has advised several U.S. states and foreign nations on the design, implementation and evaluation of education policies. Prior to joining the Northwestern faculty in 2008, Figlio taught at the University of Florida, where he was the Knight-Ridder Professor of Economics and before that at the University of Oregon. Figlio received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
CALDER-related Publications
Working Papers
School Accountability and Teacher Mobility
Working Paper 47 (June 2010)
By Li Feng, David N. Figlio, and Tim R. Sass
Competitive Effects of Means-Tested School Vouchers
Working Paper 46 (June 2010)
By David N. Figlio and Cassandra M.D. Hart
Feeling the Florida Heat?: How Low-Performing Schools Respond to Voucher and Accountability Pressure
Working Paper 13 (November 2007)
By Cecilia Elena Rouse, Jane Hannaway, Dan Goldhaber, and David N. Figlio
Individual Teacher Incentives And Student Performance
Working Paper 8 (April 2007)
By David N. Figlio and Lawrence W. Kenny
Cramming: The Effects of School Accountability on College-Bound Students
Working Paper 7 (April 2007)
By Colleen Donovan, David N. Figlio, and Mark Rush
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Figlio, David N., Cassandra M.D. Hart, and Molly Metzger. 2010. "Who Uses a Means-Tested Scholarship, and What Do They Choose?" Economics of Education Review 29(2): 301-17.
Figlio, David N., Sarah Hamersma, and Jeffrey Roth. 2009. "Does Prenatal WIC Participation Improve Birth Outcomes? New Evidence from Florida." Journal of Public Economics 93(1-2):235-45.
Figlio, David N., and Jeffrey Roth. 2009. "The Behavioral Consequences of Pre-kindergarten Participation for Disadvantaged Youth.” In The Problems of Disadvantaged Youth: An Economic Perspective, edited by Jonathan Gruber (15-42). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Figlio, David N., and Helen F. Ladd. 2008. “School Accountability and Student Achievement.” In Handbook of Education Finance and Policy, First Edition, edited by Edward B. Fiske and Helen F. Ladd (166-82). New York: Routledge.
Figlio, David N.,and Lawrence W. Kenny. 2007. “Individual Teacher Incentives and Student Performance.” Journal of Public Economics 91(5-6):901-14 (Previously Working Paper 8).
Figlio, David N., and Cecilia Rouse. 2006. “Do Accountability and Voucher Threats Improve Low-Performing Schools?” Journal of Public Economics 90(1-2): 239-55.
Selected Media
Competition Boosts Public Schools
The Tampa Tribune
June 19, 2010
Vouchers Work In Fla., and They'll Work Here
By Marcus A. Winters | The Star-Ledger
June 13, 2010
Florida’s Education Tax Credit Program Helps Public School Students
By Adam Schaeffer | Cato @ Liberty
June 4, 2010
Priced Out of the Top Public Schools
By Laura Rowley | Yahoo Finance
April 28, 2010
School Choice & School Improvement: Chat
Education Week
Nov. 17, 2009
Bargain Homes in the Best School Districts - BusinessWeek
By Prashant Gopal | Bloomberg.com
Sept. 24, 2009
Paying Teachers for Performance: An Idea with Merit?
By Laurie Rowell | eLearn Magazine
June 23, 2009
