Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 01/10/2026The new academic year is finally underway at Stanford. Here's a real-time photo of me as I discuss the need for—and feasibility of—preregistering quasi-experimental studies. More here: tom-dee.github.io/files/QED_Pr... 1234
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeAnnenberg Institute @annenberginstitute.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Thank you to all who joined the EdWorkingPapers webinar with @tomdee.bsky.social and featuring @andrewmcamp.com, Jeremy Singer, and their co-authors. Join our email list to make sure you hear when the next webinar is announced: mailchi.mp/annenbergins... 044
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 09/06/2026My expectations for tomorrow's Congressional hearing with district superintendents are not high: “Some members of Congress, especially in an election year, would rather talk about anything other than their unrelenting support for an unpopular president and an unpopular war and economic precarity."kqed.orgCongress to Grill San Francisco Schools Chief Maria Su About Gender, Ethnic Studies | KQEDRepublican lawmakers are likely to ask about rules related to parents’ rights, race and sexuality in the city’s K-12 public schools. 001
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeAnnenberg Institute @annenberginstitute.bsky.social · 04/06/2026Register now for the June 17 EdWorkingPapers webinar facilitated by tomdee.bsky.social and featuring @andrewmcamp.com, Jeremy Singer, and their co-authors. edworkingpapers.com/webinar-series 065
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeJeremy Singer @jeremylsinger.bsky.social · 03/06/2026I‘m really excited to talk about our research on attendance with @andrewmcamp.com, @tomdee.bsky.social, and our colleagues! 0102
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeAndrew Camp @andrewmcamp.com · 03/06/2026Looking forward to sharing some of my recent work + learn from some fantastic researchers in just 2 weeks! Check it out, sign up, and join us ⬇️ 082
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 08/05/2026An increase in disciplinary incidents and a decline in self-reported student well-being but they occur only in the first year of a binding phone ban. 100
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 07/05/2026Study co-author here just to point out our analysis also focused on disciplinary incidents, attendance, student reports of subjective well-being, classroom attention, & online bullying, and survey data on parent & teacher perspectives. Open access: tom-dee.github.io/files/w35132... 040
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeSIEPR @siepr.bsky.social · 04/05/2026📵 This just in: results of the first large study of cell phone bans in U.S. schools, from SIEPR's Hunt Allcott, @tomdee.bsky.social and Matthew Gentzkow. Key findings + links to @nytimes.com exclusive + study ⬇️ #EducationPolicy 121
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 04/05/2026Open access to the NBER working paper (www.nber.org/papers/w35132) is available here: tom-dee.github.io/files/w35132.... 030
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 04/05/2026School phone bans are popular with parents, teachers, & policymakers. But are they working? Using national data on the sale of lockable pouches to schools, our new study indicates they sharply reduce phone use but have mixed effects on outcomes. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/u...nytimes.comDid School Cellphone Bans Work? New Study Finds Mixed Results. 243
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 19/04/2026I wish I could be as sanguine as Matt & Robert. IMHO, high-quality, causal inference still occupies small, contested spaces in ed schools. The larger field has produced too few evidence-based insights relevant to policy & practice. And other professional schools differ in mixing rigor & advocacy. 1120
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeBrendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 18/04/2026Quantitative research in education is scandalously bad 23888
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 16/04/2026I'm pleased to be in DC today to speak at a congressional briefing on safe and supportive school environments and particularly to underscore the research on how recent immigration raids are influencing students and schools. 020
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Yes. A *highly* controversial 2014 reform effectively required all students to wait until 9th grade to take Algebra with the reasoning based on equity concerns and claims about the deleterious effects of acceleration. The results were as you might expect (tom-dee.github.io/files/ER_202...). 110
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 25/03/2026However, I still see these early results as a cause for some celebration—and an example of the underappreciated power of reforms that raise student expectations and expand access to rich academic content. 090
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 25/03/2026There are multiple challenges ahead as San Francisco moves to scale up 8th grade access to Algebra, particularly with respect to promoting Algebra readiness among historically underserved students. 160
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Students who took Algebra as an additional math class (AMC) experienced substantial learning gains while students at "Algebra for All" sites skipped Math 8 without clear academic harm. 1130
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 25/03/2026In the last school year, after years of controversy, San Francisco schools fielded pilots that reintroduced Algebra to 8th grade. A preregistered, quasi-experimental study by Elizabeth Huffaker and me indicates the major pilots were largely successful. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/u...nytimes.comSan Francisco Killed 8th-Grade Algebra. Now It’s Set to Come Back. 1508
