PROJECTThe Learning Curve

The Learning Curve is a series of data-driven essays on timely education policy topics intended to inform and empower decision makers at the federal, state, and local levels. Data and code are provided whenever possible so readers can dig deeper into the issues important to them. New essays are published every other Thursday. To stay up to date on the latest research, sign up for our newsletter.

We are currently looking for analyses of policies that have been enacted in the past 10 years with the goal of increasing equity in PK–12 or higher education. Authors should think of the Learning Curve essay as an early look at the policy’s possible effects, providing available data in a timely fashion and analyses of these policies can consider whether they accomplished their intended aims and whether they had unintended consequences. Policies enacted with the goal of increasing equity include (1) those at any level (local, state, or federal) that have the explicit intent of narrowing disparities in educational outcomes by race or ethnicity, gender, disability status, or other student characteristics or (2) those that otherwise address concerns about disparate treatment of different groups of students. Additional details about the call for proposals can be found here.

Selected authors will receive a $2,500 honorarium and technical and editorial support from Urban Institute staff members to turn their proposal into an essay published on urban.org.  Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with a final deadline of Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Review criteria will include the proposal’s originality, feasibility, and relevance to policy. The proposal form can be found here.

If you have an idea for an essay or a question about a published essay, check out our contributor's guidelines, and then email us at [email protected]

Early education

K-12

Higher education

Research Areas Education
Tags Early childhood education K-12 education Higher education
Policy Centers Center on Education Data and Policy