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Leveling the playing field: Policy options to improve postsecondary education and career outcomes

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Providing workers with the right sets of skills is an urgent necessity in the modern labor market. Postsecondary education and K–12 both have important roles to play, and can be improved with the help of ongoing research on what does and does not work in education policy. K-12 schools could be doing more to increase high school student engagement and preparation for college; and the teacher shortages K–12 schools face in specific subject and geographic areas must also be addressed. Furthermore, at postsecondary institutions, federal aid must provide incentives to raise the quality of the college experience, protect the taxpayer investment, and enhance college access for workers who need to reskill.

On April 26, The Hamilton Project hosted a policy forum to explore the best ways to address these policy challenges. The forum began with introductory remarks by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, followed by three roundtable discussions featuring panelists including: Andy Smarick (American Enterprise Institute); James Kvaal (University of Michigan); Sandra Black (University of Texas at Austin); Charlene M. Dukes (Prince Georges Community College); Michael Dakduk (Career Education Colleges and Universities); Sarita E. Brown (Excelencia in Education);  Belle Wheelan (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges); and Heather Wathington (The Maya Angelou Schools and See Forever Foundation).

Agenda

12:30 PM Registration Opens

1:00 PM Welcome and Introductions

Robert E. Rubin
Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations;
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary

1:05 PM Roundtable: Policy Options to Better Finance Higher Education

Author: David Deming 
Professor of Education and Economics, Harvard University

Author: Sarah Turner   
University Professor of Economics and Education and Sounder Family Professor, University of Virginia

Discussant: Ofer Malamud
Associate Professor, Harris School of Public Policy, The University of Chicago; Visiting Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution

Discussant: Charlene M. Dukes  
President, Prince George’s Community College

Discussant: Sarita E. Brown 
President, Excelencia in Education

Moderator: Diane Schanzenbach
Director, Hamilton Project; Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution

2:00 PM Break

2:10 PM Roundtable: Risk-Sharing in the Student Loan Program

Author: Adam Looney
Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution

Author: Tara Watson
Associate Professor of Economics, Williams College

Discussant: Michael Dakduk   
Executive Vice President and Director of Government Relations, Career Education Colleges and Universities

Discussant: Sandra Black
Visiting Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution;
Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin

Discussant: Belle Wheelan
President, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Discussant: James Kvaal
Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, University of Michigan

Moderator: Ryan Nunn
Policy Director, The Hamilton Project; Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution

3:05 PM Roundtable: Addressing K-12 Teacher Shortages and the College and Career Pipeline for Disengaged Students

Author: Thomas S. Dee 
Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University

Author: Dan Goldhaber 
Director, Center for Education Data & Research, University of Washington

Author: Louis Jacobson 
President, New Horizons Economic Research; Research Professor, George Washington Institute of Public Policy

Discussant: Andy Smarick
Morgridge Fellow in Education Studies, AEI

Discussant: Heather Wathington
Chief Executive Officer, The Maya Angelou Schools and See Forever Foundation

Moderator: Diane Schanzenbach
Director, Hamilton Project; Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution

4:00 PM Forum Adjourns