Kraft, Matthew

Matthew A Kraft

Associate Professor of Education

Overview

I invite you to visit my personal webpage for the most up-to-date information as well as access to working papers and published articles:

www.matthewakraft.com

Dr. Matthew Kraft is an Associate Professor of Education and Economics at Brown University, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Research Fellow with IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, and an Invited Researcher at J-PAL North America. His research focuses on two primary areas: improving the effectiveness of K-12 educators and schools, and examining how education systems can adapt to and mitigate climate change. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in leading education, economics, and public policy journals on topics such as teacher hiring, professional development, evaluation, and working conditions; new approaches to interpreting effect sizes in education research; and efforts to scale school-based tutoring and mentoring programs. His research has received over $5.8 million in grant funding from a range of federal agencies and private foundations and has been cited over 14,000 times. In 2024-2025, he served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers as a Senior Economist.

Matt is the recipient of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Outstanding Public Communication Award, the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Early Career Award, the William T. Grant Scholar Award, the Brown University Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award for the most outstanding article across the seven flagship AERA journals, and the National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship. His research is frequently featured in national news outlets and he is consistently ranked among the top 200 scholars on the Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. He holds a doctorate in Quantitative Policy Analysis in Education from Harvard University as well as an M.A. in International Comparative Education and a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University. He currently serves as an elected member of the Belmont (MA) school committee. Previously, he taught middle and high school humanities in Oakland and Berkeley (CA) public schools.

Brown Affiliations

Education

Research Areas

On the Web

Personal Webpage

Publications Visualize it

Kraft, Matthew A., Lyon, Melissa Arnold. "The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction Over the Last Half Century." American Educational Research Journal, vol. 61, no. 6, 2024, pp. 1192-1236.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Falken, Grace T. "A Blueprint for Scaling Tutoring and Mentoring Across Public Schools." AERA Open, vol. 7, 2021, pp. 233285842110428.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Simon, Nicole S., Lyon, Melissa Arnold. "Sustaining a Sense of Success: The Protective Role of Teacher Working Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic." Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2021, pp. 1-43.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Hill, Heather C. "Developing Ambitious Mathematics Instruction Through Web-Based Coaching: A Randomized Field Trial." American Educational Research Journal, 2020, pp. 000283122091684.

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Kraft, Matthew A. "Interpreting Effect Sizes of Education Interventions." Educational Researcher, vol. 49, no. 4, 2020, pp. 241-253.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Brunner, Eric J., Dougherty, Shaun M., Schwegman, David J. "Teacher accountability reforms and the supply and quality of new teachers." Journal of Public Economics, vol. 188, 2020, pp. 104212.

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Blazar, David, Kraft, Matthew A. "Balancing Rigor, Replication, and Relevance: A Case for Multiple-Cohort, Longitudinal Experiments." AERA Open, vol. 5, no. 3, 2019, pp. 233285841987625.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Blazar, David, Hogan, Dylan. "The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of the Causal Evidence." Review of Educational Research, vol. 88, no. 4, 2018, pp. 547-588.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Monti-Nussbaum, Manuel. "Can Schools Enable Parents to Prevent Summer Learning Loss? A Text-Messaging Field Experiment to Promote Literacy Skills." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 674, no. 1, 2017, pp. 85-112.

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Charner-Laird, Megin, Ng, Monica, Johnson, Susan Moore, Kraft, Matthew A., Papay, John P., Reinhorn, Stefanie K. "Gauging Goodness of Fit: Teachers’ Responses to Their Instructional Teams in High-Poverty Schools." American Journal of Education, vol. 123, no. 4, 2017, pp. 553-584.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Gilmour, Allison F. "Revisiting The Widget Effect: Teacher Evaluation Reforms and the Distribution of Teacher Effectiveness." Educational Researcher, vol. 46, no. 5, 2017, pp. 234-249.

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Blazar, D., Kraft, M. A. "Teacher and Teaching Effects on Students Attitudes and Behaviors." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2017.

