Expertise
Desegregation; Economics of education; Education Policy and Governance; Educational equity; Educational Program evaluation; Minority/Underrepresented Students; Quantitative methods; Sociology of education; Urban education

Education

• Ed.D. (2005) Harvard University Graduate School of Education
• Ed.M. (1997) Harvard University Graduate School of Education
• B.A. (1995) University of California, Santa Cruz

Highlighted Publications

• Reardon, S., Yun, J. and Kurlaender, M. (2006). The Limits of Income Desegregation Policies for Achieving Racial Desegregation. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 28 (1): 49-75.
• Kurlaender, M. (2006). Choosing Community College: Factors Affecting Latino College Choice. New Directions for Community Colleges, 133: 7-19.
• Kurlaender, M. and J. T. Yun. (2005). Fifty Years after Brown: New Evidence of the Impact of School Racial Composition on Student Outcomes. International Journal of Educational Policy, Research and Practice, 6(1): 51-78.
• Yun, J. and Kurlaender, M. (2004). School Racial Composition and Student Educational Aspirations: A Question of Equity in a Multiracial Society. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk 9(2):143-168.
• Shavit,Y., Ayalon, H. and Kurlaender, M. (2002). Schooling Alternatives, Inequality, and Mobility in Israel. Schooling and Social Capital in Diverse Cultures, Research in Sociology of Education, 13:105-124.
   
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Awards and Honors

• UC Davis, School of Education, Faculty Development Award, 2008
• Spencer Foundation: Dissertation Fellowship, 2003-2004
• Roy Larsen Research Fellowship. Harvard University Graduate School of Education, 1999-2001

Associations, Boards & Committees

• Reviewer: Annual Review of Sociology of Education, Review of Educational Research, Sociology of Education, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Educational Researcher.
• Member, American Educational Research Association, American Sociological Association.
• Program Committee, Economy, Justice & Society, Institute for Governmental Affairs, University of California-Davis.
• Faculty Policy Research Panel, Policy Analysis for California Education-PACE.
• Advisory Board, Chief Justice Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity, UC Berkeley School of Law.
• Faculty Affiliate, New Vision-Higher Education Working Group.
• Faculty Affiliate, The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University.

Courses Taught at UC Davis

• Research Design
• Economics of Education
• Quantitative Methods in Education Research
• Applied Data Analysis

Abstract

In this paper we investigate how participation in the Early Assessment Program, which provides California high school juniors with information about their academic readiness for college-level work at California State University campuses, affects their college going behavior and need for remediation in college.  Using administrative records from California State University, Sacramento and the California Department of Education, we find that participation in the Early Assessment Program reduces the average student’s probability of needing remediation at California State University by 6.2 percentage points in English and 4.3 percentage points in mathematics.  Rather than discouraging poorly prepared students from applying to Sacramento State, EAP appears to lead students to increase their academic preparation while still in high school.