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Matthew A Kraft

Matthew A Kraft

@matthewakraft.com

3.8K followers 500 following 32 posts

Professor of Education and Economics. Former high school humanities teacher. Proud papa & volunteer soccer coach. Reading as much as I can about climate change. www.matthewakraft.com

Matthew A. Kraft is an American economist of education, educator, and researcher. He is currently a Professor of Education and Economics at Brown University, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Research Fellow with IZA – Institute of Labor Economics. His primary work focuses on efforts to improve educator and organizational effectiveness in U.S. public schools. Kraft also is also the Founder and Faculty Director of SustainableED, an initiative at Brown University focused on advancing research at the intersection of education systems and climate change. From July 2024 to July 2025, he was appointed by the Biden administration to serve as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. .. more

Education 82%

Business 6%

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Reposted by Matthew A. Kraft

Morgan Polikoff @mpolikoff.bsky.social · 6h

Very good advice! Instructional time matters and is an important contributor to educational inequality (as Matt's review has shown us journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3...)

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 7h

Today, I had the opportunity to testify before the Oregon House Education Committee on the importance of instructional time as they reassess their current state policies on minimum instructional time.

I encourage other states to consider raising instructional time minimums as well.

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 7h

Join us!

SustainableED @edsustainable.bsky.social · 10h

Reminder: One more week to apply to present at the inaugural SustainableED Conference!

Submit your abstract: forms.gle/yy1Gfv4nU9Th...

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 7h

But also count me on team — lets make targeted investments in teacher compensation and provide educators with great support and instructional materials. 3/3

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 7h

I think we got the order wrong in our understandable attempt to help as many kids as we could as fast as possible. We went for scale and are now trying to get to quality. We need to focus on quality & then scale horizontally (lots of small programs) instead of vertically (expanding program size) 2/3

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 7h

Mike - I think you are asking the right questions. My take is while the post-pandemic tutoring evidence has been less positive than hoped, that is in part because our expectations were inflated and our evaluations were premature. These programs take time get right at scale. 1/3

Reposted by Matthew A. Kraft

SustainableED @edsustainable.bsky.social · 10h

Reminder: One more week to apply to present at the inaugural SustainableED Conference!

Submit your abstract: forms.gle/yy1Gfv4nU9Th...

Reposted by Bruce D. Baker, Matthew A. Kraft

Annenberg Institute @annenberginstitute.bsky.social · 4d

A new @edweek.org article highlights the nation’s top education scholars. Congratulations to those recognized, including Professors John Diamond, Lindsay Page, John Papay, and affiliates Emily Oster, @matthewakraft.com, and Prudence Carter.

Who Are the Nation's Top Education Scholars? (Opinion)

The RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings recognize researchers who shape practice and policy.

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 5d

If you are a scholar working on topics related to sustainability, climate change, or the environment and your work has implications for education systems/policy (or vice versa) please consider applying to the #SustainableED Conference. Let's build a community together.

Friends - thanks for sharing!

SustainableED @edsustainable.bsky.social · 5d

This spring, we’re hosting the inaugural SustainableED Conference!

This event will convene researchers across a range of disciplines along with practitioners, non-profit organizers, and policymakers to generate policy-relevant insights from research.

🧵

Reposted by Joshua Goodman, Roddy Theobald, Matthew A. Kraft , and 1 more Joshua Goodman, Roddy Theobald, Matthew A. Kraft, Sean P. Corcoran

Beth Schueler @bethschueler.bsky.social · 5d

To ring in the new year, I'm excited to announce the launch of the Politics of Education Lab (PEdL) at the Stanford GSE. The goal is to advance understanding of the political dimensions of education policymaking to help policymakers and practitioners strengthen school systems.

pedl.stanford.edu

The Politics of Education Lab

pedl.stanford.edu

Reposted by Gema Zamarro, Scott A. Imberman, Matthew A. Kraft

Morgan Polikoff @mpolikoff.bsky.social · 5d

Fabulous postdoc opportunity at Stanford to work on the politics of education with one of the best @bethschueler.bsky.social postdocs.stanford.edu/prospective/...

Open Postdoctoral position, faculty mentor Beth Schueler | Office of Postdoctoral Affairs

postdocs.stanford.edu

Reposted by Matthew A. Kraft

SustainableED @edsustainable.bsky.social · 5d

This spring, we’re hosting the inaugural SustainableED Conference!

This event will convene researchers across a range of disciplines along with practitioners, non-profit organizers, and policymakers to generate policy-relevant insights from research.

🧵

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 7d

We spent some time in the enchanting town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico over the winter break. I was thrilled to see these solar panels covering the entire parking lot at Walmart, providing clean energy and shade from the sun.

More of this please.

Reposted by Dan Goldhaber, C. Kirabo Jackson, Matthew A. Kraft

Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 8d

We @wheelockpolicybu.bsky.social are hiring a director for our Policy-Aligned Research Agenda Buildling Lab (PARABL), to help education system leaders build research roadmaps to effect change in a particular area.

More info here:

wheelockpolicycenter.org/wp-content/u...