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeSIEPR @siepr.bsky.social · 17/03/2026The steep ⬇️ in U.S. public school enrollment during the pandemic has not reversed, SIEPR's @tomdee.bsky.social tells @theguardian.com in a fascinating story about the difficult. choices cash-strapped schools now face. "There are no free lunches," Dee says. Link 👇 #PublicEducation #EduSky 111
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 26/02/2026I had to read this from the state superintendent twice: “Well, it’s not fraud. Most of it is just mistakes” Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. 3342
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 23/02/2026I spoke with The Minnesota Star Tribune about the research evidence, mine and others, which indicates the many ways in which aggressive immigration enforcement harms children, schools, and communities. www.startribune.com/coronavirus-...startribune.comPerry: The learning loss from the ‘ICE pandemic’"As Trump’s virus lurked around Minnesota schools looking to kidnap children and their parents, many children quite reasonably went into hiding," David M. Perry writes. 023
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeMargaret Thornton @maggiethornton.bsky.social · 09/02/2026Glad to see @tomdee.bsky.social and Elizabeth Huffaker's work on accelerating opportunity in Algebra I out of the working papers and into @aeraedresearch.bsky.social! doi.org/10.3102/0002...doi.orgAccelerating Opportunity: The Effects of Instructionally Supported Detracking - Thomas S. Dee, Elizabeth Huffaker, 2026The pivotal role of algebra in the educational trajectories of U.S. students continues to motivate high-profile policies focused on when students access the cou... 1157
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 07/02/2026FWIW, the detracking debate makes me crave a deeper discussion about the modal "college for all" design of high schools and the potential for design-forward alternatives that provide flexible, equitable access to different college & career pathways. 010
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeLudger Woessmann @woessmann.bsky.social · 26/01/2026📢 Call for papers: CESifo Area Conference on Economics of Education co-organized w/ Eric Hanushek (Stanford) 🏛️ 11-12 Sept 2026, Munich 🧑🏫 Keynote: John List (Chicago) @johnlist.bsky.social 👉 www.ifo.de/en/cesifo/ev... ⏰ Deadline: 11 May 2026 🖼️ Past programs: sites.google.com/view/woessma... 13825
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeJeremy Singer @jeremylsinger.bsky.social · 17/12/2025For context, this drop in attendance rates related to the measles outbreak (about 93% to 90%) is almost as large as the initial drop in TX attendance rates from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic (95% in 2018-19 to 91% in 2021-22). (TX attendance trends over time here: www.aei.org/research-pro...) 246
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeSofía Wilson @sofia-wilson.bsky.social · 17/12/2025In 2000, measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. Today, declining child-vaccination rates are driving the largest measles resurgence we've seen in 3+ decades. How do these outbreaks impact schooling? @tomdee.bsky.social and I examine this question in West Texas, the country's largest outbreak. 151
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 17/11/2025Our preregistered study of mental-health co-responders—now out in Nature Human Behaviour (doi.org/10.1038/s415...) —finds positive benefits in terms of significant reductions in psychiatric detentions and future mental-health crises relative to police-only responses. 030
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 14/11/2025Thanks. FYI, my study came out last week in @pnas.org and is open access: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...doi.orgPNASProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans... 010
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Open access is available here: doi.org/10.1073/pnas....doi.orgPNASProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans... 020
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 04/11/2025The aggressive immigration raids we now see across the nation began 10 months ago in California's Central Valley. Their impact on children, families, and communities is an important & active area of research I'm pleased my study of the initial raid's early impact on students is now out in @pnas.org 12815
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 27/10/2025👍 but I think it's far less difficult (and constraining of discovery) than some people think. For example, it's simple enough to preregister a "decision tree" of research designs to be informed by robustness checks. The key thing is to create transparency to support sense-making of study results 020
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 27/10/2025Empirical evidence and conceptual reasoning suggest quasi-experimental studies—the most common form of studies making causal claims—have a "p-hacking" problem. My essay on this and the case for adapting & adopting QED preregistration is now published in Evaluation Review. doi.org/10.1177/0193...doi.orgSage Journals: Discover world-class researchSubscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher. 1104
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 24/10/2025Such a warm, engaging, and informative visit! My thanks to the @annenberginstitute.bsky.social at Brown University for inviting me to give the Annenberg 2025 Distinguished Lecture. 050
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 16/10/2025Not sure but always happy to connect! I plan to stress some of the aligned ideas in this recent @edweek.org #K12BigIdeas essay👇 and your recent book! (www.amazon.com/rethinking-c...). www.edweek.org/leadership/o...edweek.orgHigh Quality Research Rarely Informs Classroom Practice. Why? (Opinion)The connection between education research, policy, and practice is broken. Here’s what it would take to fix it. 110
