Knowledge » Action » Impact
www.american.edu/spa
Policy Analysis & Social Policy
at American University
School of Public Affairs
AU School of Public Affairs is home to top experts in the field of policy
analysis and social policy. Our faculty members study how governmental and
non-governmental entities address the challenges of poverty, hunger, health
outcomes, educational deficiencies, unemployment, and discrimination. Analytics
are employed to evaluate programs and inform critical public policy decisions.
From left: SPA students engage in class; Associate Dean Jessica Waters speaks with SPA student in Ward Lobby; Associate Professor Anna Amirkhanyan speaks with
SPA student on campus; Assistant Professor Bradley Hardy speaks with Assistant Professor Taryn Morrissey at SPA event in partnership with Feeding America.
Path to Success
AU is the top school in the nation for
Presidential Management Fellows finalists
Select Research
C H I L D CA R E S U BS IDIES AND C HILD D EVELOPMENT
Erdal Tekin and Chris Herbst conducted research to analyze the effect of childcare subsidies on child
development. Their study, “The Impact of Childcare Subsidies on Child Well-Being: Evidence from
Geographic Variation in the Distance to Social Service Agencies” suggests children receiving subsidized care the year before kindergarten score lower on cognitive tests, exhibiting more behavior problems
throughout kindergarten. But the negative effects largely disappear by the time children finish third grade.
The study suggests that, although the U.S. childcare subsidy policy has been effective at increasing
employment among low-income mothers, it has been less successful at enhancing the health and well-being
of children and families. This study is forthcoming in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.
FO O D P R I C ES AND OBESITY
Taryn Morrissey, Alison Jacknowitz, and Katie Vinopal, SPA/PhD ’16, conducted a study suggesting
that when the price of fruits and vegetables goes up, families substitute cheaper foods that may not be as
healthy or may be more caloric. The research, titled “The Influences of Local Food Price on Children’s
Obesity and Eating Habits,” was published in Pediatrics.
T E AC HE R S A N D RAC IAL BIAS
A recent study by Seth Gershenson suggests implicit racial bias may impact teacher expectations of
students. The research found that non-black teachers have significantly lower expectations than do black
teachers when evaluating the same students. Many believe that teacher expectations have a significant
impact on educational achievement and attainment. The working paper, titled “Who Believes in Me?
The Effect of Student-Teacher Demographic Match on Teacher Expectations,“ was published by the
Upjohn Institute.
Recent SPA Grads
Earn Top Dollar
%
31
$
60,000
are making more than
six months after graduation
Faculty Highlights
Taryn Morrissey studies the social determinants of child health and development,
including obesity, food insecurity, and achievement, and how public policies affect
vulnerable children and families. Her work seeks to inform policies related to early
care and education, public food assistance, and health care. Professor Morrissey also
has public-sector experience; she worked on the President’s Early Learning Initiative
as a Senior Advisor at the Department of Health and Human Services and as a Health
Policy Advisor in the U.S. Senate.
Erdal Tekin is an economist with primary research interests in health economics and
demographic economics. Within these fields, the main theme of his research is the
economic analysis of risky behaviors and the consequences of prenatal and postnatal
conditions and risk factors on the short and long-term outcomes of individuals on a
multitude of domains, including health, human capital, labor market, and crime. His
research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson
Family Foundation, and the Danish Council for Independent Research, among others.
He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER),
a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), and an editor of the
Journal of Population Economics.
Concentrations at SPA
• Social Policy: teaches students how to utilize governmental and
nongovernmental tools to address the challenges of poverty, hunger,
educational deficiencies, unemployment, and discrimination.
• Policy Analysis: combines knowledge about the administrative
functions essential to policy analysis with the skills necessary to
conduct the actual studies.
• Advanced Policy Analysis: encourages students to take more than
the single course in applied policy analysis required of all MPP students.
• Health Policy: allows students to gain an appreciation for the issues
confronting policymakers and analysts working on health issues in the
U.S. and abroad.
• Policy and Management: combines the management and leadership
strengths of the MPA program with policy courses for students interested
in general policy or a particular policy area. Includes social policy and
health policy focus.
Faculty Highlights
Alison Jacknowitz is chair of SPA’s Department of Public Administration and Policy.
Her research addresses issues related to poverty, food insecurity, food assistance,
and children and families. Her work has appeared in a variety of scholarly journals,
including: Contemporary Economic Policy, Demography, Journal of Nutrition, Journal
of Policy Analysis and Management, Pediatrics, Maternal and Child Health Journal,
Social Service Review, and the Journal of Human Resources. She is on the Technical
Advisory Board of Feeding America.
Bradley Hardy studies poverty, inequality, economic risk and intergenerational socioeconomic mobility in the U.S., with a focus on socio-economically disadvantaged families.
Related to this, he also examines the role and effectiveness of social welfare policies,
such as food stamps (SNAP) and the Earned Income Tax Credit in lowering poverty and
buffering against negative economic shocks. He currently serves as a research fellow
with the D.C. Government Office of Revenue Analysis, where he conducts research on
the economic benefits of local tax policies. He received the 2015 National Economic
Association (NEA) President’s Award in recognition of his exemplary service as a board
member to the organization, and he also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of
Policy Analysis and Management.
We Know Success
SA MP LE
EMP LOYERS
SAM PLE I NTE R N SHI P
PL ACE ME N TS
• Brookings Institution
• American Civil Liberties Union
• Deloitte
• Central Intelligence Agency
• Pew Research Center
• Facebook
• U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
• U.S. Department of State
• U.S. House of Representatives
• United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees
SPA Partnerships
Global Labor Markets
Three School of Public Affairs (SPA) faculty members have been named
Research Fellows by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Seth
Gershenson is the most recent faculty member to be chosen for the
prestigious honor. He joins Erdal Tekin and Dave Marcotte who have
been IZA Research Fellows since 2004 and 2006, respectively.
