Biography
Brooks Bowden is an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Professor Bowden serves as the director of the Center for Benefit–Cost Studies of Education and director of the University of Pennsylvania’s IES-funded Predoctoral Training Program in Interdisciplinary Methods for Field-based Research in Education. She is an editor of AERA’s flagship policy journal, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. She holds a visiting appointment at the Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering at Politecnico di Milano.
Professor Bowden’s work is motivated by the goal to improve children’s trajectories by minimizing barriers related to poverty and vulnerability. Her research focuses on human capital development in the areas of early childhood, engagement and effort during critical periods of transition, and holistic support inside and outside of school. To accomplish this, she applies causal designs to examine costs and effects to inform policy and practice. She is particularly interested in opportunities to strengthen children’s experiences by leveraging resources that complement school inputs, such as parents/caregivers, community-based organizations, and volunteers. She also studies ways to address barriers or incentives that drive access and participation in school, food services, and early childhood services. Across all of her work, she aims to strengthen the efficiency of public services and schools by providing evidence that is relevant and consequential.
In addition to her applied policy and intervention research, Professor Bowden also seeks to strengthen and support the evidence ecosystem. She contributes methodological work on approaches to examine efficiency and cost effectiveness. In addition to her role as a professor at Penn, she provides mentorship and trainings. She serves on review panels and provides expert advisement for a range of projects. She is also very interested in the role of research to support the efficient allocation of public resources and policy, particularly in the area of education.
Before focusing on policy, Professor Bowden worked as a behavior analyst, specializing in autism and developmental disabilities. She provided 1:1 early intervention services at home and in school settings, supported IEP development and implementation in schools, and provided training and consultation supports for providers and schools. While her work spanned ages and areas of learning, her specialization was teaching verbal behavior to increase the likelihood of long-term independence in school and in life.
Professor Bowden’s work spans the fields of education policy, economics of education, and program and policy evaluation. She is a co-author of the primary text on cost-effectiveness, Economic Evaluation in Education: Cost-Effectiveness and Benefit–Cost Analysis (3rd edition). Her work was recently published in the American Economics Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, AERA Open, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly. She has received awards from the Teachers College Alumni Association, the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. She was recently awarded research funding by the State of North Carolina, the Institute for Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education, Penn Global, and the Neubauer Foundation.
Education
- Ph.D. (Education Policy) Columbia University, 2014
- M.S.Ed. (Education Policy) University of Pennsylvania, 2007
- M.S. (Psychology) Auburn University, 2003
- B.A. (Psychology) Auburn University, 2002
Areas of Expertise
- Human capital development
- Economic evaluation & cost effectiveness
- Designing field trials & causal studies
- Comprehensive support Pre-K–20
- Leveraging external educational resources
- Early childhood education and intervention
- Evidence ecosystems for policy
More Information
Academic Programs
Education Policy, M.S.Ed. Education Policy, Ph.D.Research Interests and Current Projects
Professor Bowden is currently working on several projects, including:
- Economic Evaluation of a School-Based Mental Health Program with Jane Cooley-Fruehwirth and Nicole Lawrence.
- SNAP Participation: How Community Resilience Shapes Access in North Carolina with Katie Pullom.
- Playing the Percentages: Do Students Chase Easy A’s When the AP Premium Fades? with Victoria Carbonari.
- Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Italian Schools with Gabriele Iannotta and Tommaso Agasisti.
Publications
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