Sarah W. Lenhoff

I testified today about inter-district choice in front of the MI House of Reps education and workforce subcommittee. I was proud to spotlight the excellent and robust scholarship from MI on this topic! 🧵

Can't wait to read this!

From abstract, this also looks like an amazing teaching tool for phd students:

1. Great research question
2. Great research design
3. Unexpected results (based on researchers' priors)
4. Still produces useful refinement of expectations and theory (because of #1 and #2)

Thanks, David! Your interest in this paper a few years ago helped motivate us to keep pushing to publish it!

The Paradox of School Choice? Experimental Evidence on Choice Architecture, Anxiety, and Satisfaction - Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Huriya Jabbar, Fatima Varner, Gloria Stout, Kathleen Holloway, 2026 School choice policy is often touted as offering more choices to families whose school options are limited by traditional zoning. However, too many options or t...

This study started with a convo over coffee w/ Huriya Jabbar in 2017! We wrote two unsuccessful grant proposals, finally got internal funding, and then struggled through 4 journals to get the null findings published. Persistence and great colleagues for the win! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Our new research does not support the idea that there has been a marked increase in week-long absence streaks since the pandemic that would align with long vacations. It doesn't meaningfully contribute to elevated chronic absenteeism rates. www.aei.org/research-pro...

School transportation seems like one of those obvious resources that is essential to making public school work, yet it often gets short shrift. I was glad to work with Sam to summarize what we know about school transit usage, offerings, and effects in this @aefplivehandbook.bsky.social chapter.

😂 it is hilarious to me that this exists

Supported by both the Fordham Institute and @wallacefoundation.bsky.social, Michael Hartney and I explored the extent to which U.S. school board members are politically and demographically representative of the communities they serve.

Here's a summary of our main findings:

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Reminder to apply for our postdoc positions at Detroit PEER! Deadline is Friday and we'll be interviewing candidates within the next few weeks!

🤔

Come work with us! We’re really excited about our research on attendance and chronic absenteeism. And we’d be really excited to work with you! Reach out if you have any questions.

Detroit-based preferred, but remote might be possible. Start as early as Dec 2025 or later in Spring/Summer 2026.

📢 Job Posting! 📢 We are hiring TWO postdocs at Detroit PEER at Wayne State (detroitpeer.org)! We are looking for one quant/mixed methods expert and one qual/mixed expert to work with me & @jeremylsinger.bsky.social on attendance research. Apply by Oct. 10, but flexible on start date! Please share!

Check out our new report on how Michigan schools are addressing the persistent problem of chronic absenteeism. @jeremylsinger.bsky.social has a great thread on our key findings. Please reach out with feedback or ideas for potential collaboration on future work!

Congratulations, Alex! Ordering now, can't wait to read!

Detroit's @cityofdetroit.bsky.social city government can play a bigger role in improving the conditions for educational success for our city's young people. Detroit PEER has released four fact sheets focused on the areas our next mayor should address. detroitpeer.org/resources/

Thanks to the folks @edpolicyinca.org for giving us a chance to apply our research findings on chronic absenteeism to the CA context.

PACE - Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism in California Abstract: Chronic absenteeism—defined as missing 10 percent or more school days—has surged in California since the pandemic, with 20 percent of students chronically absent in 2023–24. This is not mere...

In a new PACE commentary, @sarahlenhoff.bsky.social & @jeremylsinger.bsky.social of WSU COE conclude that schools cannot be expected to solve chronic absenteeism alone but need community & state support to address systemic barriers for students and families. edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/ret... (1/3)

Thank you! Great collaboration as part of the REACH center at Tulane!

Using data from Michigan, we find that third grade retention for struggling readers may be a much less important component of the benefits of literacy reforms than previously understood.

(Thx, @annenberginstitute.bsky.social, for the dissemination bump!)

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

The Spencer Foundation is offering rapid response bridge funding for those who lost NSF research grants.

www.spencer.org/grant_types/...

Unmasking racial avoidance: Experimental evidence on parental school choice and public health policies during the Covid-19 pandemic COVID-19 drastically changed the school choice landscape as families considered schools with varying public health protocols as well as academic and d…

Reminds me of work by @chantalahailey.bsky.social on perceptions of school safety and quality, esp. during COVID! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

It's absolutely true that some students will be absent no matter what. We argue that health and mental health are major barriers and that drs should work with schools and families to support students, even if that means developing individualized plans for how students can succeed even when absent.

Study finds Michigan public schools need $22.8 billion for repairs. Where's the money? School buildings in the state are aging − rapidly − and a new study has found public district buildings need $22.8 billion in repairs or renovations.

So much time and money spent on testing, accountability, charters, vouchers—really what we need to do is fix the buildings, but there’s never money for it. www.freep.com/story/news/e...

We have recommendations for policymakers and community orgs, too! We need to greatly expand the table of people and organizations who are thinking of student absenteeism as a problem within their scope of influence. Schools cannot solve it alone, and asking them to do so undermines their core work.

3) Avoid counterproductive practices like punishment, penalties, and even some incentives that feel like punishment if students miss out.

4) Attendance-specific personnel should be used as expert navigators to support students with specific common barriers, like housing, transportation, or health.

While there's no silver bullet, we have some ideas.
1) Double down on relationship building and positive school culture, so when families have attendance problems, they are more likely to share them.

2) Focus data collection and analysis on the reasons students are absent, rather than the rates.

Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism A call for community-based approaches to reducing the barriers that prevent regular attendance in K-12 schools In Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism, Sarah Winc...

It has been really rewarding to finally have my & @jeremylsinger.bsky.social's book out in the world! We're finding that many school & community leaders intuitively "get" our premise but are struggling with how to move beyond the common school-centered toolbox.
hep.gse.harvard.edu/978168253961...

In our book, @sarahlenhoff.bsky.social & I recommend policymakers promote a coordinated and cross-sector approach to chronic absenteeism. I was thrilled to learn from @edalliesmn.bsky.social about exciting steps in that direction happening in MN! Some highlights: www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily...

Our book is now published! You can order it here: hep.gse.harvard.edu/978168253961...

@sarahlenhoff.bsky.social and I would be very happy to talk to anyone who's interested in learning more, or who'd like to discuss some of what they've read.