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Kraft, Matthew A. "Teacher Effects on Complex Cognitive Skills and Social-Emotional Competencies." Journal of Human Resources, vol. 54, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-36.

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Steinberg, Matthew P., Kraft, Matthew A. "The Sensitivity of Teacher Performance Ratings to the Design of Teacher Evaluation Systems." Educational Researcher, vol. 46, no. 7, 2017, pp. 378-396.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Gilmour, Allison F. "Can Principals Promote Teacher Development as Evaluators? A Case Study of Principals Views and Experiences." Educational Administration Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 5, 2016, pp. 711-753.

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Kraft MA, Gilmour A. "Can Principals Promote Teacher Development as Evaluators? A Case Study of Principals' Views and Experiences." Educational Administration Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 5, 2016, pp. 711-753.

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Kraft, M. A., Blazar, D. "Individualized Coaching to Improve Teacher Practice Across Grades and Subjects: New Experimental Evidence." Educational Policy, vol. 31, no. 7, 2016, pp. 1033-1068.

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West, M. R., Kraft, M. A., Finn, A. S., Martin, R. E., Duckworth, A. L., Gabrieli, C. F. O., Gabrieli, J. D. E. "Promise and Paradox: Measuring Students Non-Cognitive Skills and the Impact of Schooling." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol. 38, no. 1, 2016, pp. 148-170.

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Kraft, M. A., Marinell, W. H., Shen-Wei Yee, D. "School Organizational Contexts, Teacher Turnover, and Student Achievement: Evidence From Panel Data." American Educational Research Journal, vol. 53, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1411-1449.

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Papay JP, Kraft MA. "The Productivity Costs of Inefficient Hiring Practices: Evidence From Late Teacher Hiring." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol. 35, no. 4, 2016, pp. 791-817.

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Kraft, M. A., Papay, J. P., Johnson, S. M., Charner-Laird, M., Ng, M., Reinhorn, S. "Educating Amid Uncertainty: The Organizational Supports Teachers Need to Serve Students in High-Poverty, Urban Schools." Educational Administration Quarterly, 2015.

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Blazar, D., Kraft, M. A. "Exploring Mechanisms of Effective Teacher Coaching: A Tale of Two Cohorts From a Randomized Experiment." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol. 37, no. 4, 2015, pp. 542-566.

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Kraft, Matthew A. "How to Make Additional Time Matter: Integrating Individualized Tutorials into an Extended Day." Education Finance and Policy, vol. 10, no. 1, 2015, pp. 81-116.

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Papay, John P., Kraft, Matthew A. "Productivity returns to experience in the teacher labor market: Methodological challenges and new evidence on long-term career improvement." Journal of Public Economics, vol. 130, 2015, pp. 105-119.

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Kraft, Matthew A. "Teacher Layoffs, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement: Evidence from a Discretionary Layoff Policy." Education Finance and Policy, 2015, pp. 1-41.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Rogers, Todd. "The underutilized potential of teacher-to-parent communication: Evidence from a field experiment." Economics of Education Review, vol. 47, 2015, pp. 49-63.

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Kraft, M. A., Papay, J. P. "Can Professional Environments in Schools Promote Teacher Development? Explaining Heterogeneity in Returns to Teaching Experience." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol. 36, no. 4, 2014, pp. 476-500.

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Finn, A. S., Kraft, M. A., West, M. R., Leonard, J. A., Bish, C. E., Martin, R. E., Sheridan, M. A., Gabrieli, C. F. O., Gabrieli, J. D. E. "Cognitive Skills, Student Achievement Tests, and Schools." Psychological Science, vol. 25, no. 3, 2014, pp. 736-744.

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Johnson, S.M., Reinhorn S.K., Charner-Laird, M., Kraft, M.A., Ng, M., Papay, J.P. "Ready to lead, but what role will they play? Teachers’ experiences in high-poverty urban schools." Teachers College Record, vol. 116, no. 10, 2014, pp. 1-50.

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Johnson SM, Reinhorn SK, Charner-Laird M, Kraft MA, Ng M, Papay JP. "Ready to Lead, But How? Teachers' Experiences in High-poverty Urban Schools." Teachers College record (1970), vol. 116, no. 10, 2014.

