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Douglas Gagnon: Equity, Schools, and the American Dream

What the Data Tell Us About the Future of Equity-Oriented Policy

Date of Lecture: February 9, 2016

Douglas GagnonAbout the Speaker: Douglas Gagnon is a research associate at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy. His research has focused on teacher quality and effectiveness, equal opportunity in K-12 public schools, federal and state equity-oriented policy, contexts of urbanicity, and student discipline. He has published his research in a number of peer-reviewed journal articles and policy briefs.

About the Talk: Gagnon shares the extent to which upward mobility, or the American Dream, is determined by parents' household income, geography and level of education. He explores the issue of equity in schools by states' funding schemes, academic rigor, and quality of teachers. Finally, he discusses federal education policy and suggests the need to reframe some education issues as ones of poverty, and some economic issues as impacting education.

Watch the lecture below or download it free from iTunes U.