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 16/10/2025I'm honored to give the Annenberg 2025 Distinguished Lecture next week and looking forward to being in conversation with this outstanding community. 170
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 06/10/2025Know any aspiring PhD students interested in quant studies in education? Please direct them to our programs in ed policy, econ of ed, or ed data science! I hope to welcome an energetic & ambitious student to join me in our new building 🌴☀️ Applications due November 17 ed.stanford.edu/admissions/a...ed.stanford.eduApply for Admission | Stanford Graduate School of EducationAs you prepare your application, familiarize yourself with the admission process and timeline for your desired program below. Note that the application for 2026-2027 entry is not yet available. 022
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 03/10/2025🚨Do you know a school, system, or network doing amazing work in support of student success in high school, particularly through a continuous-improvement approach? Let's recognize them! Encourage them to apply for the Carnegie Award for Impact (cfdn.at/4o4gp58). Applications due on November 10. 032
Reposted by Thomas S. DeePaige Kowalski @paigekowalski.bsky.social · 20/09/2025I have watched states delay releasing test scores for months as they work to message results and hope no one is paying attention. 041
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 12/09/2025It's gratifying to see my recent immigration-raid research actually being used. wapo.st/42mWdTnwapo.stTeachers sue over Trump's immigration crackdown, saying students are staying homeLabor unions representing educators and school employees are suing President Donald Trump’s administration over its immigration crackdown 0259
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeMargaret Thornton @maggiethornton.bsky.social · 11/09/2025"Educators should also understand the limitations of research evidence. Rigorous impact evaluations...can only tell us what has worked someplace at some time—not what will work universally for educators facing specific challenges." - @tomdee.bsky.social www.edweek.org/leadership/o...edweek.orgHigh Quality Research Rarely Informs Classroom Practice. Why? (Opinion)The connection between education research, policy, and practice is broken. Here’s what it would take to fix it. 062
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeDan Willingham @dtwuva.bsky.social · 11/09/2025Why aren't practices based on research implemented in schools? @tomdee.bsky.social has insights, and ideas for change. www.edweek.org/leadership/o...edweek.orgHigh Quality Research Rarely Informs Classroom Practice. Why? (Opinion)The connection between education research, policy, and practice is broken. Here’s what it would take to fix it. 02811
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeCara Jackson @carajackson.bsky.social · 09/09/2025"...embrace opportunities for quick and meaningful wins. These are the common-sense education initiatives that share three critical features: evidentiary support, low financial costs, and scalability." - @tomdee.bsky.social www.edweek.org/leadership/o...edweek.orgHigh Quality Research Rarely Informs Classroom Practice. Why? (Opinion)The connection between education research, policy, and practice is broken. Here’s what it would take to fix it. 2106
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 08/09/2025Just out in @edweek.org's #K12BigIdeas, I criticize the quality & connectedness of education research, policy, & practice and discuss what it would take to do better. www.edweek.org/leadership/o...edweek.orgHigh Quality Research Rarely Informs Classroom Practice. Why? (Opinion)The connection between education research, policy, and practice is broken. Here’s what it would take to fix it. 040
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 11/07/2025Thanks for flagging that. There seems to be some agreement on the role of post Great Recession spending declines? 000
Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 11/07/2025I'm curious how people view hypotheses about these achievement declines. I incline towards (1) the failure to refine & sustain school accountability & (2) the rise of smart phones & social media. But that's conjectural without better evidence. 300
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeEric Dearing @ericdearing.bsky.social · 10/07/2025Have we given too much "credit" to the pandemic for learning losses? Almost 50% of the post-pandemic decline in achievement on 8th grade NAEP was to be expected (without the pandemic!), simply using the same rate of declining achievement that began unfolding starting in 2013! 285
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeAnnenberg Institute @annenberginstitute.bsky.social · 02/07/2025The @nytimes.com spotlighted a new study from #EdWorkingPapers that examines the profound impact of immigration raids on attendance in California's Central Valley. Read the NYT article below. 042
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeEdSource @edsource.org · 20/06/2025Immigration raids in January and February increased absences by 22% in five school districts, according to a newly released Stanford study.edsource.org‘There was a lot of fear’: Central Valley immigration raids drive up absences in schools, study findsImmigration raids in January and February increased absences by 22% in five school districts, according to a newly released Stanford study. 042
Reposted by Thomas S. DeeSIEPR @siepr.bsky.social · 17/06/2025🚨New research from SIEPR Senior Fellow @tomdee.bsky.social finds that student absences rose amid intensified immigration enforcement, indicating lost learning opportunities. 👇 bit.ly/3I1vGDJbit.lyStudent absences increased under threat of deportation efforts, study findsNew research by SIEPR Senior Fellow Thomas Dee finds a 22 percent jump in student absences in California school districts facing intensified immigration enforcement. 072