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Herlihy, C., Karger, E., Pollard, C., Hill, H.C., Kraft, M.A., Gregory, M., & Howard, S. "State and local efforts to investigate the validity and reliability of scores from teacher evaluation systems." Teachers College Record, vol. 116, 2014, pp. 1-28.

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Kraft, Matthew A., Dougherty, Shaun M. "The Effect of Teacher–Family Communication on Student Engagement: Evidence From a Randomized Field Experiment." Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, vol. 6, no. 3, 2013, pp. 199-222.

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Johnson, S.M., Kraft, M.A., & Papay, J.P. "How context matters in high-need schools: The effects of teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their students’ achievement." Teachers College Record, vol. 114, no. 10, 2012, pp. 1-39.

Hill, Heather C., Charalambous, Charalambos Y., Blazar, David, McGinn, Daniel, Kraft, Matthew A., Beisiegel, Mary, Humez, Andrea, Litke, Erica, Lynch, Kathleen. "Validating Arguments for Observational Instruments: Attending to Multiple Sources of Variation." Educational Assessment, vol. 17, no. 2-3, 2012, pp. 88-106.

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Hill, H. C., Charalambous, C. Y., Kraft, M. A. "When Rater Reliability Is Not Enough: Teacher Observation Systems and a Case for the Generalizability Study." Educational Researcher, vol. 41, no. 2, 2012, pp. 56-64.

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Kraft, Matthew. "Toward a School-Wide Model of Teaching for Social Justice: An Examination of the Best Practices of Two Small Public Schools." Equity & Excellence in Education, vol. 40, no. 1, 2007, pp. 77-86.

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Research

Funded Research

Principal Investigator. “Building a New Initiative at Brown on Education Systems and Climate Change” Annenberg Institute at Brown University Seed Grant. ($225,000)

2024-2027

Principal Investigator. “K-12 Public Schools and Climate Change: Risks and Opportunities” Institute at Brown for the Study of Environment and Society Catalyst Research Award. ($30,000)

2024-2026

Principal Investigator. “Catalyzing New Research and a New Initiative at Brown on Education Systems and Climate Change” Brown University Office of Sustainability and Resiliency. ($15,000)

2024-2025

Principal Investigator. “Scaling High-Dosage Tutoring within the K-12 Public Education System: A Multi-Year Evaluation of the Accelerating Scholars Program” Tennessee SCORE. ($40,000) [Co-PI Danielle Edwards]

2023-2024

Principal Investigator. “Increasing teacher diversity, supply, and retention through Grow Your Own programs” WT Grant Foundation. Grant #203453. ($525,000) [Co-PI Danielle Edwards]

2023-2026

Principal Investigator. “Can Schools Grow Their Own? Assessing New Approaches to Developing Local Pipelines of Effective Teachers” Smith-Richardson Foundation. Grant #2022-2846. ($153,010) [Co-PI Danielle Edwards]

2023-2024

Principal Investigator. “Platform-Driven Study of Cost-Effective Tutoring” Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Grant #INV-043667 ($60,000)

2022-2023

Principal Investigator. “An Evaluation of “Grow Your Own” Programs Aimed at Growing the Supply and Diversity of Teaching Talent in Hard-to-Staff School Districts” Schmidt Futures. Grant ID: 2022-6-23-1. ($100,000) [Co-PI Danielle Edwards]

2022-2023

Principal Investigator. “Evaluating the Metro Nashville Public Schools Accelerating Scholars Program” Tennessee SCORE. [Co-PI Marisa Cannata] ($80,000)

2021-2022

Principal Investigator. “Understanding and Addressing Teacher Shortages in Tennessee”

Tennessee Education Research Alliance. [Co-PI Christopher Candelaria] ($80,000)

2021

Principal Investigator. “Personalizing Math Instruction at Scale: A Meta-Analytic and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Math Tutoring Programs.” NSF 19-508 EHR Core Research Award #2100334 [Co-PI Beth Schueler] ($817,090)