Earlier this year, IZA and SPA jointly organized the 7th Annual Meeting
on the Economics of Risky Behaviors in Izmir, Turkey. Established
in 1998 IZA is a private, independent economic research institute that
analyzes global labor markets, operating an international network of
1,500 economists and researchers spanning more than 50 countries.
Environmental Policy
SPA’s Center for Environmental Policy, led by Daniel Fiorino, partnered with
the Children’s Environmental Health Network and the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars to present a half-day forum on The Social
and Economic Costs of Climate Change for Children’s Health. The discussion featured policy and public health experts, environmental organization
representatives, and economists who addressed the current state of climate
change on children’s health, and steps for mitigating impacts.
Top, from left: Seth Gershenson, assistant professor; Dave Marcotte, professor and director of the Washington
Institute of Public Affairs; Erdal Tekin, professor. Middle: At the IZA conference in Izmir. From left to right:
Katie Vinopal, SPA PhD Candidate; Seth Gershenson, Assistant Professor; Barbara Romzek, SPA Dean; Erdal
Tekin, Professor; Taryn Morrissey, Assistant Professor. Bottom: Director of SPA’s Center for Environmental
Policy Daniel Fiorino, far left, speaks at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
S PA C E NTE R HI G HLIG HT:
Metropolitan Policy Center
SPA’s Metropolitan Policy Center was launched in 2014 to
examine ever-changing metropolitan and urban landscapes
and how those landscapes are affected by social, economic,
and political processes. Under the leadership of SPA’s Derek
Hyra, the center focuses on the various relationships that
affect affordable housing, economic and neighborhood
development, racial and ethnic diversity, social service provision, and
urban and regional governance. The forthcoming book, “Capital Dilemma:
Growth and Inequality in Washington, DC,” (Routledge Press) is one
of the center’s landmark projects, and it examines the unique city that
is the nation’s capital and how it has developed into a 21st-century
urban powerhouse.
Recent Awards and Grants
Research by SPA’s Laura Langbein and Pablo Sanabria, SPA/PhD ’12, found changes in laws had
little effect on bribe-seeking in Latin American countries. The study, titled “Independent Professional
Bureaucracies and Street-Level Corruption: Evidence From Latin America,” compared levels
of local bribery with regulatory advances in nine countries with similar levels of democracy and
economic growth between 2004-2012. Langbein and Sanabria received the JCPA and ICPA-Forum
Best Comparative Paper Award. They will be recognized at the fall 2015 APPAM conference.
Assistant Professors Bradley Hardy and Taryn Morrissey recently won grants from the University
of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Morrissey,
with Daniel Miller of Boston University, will investigate “Using Natural Experiments to Identify the
Impacts of SNAP on Child and Adult Health.” Hardy, with Tom Deleire of Georgetown University
and Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University, will examine “How Well Do SNAP and Other Social
Safety Net Programs Protect Families against the Risk of Food Insecurity and Poor Health
during Economic Downturns?”
From left: Laura Langbein, professor; Pablo Sanabria, SPA/PhD ’12; Bradley Hardy, assistant professor; Taryn Morrissey, assistant professor.
Knowledge » Action » Impact
School of Public Affairs 2015-2016 Faculty on the steps of Ward Circle Building.
Recent Events
Improving Community-Based Food Assistance Programs
The School of Public Affairs partnered with the nonprofit Feeding
America to present unique insights into how food pantry clients
combine aid from pantries and government assistance. In advance
of the event, SPA faculty members and graduate students—Alison
Jacknowitz, Anna Amirkhanyan, Jane Palmer, Michael Hatch,
Whitney Hoft, Fata Karva, and Clinton Silvey—completed a
report on the topic for Feeding America. The report suggests ways to better serve food pantry clients
and direct them toward resources.
Using Time Diary Data in Education Research
The School of Public Affairs hosted a conference titled “Using Time Diary Data in Education Research”
with support from the American Educational Research Association. Participants and presenters at the two-day event came from
a number of institutions, including the Harvard Kennedy School,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the University of Chicago, Oxford
University, American University, and the University of Maryland. The program explored the benefits of time
diary data use in academic research, and in social and education policy regarding parental involvement,
teacher and classroom evaluations, and children’s time use both inside and outside the traditional school
day. The conference generated several interdisciplinary research collaborations, currently in progress.
Top: Panelists present social policy analysis at the In Tandem event. Above: AERA provided support for SPA’s Using Time Diary Data in Education
Research conference.
In Memory of Julian Bond, 1940–2015
A L EG E N DA RY ADVOCATE FOR SOCI AL CHANG E
The AU School of Public Affairs community was saddened by the loss of Julian Bond,
distinguished adjunct professor, who died Saturday, August 15.
Julian Bond brought to the School of Public Affairs a proud legacy as a leader of the civil rights
movement and as an advocate for social change. Bond said of his experience at AU School of
Public Affairs: “After teaching at many fine schools, the students I am closest to are those I met
and taught at SPA. We have developed lasting and continuing relationships.”
Bond joined SPA in 1991 as a distinguished adjunct professor of government. During his time here,
he taught more than 500 students. His classes—an honors course focusing on the oral history of the
civil rights movement, and an advanced study of the politics of civil rights—were always filled with
students eager to learn from a legend.