News | Youth Policy Lab

News

CNN: Study finds school phone bans yield mixed results

May 6, 2026

Brian Jacob was interviewed on CNN about the recent NBER working paper that described the findings of the national school cell phone policy study.

Screenshot of Brian Jacob interview on CNN

News

Youth Policy Lab welcomes Morehouse and Spelman students to 2026 ASPIRE summer program

Apr 27, 2026

The Youth Policy Lab at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Institute for Social Research is proud to announce the 2026 Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE) cohort. This summer, Spelman students Toni Flemmi...

Youth Policy Lab welcomes Morehouse and Spelman students to 2026 ASPIRE summer program

In the News

Four faculty members recognized with research awards

Apr 23, 2026 The University Record

The Office of the Vice President for Research will award four research faculty members from across the University of Michigan for their leadership and significant contributions in fields ranging from economics and rehabilitation medicine to human gen...

Robin Jacob: Research Faculty Mentor Award Thumbnail

News

What happens when schools restrict phones? U-M Youth Policy Lab convenes national conference as new studies get underway

Apr 16, 2026

On April 10, the University of Michigan's Youth Policy Lab (YPL) convened a National School Cell Phone Policy Conference, inviting researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from Michigan and beyond to compare notes on a rapidly changing school pol...

News

First-of-its-kind national educator survey reveals both promise and peril in school cell phone policies

Feb 27, 2026

Teachers report more face-to-face interaction as bell-to-bell bans spread, but laptops emerge as next challenge. Over 68,000 teachers surveyed to date; data collection to continue through end of school year.

First-of-its-kind national educator survey reveals both promise and peril in school cell phone policies

News

Michigan governor signs classroom cell phone ban: U-M experts available to comment

Feb 11, 2026

Jacob comments on competing screen policies for students

News

Ford School faculty among the nation's top education scholars

Jan 8, 2026

Professors Sarah Cohodes, Brian Jacob, and Christina Weiland are ranked among the top 200 university-based scholars in the U.S. who had the biggest impact on educational practice and policy last year. This is according to Education Week's 2026 RHSU E...

Ford School faculty among the nation's top education scholars

News

U-M experts to examine cell phone policies in Michigan schools, effects on student well-being

Oct 2, 2025

RESEARCH TO WATCH WHAT’S THE STUDY: A multidisciplinary team of University of Michigan researchers has received a grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct interviews and surveys to understand how school cell phone policies acr...

U-M experts to examine cell phone policies in Michigan schools, effects on student well-being

News

Youth Policy Lab annual report highlights year of pivotal research and growing training programs

Sep 12, 2025

The Youth Policy Lab (YPL) at the University of Michigan marks another year of growth, rigorous research, and deepening partnerships, as documented in its newly released annual report. For nearly a decade, YPL has been deeply committed to exploring a...

Youth Policy Lab annual report highlights year of pivotal research and growing training programs

News

Ford School team receives Accelerate grant from U-M Bold Challenges Initiative to advance early intervention for children with disabilities

Sep 4, 2025

A team led by Christina Weiland, Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative, and Catherine Asher, assistant research scientist at the Youth Policy Lab, has been selected for the University of Mi...

Ford School team receives Accelerate grant from U-M Bold Challenges Initiative to advance early intervention for children with disabilities

News

Analyzing the numbers: 5 ASPIRE students reflect on a summer of policy research and personal growth

Aug 11, 2025

Rising Morehouse College senior Tyler Mathieu had one goal in mind when he arrived in Ann Arbor for the Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE): stay open-minded. “When I applied, it was a shot in the dark,” he said. “Now I ...

News

Brian Jacob: Michigan's education system needs structural reform now

Aug 4, 2025

After a year of studying Michigan’s K-12 education system — reviewing the academic literature, analyzing data, interviewing and surveying stakeholders, and examining state practices nationwide — one thing is clear: The current system of state-level e...

Photo of Brian Jacobs with quote from op-ed

News

Youth Policy Lab welcomes Morehouse and Spelman students to 2025 ASPIRE summer program

Jun 2, 2025

The Youth Policy Lab (YPL) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Institute for Social Research is proud to announce the 2025 Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE) cohort. This summer, Spelman students Ke'Zh...

Youth Policy Lab welcomes Morehouse and Spelman students to 2025 ASPIRE summer program

News

Career and tech education is booming, Brian Jacob says research can make it more effective

May 27, 2025

As popularity for career and technical education (CTE) programs increases, education economist Brian Jacob and YPL Project Manager Lynn Meissner make a case for robust data collection and research to understand their long-term impact on students. The...

Career and tech education is booming, Brian Jacob says research can make it more effective

News

What is the secret to better reading outcomes?

May 26, 2025 Education Week

As states have struggled for decades to improve 3rd grade literacy on a large scale, many have enacted policies to hold struggling readers back a year. Education Week recently highlighted Christina Weiland and Brian Jacob's evaluation of Michigan’s “...

What is the secret to better reading outcomes?