2021-2024

Principal Investigator. “Reducing COVID-19 Learning Loss and Educational Inequity through Tutoring: A Meta-Analytic and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.” William T. Grant Foundation. Grant #OR-201159 [Co-PI Beth Schueler] ($40,000)

2020-2021

Principal Investigator. Scholars Mentoring Grant. William T. Grant Foundation. Grant Award #188928. [Co-PI Benjamin West] ($52,288)

2018-2020

Principal Investigator. “Exploring Competing Theories of How Teacher Accountability Reforms Affect Teacher Labor Markets and Student Achievement” Institute for Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Award # R305A170053 ($1,192,566)

2017-2021

Principal Investigator. “The Effect of School Climate on Students’ Social-Emotional Competencies” Mindset Scholars Network [Co-PIs Katie Buckley & Chris Hulleman] ($75,000)

2017-2018

Principal Investigator. “Improving the Teacher Hiring and Match Process: A Research Partnership with Boston Public Schools” Smith-Richardson Foundation [Co-PIs John P. Papay & Nathan Jones] ($150,000)

2017-2020

Principal Investigator. “How Does Eliminating Tenure and Collective Bargaining Affect Teacher Labor Markets and Student Achievement?” Spencer Foundation Lyle Spencer Award #201700052 ($494,830)

2016-2021

Principal Investigator. “Teacher Effects on Students’ Non-Cognitive Competencies: A Study of Impacts, Instruction, and Improvement” William T. Grant Scholars Program ($350,000)

2015-2020

Co-Principal Investigator. “Developing Common Core Classrooms Through Rubric-Based Coaching.” National Science Foundation DRL-1348144 [PI – Heather C. Hill, Co-PI Corinne Herlihy] ($1,499,683)

2014-2017

Principal Investigator. “Evaluating the MATCH Individualized Teacher Coaching Program.” New Schools for New Orleans ($150,000)

2011-2014

Principal Investigator. “What promotes teacher development? Examining the effect of the professional environment on the productivity growth of teachers.” Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation ($25,000)

2012-2013

Co-Principal Investigator. “Exploring the Sources of Teacher Career Productivity Growth.” Institute for Education Sciences sub-grant R305C09002 from the National Center for Teacher Effectiveness [PI – John P. Papay] ($42,090)

2011-2012

Co-Principal Investigator. “The Effect of Teacher–Family Communication on Student Engagement” Education Labs, Harvard University. [Co-PI – Shaun M. Daugherty] ($10,000)

2009-2010

Background

Education and Training

Year	Degree	Institution
2013	EdD	Harvard University
2003	BA	Stanford University
2003	MA	Stanford University

Honors and Awards

Outstanding Public Communication of Education Research Award, American Educational Research Association.

Early Career Award, Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness

Excellence in Reviewing Award, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Brown University

Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award for most outstanding publication appearing in an AERA-sponsored publication, American Educational Research Association

Early-Career Scholar Award, William T. Grant Foundation

Runner-up Award for Outstanding Dissertation, Division H (Research, Evaluation and Assessment in Schools), American Educational Research Association

Honorable Mention, Jean Flanigan Outstanding Dissertation Award, Association for Education Finance and Policy

Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation

Emerging Education Policy Scholars Fellowship, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Dean’s Summer Fellowship for Research, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Qualifying paper passed with Distinction, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Education Pioneers Graduate School Fellowship, Education Pioneers

Affiliations Visualize it

Collaborators

Name	Title
Papay, John	Associate Professor of Education, Director of Education Policy

Affiliations

American Economic Association (AEA)

Association for Public Policy and Management (APPAM)

Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP)

Society for Research in Educational Effectiveness (SREE)

American Educational Research Association (AERA)

Researchers@Brown

Researchers@Brown

Matthew A Kraft

Associate Professor of Education

Overview

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas

On the Web

Publications Visualize it

Research

Funded Research

Background

Education and Training

Honors and Awards

Affiliations Visualize it

Collaborators

Affiliations

Teaching

Teaching