Project Activities
PIER is primarily housed within Graduate School of Education and the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) and also includes faculty and students from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Kennedy School.
Over the course of the 5-year grant, PIER offered approximately 30 doctoral students 2- or 3-year fellowships. Fellows who enter the training program after 1 year of doctoral study will receive 3 years of PIER funding. Fellows that enter the training program after 2 years of doctoral study receive 2 years of PIER funding. All PIER fellowships will include tuition and benefits, a stipend, and a small research fund. Stipends vary between $30,530 and $38,000 depending on the fellow's year of study ($30,000 of the stipend is provided through the training grant award and the remainder is provided by Harvard as cost-sharing).
PIER fellows participated in an interdisciplinary core curriculum consisting of coursework in quantitative methodology, experimental research design and education policy. Fellows also participated in ongoing research apprenticeships with faculty mentors and a 10-week internship with a school district. The training program also included an ongoing interdisciplinary seminar on education research and a bi-weekly speaker series.
The total projected costs of the training program are approximately $4.3 million. In addition to the almost $4 million grant from IES, Harvard will be contributing approximately $325,000 to cost-share fellows' stipends and provide administrative support during the award period. If funds are available, the final cohort of fellows may receive an additional year of fellowship support from Harvard after the grant ends.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Completed fellows
Products and publications
Project website:
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Select Publications From Completed Fellows:
Publications associated with this grant can also be found by using Google Scholar.
Asher, C. A., Sherer, E., Kim, J.S. (2022). Using a factorial design to maximize the effectiveness of a parental text messaging intervention. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 15(3), 532-557.
Barnes, S.P., Jones, S.M., & Bailey, R. (2022, December). An ecological view of executive function in young children: Variation in and predictors of executive function skills over one school year. Developmental Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13355
Blazar, D., Heller, B., Kane, T., Polikoff, M., Staiger, D., Carrell, S., Goldhaber, D., Harris, D., Hitch, R., Holden, K., & Kurlaender, M. (2019) Curriculum reform in the Common Core era: Evaluating Elementary Math Textbooks across six U.S. states. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 39(4), 966–1919.
Chi, O. L. (2023). A classroom observer like me: The effects of race-congruence and gender-congruence between teachers and raters on observation scores. Education Finance and Policy, 18(3), 442-466.
Chi, O. L., & Lenard, M. A. (2023). Can a Commercial Screening Tool Help Select Better Teachers?. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 45(3), 530-539.
Chin, M. (2021). The effect of English learner reclassification on student achievement and noncognitive outcomes. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 14(1), 57–89.
Chin, M. (2024). The impact of school desegregation on white individuals’ racial attitudes and politics in adulthood. Education Finance and Policy, 1-29.
Corteselli, K., Hollinsaid, N.L., Harmon, S.L., Bonadio, F.T., Westine, M., Weisz, J.R. Price, M.A. (2020). School counselor perspectives on implementing a modular treatment for youth. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 5(3), 271–287.
Dorison, C. A., & Heller, B. H. (2022). Observers penalize decision makers whose risk preferences are unaffected by loss–gain framing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 151(9), 2043.
Gardner, M., Hanno, E.C., Guzman Turco, R., Wei, W., Jones, S.M., & Lesaux, N.K. (2022, November). Residential and preschool neighborhoods: Exploring patterns of socioeconomic similarity and relations to child skills across Massachusetts. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 63(2), 24–38.
Gehlbach, H., Robinson, C. D., & Vriesema, C. C. (2019). Leveraging cognitive consistency to nudge conservative climate change beliefs. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 61, 134–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.12.004
Gehlbach, H. & Robinson, C. D. (2018). Mitigating illusory results through pre-registration in education. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 11(2), 296–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2017.1387950
Gehlbach, H., Robinson, C. D., Finefter-Rosenbluh, I., Benshoof, C., & Schneider, J. (2018). Questionnaires as interventions: can taking a survey increase teachers’ openness to student feedback surveys? Educational Psychology, 38(3), 350–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2017.1349876
Hanno, E. C. (2022). Immediate changes, trade-offs, and fade-out in high-quality teacher practices during coaching. Educational Researcher, 51(3), 173-185.
Hanno, E. C. (2022). Patterns of preschool educators' beliefs and practices over the course of a coaching intervention. Journal of School Psychology, 92, 96-120.
Hanno, E. C. (2023). Nudging early educators’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices: an embedded randomized controlled trial of text message supports. Early Education and Development, 34(2), 530-550.
Hanno, E. C. & Gonzalez, K. E. (2019). The effects of teacher professional development on children’s attendance in preschool. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 13(1), 3–28.
