Policy Center Associates
Courtney A. Bell is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy at the University of Connecticut. A former high school
teacher, she has worked with beginning teachers in Hartford, Detroit, and Lansing for the past seven years. Dr. Bell's work
looks across actors in the system and focuses on the intersection of policy and practice. Toward that end, she recently
completed a nine month longitudinal study of parents' selection of schools for their middle and high school children in Detroit.
The study resulted in rich narratives as well as statistical analyses based on a database created from 148 parent interviews.
Dr. Bell is currently managing a professional development study funded by the National Science Foundation which assesses
teachers' mathematics learning in 10 sites across the country. This study, in its 3rd and final year, looks carefully at
how one acclaimed professional development program gets shaped and used to meet the district's particular needs. Although
Dr. Bell is new to Connecticut she has spent the last two years studying the state's teaching and learning policy. She is
working with a team led by Linda Darling-Hammond to investigate how state policy shapes teacher education and the teaching
profession in four states (CA, TX, NC, and CT). Dr. Bell is leading the investigation in Connecticut and is knowledgeable
about the Connecticut context, having completed extensive document reviews and more than 25 interviews with deans, professors,
and CSDE officials across the state. Among other publications, she has also co-authored an invited chapter entitled "Them
that's got shall get": Understanding teacher recruitment, induction, and retention in the 103rd Yearbook of the National
Society for the Study of Education.
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Robert Bifulco has a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Dr. Bifulco is currently
on faculty in the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy where he teaches classes in education policy, state and
local government finance, and program evaluation. Before coming to the University of Connecticut, Dr. Bifulco held a post-doc
position at Duke University's Sanford Institute of Public Policy. He has also worked as a program analyst in the New York State
Education Department, where he help formulated regulations governing the state's low-performing schools program. He has research
interests in the areas of school finance, performance-based accountability, school segregation, and school choice. He has published
research articles on the measurement of school performance, whole-school reform, and racial disparities in access to educational
resources in several peer reviewed journals including The Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Evaluation Review, and Economics
of Education Review. His most recent research is focused on charter schools and has examined their effects on student achievement,
black-white test score gaps, racial segregation, and parental involvement. Dr. Bifulco is an active member of the American Education
Finance Association and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
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Casey D. Cobb is Associate Professor of Education Policy and Director of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University
of Connecticut. He has a Ph.D. in Education Policy Studies from Arizona State University and an A.B. in Economics from Harvard University.
Dr. Cobb is currently researching policies related to accountability, school choice, and bilingual education, and is co-writing a forthcoming
book on school policy. Dr. Cobb teaches courses in policy analysis, research methods, and evaluation. He has co-written Fundamentals of
Statistical Reasoning in Education (Wiley/Jossey Bass), which deals specifically with using quantitative methods to analyze educational
issues. He currently serves as President of the New England Educational Research Organization. Dr. Cobb has researched and published
extensively on charter schools and other school choice policies. He served as a part time research analyst for the Phoenix Union High School
District Magnet Programs from 1995-97. Dr. Cobb has also served as evaluator on several projects, most recently contracting with the
Connecticut Department of Education to study the interventions provided by the CSDE per the PJ case.
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John T. MacDonald is currently a Senior Advisor to the Center for Education Policy Analysis, University of Connecticut. Formerly, he was the
Senior Advisor to the Council of Chief State School Officers and Director of the State Leadership Center, which provided direct assistance to chief
state school officers and state policy makers on leadership and systemic planning issues, and coordinated activities in systemic arrangements at the
state and federal level. Prior to joining the Council, Dr. MacDonald was the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education with the
U.S. Department of Education from 1990 to 1993. As Assistant Secretary, MacDonald served as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Education on
all elementary and secondary issues, a job that included establishing enduring relationships with other executive branches, maintaining a dialogue
with other educational agencies, providing overall direction, coordination and leadership for five major departmental programs (Compensatory
Education, Migrant Education, School Improvement Programs, Indian Education, and Impact Aid), and guiding the reauthorization of elementary and
secondary educational programs nationwide. During his tenure as Assistant Secretary, Dr. MacDonald also served as the Lead Senior Official in
the U.S. Department of Education for international assignments. Before being appointed to Assistant Secretary of Education, Jack MacDonald served
as the Commissioner of Education in New Hampshire and Superintendent of Dartmouth (NH), Walpole (MA) and Wallingford (CT) Public Schools.
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Mark R. Shibles is former Dean of the School of Education at the University of Connecticut where he was a professor for over 30 years. His experience
as Dean included being the chief officer of an academic school consisting of 6 departments, 5 centers, 24 instructional programs, 500 undergraduate students,
1100 graduate students, 75 faculty, 30 externally funded projects, and acting as superintendent and a board member for the university high school, the
Edwin O. Smith School. Prior to coming to Connecticut he was Associate Director, University Council for Education Administration, then located at the
Ohio State University; a high school teacher; and a United States Army Counterintelligence Special Agent. Since fall 2001 he has been Senior Advisor
to the New England Educational Policy Center. Dr. Shibles has been a leader in national professional organizations and consultant to national and
state governments, universities, foundations, professional associations, regional educational agencies and many local school districts. At the University
of Connecticut he regularly taught graduate courses and seminars in Contemporary Educational Policy Issues, Organizational Analysis, Educational Politics
and Policy, and Research and Issues in Educational Leadership. He was major advisor for over 50 and associate advisor for 85 completed Ph.D. students;
speaker about educational policy, leadership and management issues at more than 75 major national, state, and regional professional conferences; and is
the author or co-author of books, monographs, book chapters, articles, technical reports, and instructional materials. He has served as principal
investigator for state, federal, and foundation grants.
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