Robin Jacob

Robin T. Jacob

Faculty Co-Director & Founder

Robin Jacob is a Research Professor at the Survey Research Center at Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan and a faculty Co-Director of the Youth Policy Lab. She has almost 25 years of experience conducting randomized trials and...

In the News

Thirty-two receive faculty awards at 2026 celebration

Nov 11, 2026 University Record

Thirty-two U-M faculty members received university awards this fall in recognition of their notable contributions in the areas of teaching, mentoring, service and scholarship. The recipients were honored at a Faculty Awards Celebration on Nov. 11.

Robin Jacob: Research Faculty Mentor Award Thumbnail

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...

In the News

Why Boys Are Behind in Reading at Every Age

Jan 30, 2026 New York Times

American students are struggling with reading — test scores are at new lows, and many students don’t even read whole books. But while average scores have declined for everyone, boys are doing much worse. On standardized tests, they score lower tha...

Male teacher looking at a book with a male student in a classroom

In the News

New Wayne State program aims to remove college barriers for Detroit students

Oct 9, 2025 Bridge Michigan

Wayne State University attracts thousands of students from metro Detroit and from outstate but the number of students enrolled in its own backyard, Detroit public schools, has hovered for years around 1% of the campus population. A new program aims t...

Person holding organic chemistry book on a tree-lined street

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

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

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

Publication

Small cash incentives boost participation in Medicaid home visiting program

Aug 8, 2024

Offering small cash incentives can significantly increase participation in a Medicaid home visiting program for pregnant people, infants and their families, according to a study by the Youth Policy Lab at University of Michigan. U-M researchers disco...

Pregnant person talking to another person

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

Publication

Study offers ways to boost participation in program promoting healthy pregnancies, infant growth

Jul 8, 2024

Home visiting programs are effective in promoting healthy pregnancies, birth outcomes and infant growth and development—and new University of Michigan research offers ways to increase participation among eligible families. Michigan's Maternal and Inf...

Small cash incentives boost participation in Medicaid home visiting program

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

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

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

In the News

Jacob on the effects of SEL in schools

May 18, 2023 Hour Detroit

Story: Jacob on the effects of SEL (Social Emotional Learning) in schools

News

Ford School joins Spelman College Research Day, lends support

Apr 25, 2023

In a return to her alma mater, Ford School interim dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes visited Spelman College to elevate the visibility of the Ford School at the nation’s top-ranked Historically Black College and to strengthen the relationship between the t...

Ford School joins Spelman College Research Day, lends support

In the Media

Meet the Mathfluencers: Teachers are turning to TikTok to sharpen kids’ math skills

Jun 3, 2022 The Information

Sixth graders at Polly Ryon Middle School in Richmond, Tex., clamored to get into a certain math class at the beginning of the last school year. That’s not because they’d heard rumors that the class was easy or that they’d get to watch a lot of movie...

$A teacher projecting a tiktok math video in class to capture student attention$

News

YPL study calls for mental health training and support of DPSCD staff

Mar 7, 2022

Schools are a promising setting for mental health services – they meet students where they are, surrounded by adults that they trust. Yet more research is needed to determine the most effective way to deliver those services within schools. In a colla...

YPL study calls for mental health training and support of DPSCD staff

In the News

How social and emotional learning became a priority for schools during the pandemic

Jan 12, 2022 The 74

Social and emotional learning has become very important for schools as students adjust to the many changes they have had to endure during the pandemic. According to Robin Jacob, co-director of the Youth Policy Lab, Detroit students were experiencing ...

Math games: High 5s program brings the 'math out of play'

News

YPL co-director-led project to receive $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education

Dec 15, 2021

Over a five-year period, Reading Partners and third-party education program evaluator, MDRC, will receive $8 million in Education Innovation and Research (EIR) funding through the U.S. Department of Education in order to expand Reading Partners’ abil...

YPL co-director-led project to receive $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education

News

Pre-COVID, more than half of Detroit students felt anxious or depressed, 1 in 4 considered suicide

Jun 10, 2021

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, serious mental health concerns impacted a significant portion of students in Detroit public schools, a new report shows. More than half of student respondents in the Detroit Public Schools Community District had exp...

YPL report: Pre-COVID, more than half of Detroit students felt anxious or depressed, 1 in 4 considered suicide

News

Examining Detroit students' college pathways

May 26, 2021

Academic and non-academic barriers are preventing Detroit high school students from enrolling and succeeding in college. Detroit Students’ College Pathways and Outcomes, a policy brief released by the Youth Policy Lab (YPL) at the University of Michi...

News

MDHHS partners with U-M Youth Policy Lab to evaluate Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program

Aug 13, 2020

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the University of Michigan Youth Policy Lab have been awarded a grant by Arnold Ventures to conduct a rigorous impact evaluation of Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program, the state’...

State & Hill

Faculty Findings - Spring 2020

May 22, 2020

Robin Jacob on closing early childhood achievement gaps The first five years of a child’s life are considered the most critical for development. But for too many children from low-income households, learning opportunities in those first years lag be...

In the News

U-M school mental health program expands to Detroit

Jan 8, 2020 The University RECORD

Detroit public school students will soon have access to new services to help them effectively manage symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress, under a partnership with a University of Michigan program. TRAILS — Transforming Research ...

In the News

Detroit Public Schools get $5 million for mental health care services

Nov 7, 2019 Detroit Public Radio

The Detroit Public Schools Community District received $5 million in grants and additional funds to augment behavioral and mental health services throughout the district earlier this month. The Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network awarded the dist...

An empty school hallway in Detroit. Photo credit: Jake Neher/WDET

In the News

Robin Jacob quoted in NPR story on executive function coaching

Feb 2, 2016 NPR

A story on the NPR website, “The Science of Getting Kids Organized,” looks at coaching students to build executive function—categories of skills the brain uses for general organization and judgment.

EPI Speaker Series

The on-going evaluation of a volunteer tutoring program for struggling readers

Sep 29, 2022, 12:00-12:50 pm EDT

1210 Weill Hall

Professor Tepper Jacob's talk will tell the story of an on-going evaluation of the Reading Partners program, a successful one-on-one volunteer tutoring program that serves struggling readers in elementary schools serving students from families with low-income

Maternal Infant Health Programs: A Youth Policy Lab Brown Bag

Mar 20, 2018, 12:00-1:00 pm EDT

Weill Hall 5th Floor Seminar Room (5240)