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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

For those interested in further details about our approach and findings, we are currently working on putting together two more detailed working papers about these results, so please stay tuned for those!

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

This work would not have been possible without the support of the Student Upward Mobility Initiative at the Urban Institute, other research & data partners, and, of course, my co-authors, to whom I am very grateful!

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

We find evidence consistent with a host of other studies about the likely importance of a broad range of math skills as well as durable (or soft) skills in both college and career pathways - but there's a lot of detail packed into this fairly short report, so I encourage you to dig in!

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

With a central focus on the WorkKeys - a career readiness assessment with growing interest and use in schools - we aim in this work to draw insights about the types of skills that best set up high school students for later educational and economic success, based on these different skills measures.

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I'm excited to share a new report, "The (Work)Keys to Success: Do ACT WorkKeys Scores Predict College and Early Career Outcomes?" in which my co-authors and I examine how students' WorkKeys scores, ACT scores, and GPAs relate to their college and early-career outcomes. epic.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

epic.unc.edu

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

New pub in EFP! Using NLSY + ONET, we compare mid-career job characteristics of 2-year vs 4-year college starters, examining not only their wages but also their job's sector, skill, & ed requirements, deepening insight into how college level shapes job & life course pathways. doi.org/10.1162/EDFP...

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Back from AEFP and looking for some more new research to dig into? Check out my latest study (led by @kevincbastian.bsky.social) examining factors that predict whether student teaching placements occur with highly effective teachers! Open-access at JTE: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Title: Access and relationships: Investigating what predicts student teaching with a highly effective teacher.

Abstract: We link student teaching placement and K-12 administrative data from North Carolina to better understand the contexts in which educator preparation programs (EPPs) and K-12 districts make placements and the factors that predict whether EPPs and districts make placements with a highly effective teacher. Our work builds on two key findings from prior literature—cooperating teachers (CTs) are critically important to the development of preservice teachers (PSTs) and information asymmetries between EPPs and districts complicate the placement process. We find that there is significant variation across EPPs in their access to highly effective teachers and that there are opportunities to place many more PSTs with a highly effective teacher. Multiple measures of prior relationships, such as the EPP having recently placed with the CT and the CT being an alumnus of the EPP, predict the likelihood of EPPs and districts placing with a highly effective teacher.

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

ICYMI - check out this new mixed methods research brief from my team on absenteeism through the 2024-25 school year!

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Excited to share a new research brief on absenteeism in NC through 2024-25! This mixed methods work shows that absence rates did not change much between '23-24 and '24-25, and describes key possible reasons why based on interviews with educators, parents, and students. epic.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

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Cara Jackson @carajackson.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

The moment many of us in #edresearch have been waiting for... Reimagining the Institute of Education Sciences has been released. ies.ed.gov/ies/2026/02/...

ies.ed.gov

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Jeremy Singer @jeremylsinger.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Now posted on @annenberginstitute.bsky.social EdWorkingPapers: What are schools doing to improve attendance? Based on school leader surveys in MI and GA, we describe the prevalence of various attendance practices and organizational systems. We find little variation, both between and within states.

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Betsy Wolf @betsyjwolf.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Curious about what people said in response to the RFI about "re-imagining" the Institute of Education Sciences (IES)? I put the public comments in one file (763 pages) and used AI to analyze the themes and areas of agreement and disagreement (5 pages) by audience ⬇️: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.com

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Web word processing, presentations and spreadsheets

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Results may encourage continued/expanded use of MATHia in these settings, but we recommend this be done with careful attention to implementation, with teachers given training & time to consider how to integrate the platform into their classrooms well. @sarahcfuller.bsky.social @mrosie.bsky.social

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Interviews revealed that teachers had some mixed feelings about the platform, but many concerns were addressed by training and coaching support provided by the platform's developer (Carnegie Math). Additional qualitative detail is available in a separate report: epic.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

epic.unc.edu

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

I want to particularly highlight a study I led examining use of the MATHia computerized adaptive learning platform (epic.unc.edu/wp-content/u...). We found that while most students in these schools used MATHia for just 15-30 minutes per week, use was associated with gains in students' test scores.

epic.unc.edu

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Hi all, sharing that my org has put online 7(!) research reports conducted in the past 2 years in our partnered evaluation of GEAR UP NC. Topics relate to implementation & usage of services, effects of those services, and sustainability of services past the grant period. epic.unc.edu/publications...

