Policy Topics

Community and Social Issues

Content type
Showing 151 - 180 of 620 results
Student Working Papers

Potential collaboration between food policy councils and food hubs

October 1, 2017
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Madelyn Celovsky
In recent years, food policy in the U.S. has begun to address some of the implications of the industrialization of agriculture and the lack of food security. As it expands to include more voices and overlapping interests, the potential for...
Student Working Papers

Feeding Urbanized Farmland: Food Policy in the Midwest

October 1, 2017
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Claire M. Griffin
The connection of food systems to the urban environment cannot be ignored as cities require outside production to provide the bulk of resources needed to sustain their residents’ physical, social, and economic needs. Literature suggests that food...
Student Working Papers

The Promise of Free College

April 1, 2017
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Ingrid Johnson
It seems strange, that of all the cities, towns, and communities across America, Kalamazoo, Michigan would be chosen to make history in education. The relatively small city with the funny name, famous for innovations in the pharmaceutical field and...
Student Working Papers

Fixing the Higher Education Funding System in Michigan

April 1, 2017
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Keerthana Sundar
Education has become a key component of the dialogue surrounding the revitalization of Detroit and the economic progress of Michigan. A lot can be said, and has been said, about Michigan’s K-12 education system. Another important aspect is tertiary...
Student Working Papers

Reforming Michigan’s Charter Schools

April 1, 2017
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Casey VanderWeide
Michigan has long been on the forefront on implementing charter schools. A charter school, sometimes referred to as a public school academy, is a state-funded public school under the state constitution that is operated “under a charter contract...
MPPS

Trust in government among Michigan’s local leaders and citizens

July 1, 2013
This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding their trust in the federal, state, and other local governments, based on statewide surveys conducted in the Spring 2013 and Spring 2009 waves of the Michigan Public...
MPPS

Beyond trust in government: government trust in citizens?

March 1, 2013
This is the first of several reports on the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding citizen engagement in their jurisdictions. This report focuses on the levels of trust local officials feel toward their citizens as responsible...
Working Papers

Who Benefits from KIPP?

April 1, 2011
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Joshua Angrist (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Susan Dynarski (University of Michigan), Thomas Kane (Harvard University), Parag Pathak (MIT), and Christopher Walters (MIT)
The nation's largest charter management organization is the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP). KIPP schools are emblematic of the No Excuses approach to public education, a highly standardized and widely replicated charter model that features a long...
Working Papers

Changing Poverty and Changing Antipoverty Policies

June 1, 2010
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Maria Cancian, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Sheldon Danziger, University of Michigan
Since the early 1970s, dramatic changes in the economy, demographic composition of the population and in public policies have combined to reduce the antipoverty effects of economic growth. Because economic growth is now necessary, but not...
Working Papers

Prospects for Expanding Regional Planning Efforts

June 1, 2010
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Elisabeth Gerber, Carolyn G. Loh
We assess the potential for expanding regional planning by asking local government officials their perspectives on the potential for increasing regionalism in their communities, and the most promising approaches to achieving greater regionalism. Our...
Working Papers

Labor Market Outcomes and the Transition to Adulthood

June 1, 2010
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Sheldon H. Danziger and David Ratner, University of Michigan
This paper focuses on the labor market outcomes that represent a key marker of the transition to adulthood—the attainment of economic stability and self-sufficiency. Achieving labor market success is a necessary condition for a successful transition...
Working Papers

The Risk of Unemployment among Disadvantaged and Advantaged Male Workers, 1968-2003

June 1, 2010
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Benjamin Keys and Sheldon Danziger, University of Michigan
Over the last three decades, structural changes in the American labor market eliminated many highly‐paid, stable jobs that had previously been available to workers with a high school diploma or less. Job security is important, particularly for the...
Working Papers

Mandating Change: Assessing the Implementation of the Michigan Merit Curriculum

June 1, 2010
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Steven Byrd and Kasia Langer, University of Michigan
This report seeks to identify and quantify some of the challenges faced by districts as they push their students to higher academic levels in a time of fiscal hardship. We have conducted surveys and interviews of school and district level personnel...
Michigan Research Briefs

The Prison Population and Corrections Expenditures

March 1, 2010
The sixth brief reviews trends in crime rates, the incarceration rate, and corrections expenditures. The brief also examines potential solutions to reduce the cost of corrections while maintaining public...
Michigan Research Briefs

Smoke-Free Legislation

March 1, 2010
This first brief examines a variety of policy issues related to smoke-free legislation including economic issues, public health issues, and questions of the role of government in the private...
Working Papers

The Impact of No Child Left Behind on Student Achievement.

February 1, 2010
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Thomas S. Dee, Brian Jacob
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act compelled states to design schoolaccountability systems based on annual student assessments. The effect of this Federal legislation on the distribution of student achievement is a highly controversial but...
Working Papers

Do Principals Fire the Worst Teachers?

February 1, 2010
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Brian Jacob
This paper takes advantage of a unique policy change to examine how principals make decisions regarding teacher dismissal. In 2004, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) signed a new collective bargaining agreement that...