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 8d

A hopeful story in your news feed:

Land owned by an Illinois school district that was used as a brownfield site for industrial waste has been remediated and converted to a massive solar array.

More of this please. #SustainableED @edsustainable.bsky.social

www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol...

How community solar turned a Superfund site into savings in Illinois

A new 9.1-MW solar array will help residents of Waukegan, Illinois, reduce energy bills. State incentives for low-income solar made the project possible.

www.canarymedia.com

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 25d

Thank you @ievajusionyte.bsky.social for your powerful article in the @BostonGlobe on the Brown shooting and the plague of gun violence in the US.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/17/o...

I’m a scholar of gun violence. Not even I can process what happened at Brown. - The Boston Globe

My typical response to school shootings is to call for policy changes. But I’m afraid the task ahead is bigger than that.

www.bostonglobe.com

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 27d

Great list of education research.

www.edutopia.org/visual-essay...

The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2025

We’re back with our roundup of the most insightful studies of the year, from the power of brain breaks to groundbreaking research on AI, cell phones, and handwriting in the classroom.

www.edutopia.org

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 28d

Because we cannot say it enough.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/u...

Reposted by Matthew A. Kraft

Paul Bruno @paul-bruno.com · 29d

Updated! livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 29d

A short piece on the tragedy at Brown University—and why we must refuse to accept mass school shootings as normal.

matthewakraft.substack.com/p/the-insani...

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · Dec 14

I am numb with grief and horror and rage. Brown has been my home for thirteen years. I've taught in Barus and Holley. It was an econ class.

Hug your loved ones and tell them how much they mean to you.

Reposted by Dan Goldhaber

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · Dec 12

Impressive new RCT on professional learning/teacher beliefs/instructional practices.

It uses a team-based, theory-driven, methodologically rigorous & large scale research design to uncover core insights about increasing student engagement & learning.

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · Dec 10

Excited to see our latest paper examining student-tutor ratios in online math tutoring highlighted in @crpe.bsky.social's latest Evidence Project round up.

Paper:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Evidence Project Substack:
evidenceproject.substack.com/p/notes-from...

Reposted by Joshua Goodman, Valerie Mueller, Gema Zamarro , and 5 more Joshua Goodman, Valerie Mueller, Gema Zamarro, Scott A. Imberman, Todd Pugatch, Matthew A. Kraft, Sean P. Corcoran, Peter Bergman

Jesse Bruhn @jessebruhn.bsky.social · Dec 10

Hey #econsky! I'm organizing a workshop at Brown this Spring in partnership with Eric Nielsen and Viviana Rodriguez.

The topic is educational measurement. Please submit a paper/extended abstract! We'd love to consider your work.

And please help us spread the word to folks who aren't on bluesky!

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · Dec 9

Thanks to The Learning Agenda for inviting me to give a Thought Leader talk on *Implementing* and *Scaling* Effective Teacher Coaching Programs at their annual conference.

Happy to share a few of my key takeaways.

What else is the secret sauce of sustaining effective teacher coaching programs?

Reposted by Joshua Goodman

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · Dec 9

One of my very favorite holiday traditions! Kevin Mahnken's top graphs from ed research via @the74.bsky.social.

www.the74million.org/article/12-c...

Vax Rates, ESAs, and Cell Phone Bans: 12 Charts That Defined Education in 2025

These research findings captured the K–12 world at the start of President Trump’s second term.

www.the74million.org

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · Dec 3

I'm thrilled to share the recording of our first #SustainableED Virtual Seminar

@jorgecuartas.bsky.social's talk does an amazing job outlining the multiple pathways through which climate change affects childhood development.

Highly accessible for all audiences.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pRI...

SustainableED Virtual Seminar Series: Jorge Cuartas

YouTube video by SustainableED

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Matthew A. Kraft

Annenberg Institute @annenberginstitute.bsky.social · Dec 2

Professor of Education @matthewakraft.com provided commentary on the challenges and hopes of implementing successful tutoring at scale.

www.edweek.org/leadership/w...

Why Hasn't Tutoring Been More Effective?

Recent studies of tutoring programs show small or no effects. Why?

Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · Nov 25

I'm excited to kick-off our SustainableEd virtual seminar series with Jorge Cuartas this Monday! @edsustainable.bsky.social

It is open to the public and free - join us!

Annenberg Institute @annenberginstitute.bsky.social · Nov 24

Join our #SustainableED Virtual Seminar Series with @jorgecuartas.bsky.social, Assistant Professor at NYU and director of the CARE Lab, whose work explores how climate change shapes child development and family well-being.

🗓️ 12/1 | 🕐 1:00-1:45 EST
🔗 Register here: brown.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Reposted by Matthew A. Kraft

Annenberg Institute @annenberginstitute.bsky.social · Nov 24

Join our #SustainableED Virtual Seminar Series with @jorgecuartas.bsky.social, Assistant Professor at NYU and director of the CARE Lab, whose work explores how climate change shapes child development and family well-being.

🗓️ 12/1 | 🕐 1:00-1:45 EST
🔗 Register here: brown.zoom.us/meeting/regi...