Joshua Cowen
Associate Professor of Teacher Education
Joshua Cowen's current research focuses on teacher quality, student and teacher mobility, program evaluation and education policy.
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Joshua Cowen's current research focuses on teacher quality, student and teacher mobility, program evaluation and education policy. His work has been published in multiple scholarly journals and funded by a diverse array of philanthropies. He is currently co-Editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and a member of the Editorial Board at Education Finance and Policy.
Read MoreEducation
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Ph.D., Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison: M.A., Political Science
University of Michigan: B.A., History
Selected Press
Class sizes raise concerns for Mich. parents, districts, teachers
Detroit News | 2018-09-26
Joshua M. Cowen, an associate professor of education policy at Michigan State University, gathered data on class sizes at 518 Michigan school districts from the last one to five years as part of a larger study on collective bargaining agreements.
Cowen said negotiated class sizes in those districts range from 18 to 35 students in grade 4 with maximums from 22 to 35 students.
Public oversight improves test scores in voucher schools
MSU Today | 2014-06-10
In a pioneering study, Joshua Cowen and colleagues found that voucher schools in Milwaukee saw a large jump in math and reading scores the year after a new law required them to release the results. During the four years before the law was enacted, math and reading scores declined or remained stagnant...
In Senate hearing, DeVos shows ignorance of central debate over how to measure schools
Michigan Radio | 2017-01-18
Joshua Cowen, associate professor at the Department of Education Administration at Michigan State University, joined Stateside to help us understand the exchange.
First, he defined the terms.
Proficiency, he said, “is a target that sets a minimum level of achievement, where all students are expected to meet a certain threshold, essentially, that defines them as, by definition, at proficiency in that particular subject.”
Growth, on the other hand, “is basically customized for individual students based on what they scored before. So, what we’re doing is measuring distance from point A in the student’s academic career to point B.”
Cowen said the growth vs. proficiency debate can “become particularly heated” within the education community...
How will voucher-advocate Betsy DeVos affect US education?
MSU Today | 2016-11-23
Cowen’s comments on DeVos:
"My take: if she wants to follow the evidence for what works she should focus on charters, not vouchers, and push for more oversight of charters generally. But I do not believe she will."