News

Federal funding supports critical education research at the University of Michigan

Mar 21, 2025

A new brief from the Ford School's Education Policy Initiative and Youth Policy Lab shows the impact of federally funded education research. The policy-relevant research is developed in partnership with local and state agencies, practitioners, and po...

Federal funding supports critical education research at the University of Michigan

News

Cohodes, Jacob, and Weiland make Education Week’s 2025 public influence rankings

Jan 9, 2025

Education Week has announced the annual 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, which highlights scholars who made significant contributions to educational practice and policy in the past year. Three Ford School faculty members have been ran...

Cohodes, Jacob, and Weiland make Education Week’s 2025 public influence rankings

News

State program significantly reduces homelessness, utility insecurity, U-M report reveals

Dec 3, 2024

The pilot of a Michigan program created to help improve health outcomes for pregnant parents and their children shows positive impacts on families, including food and financial security and housing stability, according to a new report from the Univer...

State program significantly reduces homelessness, utility insecurity, U-M report reveals

News

Beating the odds: Students at Detroit public schools are less depressed, anxious

Nov 11, 2024

The share of 8th-12th grade students reporting depression and anxiety symptoms fell below pre-pandemic levels in 2022-23 in the Detroit Public School Community District—which is the opposite of national trends. The most substantial improvements were ...

Beating the odds: Students at Detroit public schools are less depressed, anxious

News

ASPIRE program bridges research and real-world impact

Aug 6, 2024

When Chaelee Farquarson learned about the Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE), she applied out of curiosity. As a rising senior studying psychology at Spelman College, much of her research was theoretical. “I was drawn t...

ASPIRE program bridges research and real-world impact

News

Youth Policy Lab celebrates growth and expansion in annual report

Aug 5, 2024

Since launching in 2016, The Youth Policy Lab (YPL) at the University of Michigan has helped community and government agencies make informed, impactful policy and program decisions. The most recent annual report shares remarkable growth and expansion...

Youth Policy Lab celebrates growth and expansion in annual report

News

Youth Policy Lab welcomes Spelman and Morehouse students to 2024 ASPIRE Summer Program

May 24, 2024

Summer 2024 brings another exceptional cohort of undergraduate students from Spelman College and Morehouse College to the University of Michigan’s Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE). Launched in 2023, the eight-week s...

Youth Policy Lab welcomes Spelman and Morehouse students to 2024 ASPIRE Summer Program

News

Ford School researchers to study Michigan’s education governance

May 1, 2024

In partnership with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), a team of researchers from the Ford School will conduct a study into how Michigan’s education governance system can be improved for the benefit of public school students. “An effective s...

Ford School researchers to study Michigan’s education governance

News

Embracing Growth Mindsets: A Practical Approach for Leaders to Address Class-Based Disparities

Mar 6, 2024

In work environments where a four-year degree is the norm, employees who are skilled through alternative routes (STARs), such as apprenticeships or on-the-job training, are less likely to feel like they belong in those environments, contributing to l...

Embracing Growth Mindsets: A Practical Approach for Leaders to Address Class-Based Disparities

News

Youth Policy Lab fellowships bridge public policy and academic research

Mar 5, 2024

Since 2019, the Youth Policy Lab has partnered with the State of Michigan and with local school districts to place early-career professionals in government agencies to make specific, measurable improvements in policies and programs that impact Michig...

Youth Policy Lab fellowships bridge public policy and academic research

News

School enrollment during COVID-19: U-M study reveals racial disparities

Feb 21, 2024

Student enrollment in districts that provided in-person schooling in fall 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic showed a greater decline among nonwhite students than white students. But in districts that offered virtual learning, the opposite was true, a...

School enrollment during COVID-19: U-M study reveals racial disparities

News

Inaugural ASPIRE cohort enjoys rewarding summer research experience with the Youth Policy Lab

Aug 24, 2023

Summer 2023 proved to be eventful and rewarding for the inaugural Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE) cohort. The program, a collaboration between the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Spelman College, provided ...

Inaugural ASPIRE cohort enjoys rewarding summer research experience with the Youth Policy Lab

News

PPIA students reflect on their summer of study and social life

Aug 2, 2023

What are the dynamics of inequity in labor markets? How do we determine appropriate categories for people in a multicultural society? How is the U.S. approach to ethnicity and nationality different from what they are doing in Europe? These were...

PPIA students reflect on their summer of study and social life

News

Ford School welcomes PPIA 2023 cohort

Jun 19, 2023

The 2023 Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute (JSI) has welcomed 23 students from 11 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This year’s cohort will spend seven weeks taking classes, participating in polic...

News

Spelman students chosen for the Youth Policy Lab’s summer policy research experience

May 23, 2023

This summer, four outstanding undergraduate students from Spelman College will participate in the University of Michigan’s Applied Social Policy Internship and Research Experience (ASPIRE)—a seven-week summer program run by the Youth Policy Lab (YPL)...

Spelman students chosen for the Youth Policy Lab’s summer policy research experience