epic.unc.edu

Publications Database | Education Policy Initiative at Carolina

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Happy to share a new brief from our study of the WorkKeys in NC looking at exam participation & performance! A key takeaway: Students' WK & ACT scores are highly correlated, raising Qs about the extent to which these tests provide different info about students' skills. epic.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Recently I shared a new pub from me & colleagues on student absenteeism. To accompany this, we've also produced a one-pager to share key takeaways in brief! Article: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... One-pager: epic.unc.edu/wp-content/u... @sarahcfuller.bsky.social @kevincbastian.bsky.social

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NCARE @ncare-research.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

We are so excited to be able to offer a limited number of subsidies to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as school district personnel, to present at NCARE 2026 thanks to our generous sponsors. Proposals are due November 7th: ncafrie.wildapricot.org/conference-i...

ncafrie.wildapricot.org

Conference Call for Proposals

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Finally, for those following closely, we published a working paper version of this study about a year ago. That version only went through 22-23. Adding 23-24 data yielded important new insights, most especially that the weakened effect of absenteeism on achievement was only temporary!

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

We additionally make a case for devoting effort to understanding not only how to reduce absenteeism, but also how to reduce the negative effects of absenteeism. Students will always miss some school; making this less costly could also boost achievement.

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Overall we suggest these results show that addressing absenteeism is an important, but only partial, piece of the learning recovery puzzle. This result makes sense when considered in light of the many other challenges beyond absenteeism that schools and students are also facing today.

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

In addition, we found that the relationship between absenteeism and achievement weakened immediately post-pandemic, but only temporarily. Each absence typically lowers student achievement by ~0.0055 SDs. In 2022-23 this number was only 0.0032 SDs. But in 2023-24 it jumped back to 0.0057.

Figure 4: Coefficient plot of first-differences estimates of effect of absenteeism on achievement. The chart depicts the point estimates and 95% confidence intervals of the estimated effect of days absent on achievement in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2022-23, and 2023-24. The chart highlights that the three pre-pandemic estimates are all about 0.0055 SDs. In 2022-23, the estimate is only 0.0032 SDs. In 2023-24, the estimate is 0.0057 SDs. The confidence intervals for 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2023-24 all overlap with each other. The confidence interval for 2022-23 does not overlap with any other estimate.

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

We arrived at this by 1) identifying how much more school students missed in 23-24 than their peers in 18-19 (~3 days on average); 2) estimating the effect of each day absent on student test scores in 23-24 via first-differences (-0.0057 SDs/day, + peer effects); and 3) multiplying these together.

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

New paper! Using data from NC, we estimate that getting attendance rates back to pre-pandemic levels in 2023-24 could have improved state math achievement by 0.017-0.025 SDs in this year, or 13-19% of what would be needed for a full academic recovery. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

journals.sagepub.com

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Kevin Bastian @kevincbastian.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Here’s a new perspective piece at EdNC focused on full time principal internships in NC. Good news is that the state has decided to fund them for the 2025-26 year! But the issue—questions about the importance of the internship and funding for it—will still be there. www.ednc.org/perspective-...

ednc.org

Perspective | Maintaining North Carolina’s excellence in principal preparation

Without a state budget, future principals in North Carolina face a limited internship opportunity — three months instead of 10.

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Sarah W. Lenhoff @sarahlenhoff.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

📢 Job Posting! 📢 We are hiring TWO postdocs at Detroit PEER at Wayne State (detroitpeer.org)! We are looking for one quant/mixed methods expert and one qual/mixed expert to work with me & @jeremylsinger.bsky.social on attendance research. Apply by Oct. 10, but flexible on start date! Please share!

drive.google.com

Detroit PEER Postdoc Job Description 2025.pdf

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Jeremy Singer @jeremylsinger.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

NEW: We conducted a survey of all school leaders in Michigan in 2024-25 about their attendance strategies. Our report offers the most comprehensive evidence thus far of what schools are actively doing to reduce chronic absenteeism. @sarahlenhoff.bsky.social detroitpeer.org/wp-content/u...

How are Michigan's schools addressing chronic absenteeism?