Harmon, S.L., Price, M.A., Corteselli, K.A., Lee, E.H., Metz, K., Bonadio, F.T., Hersh, J., Marchette, L.K., Rodriguez, G.M., Raftery-Helmer, J., Thoassin, K., Bearman, S.K., Jensen-Doss, A., Evans, S.C., & Weisz, J.R. (2021, March 5). Evaluating a modular approach to therapy for children with anxiety, depression, trauma, or conduct problems (MATCH) in school-based mental health care: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychology, 12.
Hashim, S. (2024). Measuring the Efficacy of Zearn Math in Louisiana. AERA Open, 10, 23328584241269825.
Heller, B. H., & Mumma, K. S. (2023). Immigrant integration in the United States: the role of adult English language training. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 15(3), 407-437.
Hill, H. C., Charalambous, C. Y., & Chin, M. J. (2019). Teacher characteristics and student learning in mathematics: A comprehensive assessment. Educational Policy, 33(7), 1103-1134.
Kim, J. S., Asher, C. A., Burkhauser, M., Mesite, L. & Leyva, D. (2019). Using a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) to develop an adaptive K-2 literacy intervention with personalized print texts and app-based digital activities. AERA Open, 5(3), 1–18.
Kim, J. S., Burkhauser, M., Mesite, L, Asher, C. A., Relyea, J.E., Fitzgerald, J. & Elmore, J. (2021). Improving reading comprehension, science domain knowledge, and reading engagement through a first-grade content literacy intervention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000465
Kozakowski, W. (2019, June). Moving the classroom to the computer lab: Can online learning with in-person support improve outcomes in community colleges? Economics of Education Review, 70, 159–172.
Kraft, M. A., Papay, J. P., & Chi, O. L. (2020). Teacher skill development: Evidence from performance ratings by principals. Journal of Policy Analysis and management, 39(2), 315–347.
Lovison, V. S. (2022). The effects of high-performing, high-turnover teachers on long-run student achievement: Evidence from Teach For America. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 01623737241238017.
McCoy, D. C., Gonzalez, K., & Jones, S. (2019). Preschool self‐regulation and preacademic skills as mediators of the long‐term impacts of an early intervention. Child Development, 90(5), 1544-1558.
Mulhern, C. (2021). Changing college choices with personalized admissions information at scale: Evidence on Naviance. Journal of Labor Economics, 30(1), 219–262. https://doi.org/10.1086/708839
Mumma, K. S. (2022). The effect of charter school openings on traditional public schools in Massachusetts and North Carolina. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 14(2), 445-474.
Nicola, T.P. (2022). Assessing applicants in context? School profiles and their implications for equity in the selective college admission process. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 15(6), 700–715. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000318
Robinson, C. D., Gallus, J., Lee, M. G., & Rogers, T. (2021). The demotivating effect (and unintended message) of awards. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 163, 51-64.
Robinson, C. D., Pons, G., Duckworth, A.L, & Rogers, T. (2018). Middle school students want behavior commitment devices (even when take-up does not affect their behavior). Frontiers in Psychology, 9(206). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00206
Robinson, C.D., Scott, W., Gottfried, M., & Gehlbach, H. (2019) Taking it to the Next Level: A Field Experiment to Improve Instructor-Student Relationships in College. AERA Open, 5(1), 1–15.
Robinson, C. D., Lee, M. G., Dearing, E., & Rogers, T. (2018). Reducing student absenteeism in the early grades by targeting parental beliefs. American Educational Research Journal, 55(6), 1163–1192. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218772274
Savitz-Romer, M., Rowan-Kenyon, H., Nicola, T.P., Alexander, E., & Carroll, S. (2021). When the kids are not alright: School counseling in the time of COVID-19. AERA Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211033600
Troyer, M., Kim, J. S., Hale, E., Wantchekon, K. A. & Armstrong, C. (2018). Relations among intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation, reading amount, and comprehension: a conceptual replication. Reading and Writing, 32, 1197–1218.
Wei, W. (2024). Exploring Patterns of Absenteeism from Prekindergarten Through Early Elementary School and Their Associations With Children’s Academic Outcomes. AERA Open, 10, 23328584241228212.
Wei, W. S. (2024). Heterogeneity in the household experiences of young children in head start and associations with absenteeism. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 67, 363-373.
Wei, W. S. (2024). Under what conditions does missing school matter most? Examining associations between absenteeism and child outcomes in Head Start. Children and Youth Services Review, 163, 107766.
Wei, W.S., McCoy, D.C., & Hanno, E.C. (2021, November). Classroom-level peer self regulation as a predictor of individual self-regulatory and social-emotional development in Brazil. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 77(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2021.101347
Wei, W.S., McCoy, D.C., Busby, A.K., Hanno, E.C., & Sabol, T.J. (2021, March). Beyond neighborhood socioeconomic status: Exploring the role of neighborhood resources for preschool classroom quality and early childhood development. American Journal of Community Psychology, 67, 470–485. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12507
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