Six MSU scholars named to Public Presence ranking

January 8, 2014
Barbara Schneider

Barbara Schneider

Education Week blogger Rick Hess has named six Michigan State University faculty members to the Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings, an annual listing of scholars known for making significant contributions to national debates in education.

MSU Education Policy Center co-director William Schmidt has been ranked at No. 58, and Hannah Distinguished Professor Barbara Schneider has been ranked at No. 107, both for the first time. College of Education Dean Donald Heller was ranked No. 66 on the list (up from No. 76 last year), and Rebecca Jacobsen, assistant professor of teacher education, came in at No. 168.

Other MSU representatives listed by the Rick Hess Straight Up (RHSU) blog include Gary Sykes, professor emeritus of teacher education, and Sarah Reckhow, assistant professor of political science. A total of 200 scholars were spotlighted this year.

Donald Heller

Donald Heller

Hess writes that the rankings offer, “…a useful, if imperfect, gauge of the public influence edu-scholars had in 2013. The rubric reflects both a scholar’s body of academic work—encompassing the breadth and influence of their scholarship—and their footprint on the public discourse last year.”

Several former MSU College of Education faculty members also are on the Public Presence list, such as Richard Elmore, Yong Zhao, David Cohen, Andrew Porter, Deborah Ball and David Labaree.

Read more about the rankings rubric, including the metrics used to measure public impact.