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

An ungated preprint copy is available on my website: tswiderski.web.unc.edu/wp-content/u... Also, this study is based on public data (mostly IPEDS). I'm happy to share my code. Also happy to post it somewhere but I'm not sure where I should do that. OpenICPSR? Recommendations welcome!

tswiderski.web.unc.edu

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

My study on ACT/SAT test requirements has been issued at EEPA! Using time-varying DID, I found that requiring 11th graders to take the ACT or SAT had small to null effects on postsec outcomes, with some variation btw effects on students vs states' institutions. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3...

Picture of abstract, which reads: "Twenty-nine states require or allow all 11th graders to take the ACT or SAT in school, for free, eliminating access to testing as a barrier to college entry. I examine whether this affects postsecondary outcomes using state-aggregated panel data and time-varying difference-in-differences methods. I find policy adoption led to 2% increases in selective 4-year enrollments by students from treated states. However, adoption had no effect on enrollments within adopting states' selective institutions, in part because institutions enrolled fewer students from out-of-state after adoption. I also find null but directionally negative effects on the number of graduates from state institutions. Therefore, impacts are small but positive for students from adopting states, but null or negative for adopting states' institutions."

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Walt Ecton @waltecton.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

🚨Attention Job Seekers: We're hiring a quantitative researcher for a 1-year (possibly renewable for 2nd yr) position to study Career & Technical education! While not technically a postdoc, this would be a great fit for a recent PhD graduate! 🧵 careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...

careers.umich.edu

Research Area Specialist Associate | U-M Careers

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

If this looks familiar, it's because we've previously posted about this on our website & at Brookings! The EEPA version updates the years analyzed ('22-24 instead of '21-23) & incorporates a host of great feedback we've picked up along the way. www.brookings.edu/articles/stu...

brookings.edu

Student-level attendance patterns show depth, breadth, and persistence of post-pandemic absenteeism

Education experts compare three years of post-pandemic attendance patterns with three years of pre-pandemic attendance patterns.

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

It's also worth noting that high-attenders are also missing more school than usual, even if they're not chronically absent. The median student has gone from missing 6-7 days of school per year to 10-11 days per year. In that sense, attendance issues are also broad (affecting many students)!

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

This study highlights that chronic absence (an indicator of being highly absent in a single year) may be insufficient for understanding current attendance issues. For some students, absenteeism has become especially deep (very high within a single year) and persistent (continuing across years).

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Key results: 1) ~10% of students were chronically absent every year between 2022 and 2024, 4x more than a similar pre-COVID period. 2) ~5% of students accrued 100+ absences over these 3 years (30-35 per year, each year!). 3) These rates are higher at high-pov schools & for Black/Hispanic students.

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

New pub (open-access)! School absence rates have been above pre-pandemic levels for multiple years. We show how this is adding up for students over time, revealing that some students are experiencing especially deep and persistent levels of absenteeism. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...

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Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

New results from "The Nation's Report Card" just dropped and they are pretty bad. I got a sneak peek as a member of IES’s Standing Committee, so I had an extra day or so to ruminate about them. A few thoughts 👇 1/n

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

My hope is that sharing these thoughts can spark new conversation about possible solutions to the problems schools continue to face due to COVID's impacts. Agree/disagree with what's here? Please let me know!

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Tom Swiderski @tswid.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Out today! I wrote an op-ed for EdNC reflecting on learning recovery. I suggest that the multiple other challenges schools face (attendance, mental health, teacher burn-out) undercut recovery efforts, & offer some ideas about what that means we should do moving forward. www.ednc.org/learning-los...

ednc.org

Perspective | Learning loss is still with us. Where do we go from here?

OPTION 1: "When students are experiencing depression, anxiety, burn-out, and chronic absenteeism, they will not learn as much. When educators are burnt out and spending more time on behavioral managem...

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MarkUmbrichtPhD @markumbrichtphd.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Come join my data team! We are hiring another Strategic Research Fellow! (Or two) It’s a great opportunity for an early career researcher with an interest in higher ed policy. Priority deadline is Feb 7, more details below. northcarolina.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

northcarolina.csod.com

Strategic Research Fellow

The University of North Carolina System Office is accepting applications for the position of Strategic Research Fellow. The primary goal of the posit...

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Kevin Bastian @kevincbastian.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Excited to release, with coauthors Camille Mikkelsen and @sarahcfuller.bsky.social, a new research brief on NC’s support personnel workforce (counselors, social workers, school psychologists) through the pandemic epic.unc.edu/wp-content/u... A few key findings:

epic.unc.edu

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