Academics

Penn State professor named among most influential in shaping education

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State Associate Professor of Education and Demography Erica Frankenberg was recently named to the 2016 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings list of the top 200 U.S.-based university scholars who influence education policy and practice.

The list, announced by American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. and published on the Education Week website, attempts “to nudge universities, foundations, and professional associations to do more to cultivate, encourage, and recognize contributions to the public debate.” Frankenberg, also a Population Research Institute associate at Penn State, was also included on the list last year. 

Frankenberg’s research interests focus on racial and economic segregation and inequality in K-12 schools and examines how the design of school choice policy and other social policies affects racial and economic student stratification. She teaches classes on politics and policy and is the co-editor of several books and has authored numerous papers. Frankenberg is also in the process of helping to establish a civil rights and education center at Penn State.

According to the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings website, there are over 20,000 university-based faculty who work in K-12 education in the U.S.  “I’m very honored to be recognized in the top 200 once again this year,” said Frankenberg. “It is my goal to make sure educational research findings are accessible and can be communicated to different audiences, especially those who help shape policies to be more equitable.”

AEI Education Policy Director Rick Hess, who produces the list based on nominations and metrics that include academic body of work and public impact, said that by recognizing and valuing scholars who engage in public discourse, the list can serve to encourage academics to “step into the fray and revisit academic norms.”

To see the complete list of 2016 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings and find out more about its methodology, visit this post on the blog Rick Hess Straight Up, which is published on the Education Week website.

Credit: Penn State / Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated February 10, 2016

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