By Deven E. Carlson
As an academic who primarily focuses on education policy, I'm mainly concerned with keeping up to date on research in that realm. Today's fast-paced environment makes it challenging to stay on top of all the latest developments in the field. Over time, I've devised a number of strategies to help make sure that relevant research papers, think tank reports, and Capitol Hill hearings cross my radar. Keeping apprised of developments on these fronts allows me to usefully contribute to the research and policy discussions of the day and ensures that I can provide my students with up-to-date information.
First, I subscribe to email updates from two working paper series, EdWorkingPapers and the National Bureau of Economic Research. EdWorkingPapers is a relatively recent addition to the education research scene, but it has quickly established itself as a go-to source for the latest education policy scholarship. NBER papers are broader in scope—they cover a wide variety of topics—but the weekly email blast typically contains at least one or two papers addressing education.
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