Meredith Billings
LightNews LightNews
banner
billingsmer.bsky.social
Meredith Billings
@billingsmer.bsky.social
470 followers 250 following 54 posts
Assistant Professor in Higher Education, Adult Learning, & Organizational Studies at UT-Arlington. Research interests: college affordability, higher ed funding, ed politics and policy, college access, and educational governance. Avid tennis player 🎾
Posts Replies Media Videos
billingsmer.bsky.social
New pub with Amy Li on the financial needs of students in CC promise programs. We examined 7 local programs - interviewing 32 practitioners and analyzing 43 docs on program resources and financial challenges that promise students face. #highered #newpub

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
thelouvreof.bsky.social
I am begging some of y’all to read a book. At this point I will accept literally any book at all.
September 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
billingsmer.bsky.social
Free college/promise programs have been around for two+ decades. Admin who work with and implement the promise have learned a lot. Amy Li, Denisa Gandara, and I asked them about their recs for policy and practice. Here’s what they said with commentary from us: www.brookings.edu/articles/adm...
Administrators push to improve free college access | Brookings
College staff share insights to improve free college programs, reduce barriers, and support student success.
www.brookings.edu
August 12, 2025 at 8:31 PM
billingsmer.bsky.social
Any recommendations for software programs that will create a publishable-quality figure for a journal article? (Think creating a figure to describe a process or a figure to describe your conceptual framework.) Ideally free or inexpensive - but will take other recommendations too! #academia #pubs
May 28, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
wolvendamien.bsky.social
You have three days, starting today, to leave a public comment with the FDA about, say, why COVID-19 boosters should remain available to everyone and also free. "Individual consumer" is the category you most likely want (unless you are one of the other categories; if so, choose that).
Regulations.gov
www.regulations.gov
May 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
bakerdphd.bsky.social
Me, @robertkelchen.com, Diane Cheng of IHEP, and Kyle Southern of TICAS bout to have a real depressing chat on Monday. You can register if you want to join us: www.ashe.ws/events/cpphe...
The Council on Public Pouch in Higher Education at ASHE (Association for the Study of Higher Education) has a webinar on Monday, May 5th at 12:30-1:30 mountain time (2:30-3:30 eastern). Summary of the session: Join us for an urgent and insightful conversation as we take a deep dive into the state of higher education 100 days into the Trump administration. In this pivotal moment, a distinguished panel of scholars and policy experts will analyze the early effects of federal and state policies on key issues like student access and affordability. We’ll also explore the alarming implications of budget cuts to the Department of Education, the dismantling of federal data systems, and the erosion of DEI initiatives on campuses nationwide. As public perceptions of higher education continue to shift, our panelists will discuss what lies ahead for institutions, policymakers, and researchers facing an increasingly complex and challenging landscape.
May 1, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
ansleyerickson.bsky.social
#edusky colleagues, higher ed or K-12, please share. We are at Columbia, but we know that this struggle matters for education across the lifespan.

A Statement from Teachers College Faculty on the Attack on American Education

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Brownstone buildings at Teachers College looking west toward Riverside Church. Creative Commons photo by Bohao Zhao
March 19, 2025 at 9:53 PM
billingsmer.bsky.social
New pub with @itspgr.bsky.social & Denisa Gandara examining how state policymakers in New Mexico frame their support or opposition to the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship, a statewide promise program that has a flexible and generous design. #edusky #highered

epaa.asu.edu/index.php/ep...
View of “There’s something ennobling…about struggling”: State policymakers’ framing of deservingness in the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship
epaa.asu.edu
March 18, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
econroy.bsky.social
Folks at #AEFP25 I know you all worked incredibly hard on the research you are sharing this week, but if you can spare an hour, come and join the rally at ED on Friday 8am.

I’ll be there with other folks, happy to meet people who don’t want to go alone.
DMs open, darfin.81 on signal

#EduSky.
A flyer advertising a rally to support the department of education public servants who have been laid off this week. The rally will be 8am-10am outside the Lyndon b Johnson building in Washington DC.
March 13, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
carajackson.bsky.social
Objective, comprehensive, rigorous, timely, and useful:
A digital hub for evidence-based education policy research.

#EdResearch #EdPolicy

livehandbook.org
Evidence-Based Education Policy Research | Live Handbook
Explore evidence-based education policy research at our digital hub. Access data-driven insights to improve learning outcomes and shape effective policies.
livehandbook.org
March 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
travisyork.bsky.social
🧪The entire staff of the Department of Education’s NCES-a vital independent statistical agency - has just been RIFed. The continued erasure of data and evidence allows for the Trump administration to hide the impact of their corruption.
#EduSky #Scisky @aeraedresearch.bsky.social @cossa.bsky.social
March 12, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
chrisbennettedu.bsky.social
Heartbreaking to see announcements of major layoffs at most research organizations that have played a vital role in supporting federal statistics for education and developing high-quality evidence about what policies/practices actually work.

Below are just a few examples from my LinkedIn feed.
Mathematica 65,991 followers 1d • • • • To our clients, partners, and peers: We want to let you know that we are reducing our workforce to align with the needs of our clients and ensure the continued, exceptional support we've offered for decades to the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. The staff we are letting go are skilled, experienced, and passionate about their work. Any organization would be fortunate to have them. Please don't hesitate to reach out if we can be of assistance. Dan Gaylin • 2nd President and CEO, NORC 10h • 너 + Follow Like many of our peer organizations, this week NORC had to reduce our staff to ensure we are operating effectively and have the right mix of skills to align with client needs. The people departing NORC are highly talented and capable professionals, and they have made important contributions to our mission of delivering trustworthy and reliable data and analysis to inform society's most important decisions. They will be valuable employees and colleagues wherever their careers take them next. To each of you who are leaving, and on behalf of everyone at NORC, I offer our deepest thanks and appreciation for your dedicated service and the lasting impact you've made on our organization. marc MDRC 15,135 followers 9h • 0 To our collaborators: Like many of our peer organizations, MDRC has had to reduce our staff in recent days, letting go of many talented and highly skilled professionals. Each of these colleagues would be an asset to another organization, and we encourage you to consider them for any career opportunities you may have. MDRC remains committed to our mission of learning what works to improve policy, practice, and people's well-being. // Westat Westat 35,042 followers 22h • In light of recent industry changes, Westat is making strategic reductions to our workforce to better align with our clients' needs. The talented professionals who are leaving Westat have made significant contributions to our mission and embody our values of uncompromising excellence, client commitment, and innovation. They are current and future leaders in their fields and will undoubtedly be an asset to any organization they join. We remain committed to our mission to improve lives by delivering exceptional data-driven research and technical assistance, fostering insights and solutions to advance health, education, and social and economic opportunity.
March 8, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
marisakabas.bsky.social
SCOOP: Now that Linda McMahon is confirmed/sworn in as secretary, Trump will be imminently issuing an executive order eliminating the Department of Education.

I’ve obtained a draft of an email that McMahon will be sending to staff re: the EO and the department’s “final mission”.

Here is a portion:
After President Trump's inauguration last month, he has steadily signed a slate of executive orders to keep these education promises: combatting critical race theory, DEl, gender ideology extremism, and discrimination in admissions. President Trump has also been focused on eliminating wasteful bureaucracy and harmful programs in the federal government. To that end, today he signed [Executive Order XYZ, entitled "Eliminating the Department of Education,] which has given us a clear and final mission. We are to identify which of the Department's functions, programs, and offices are not mandated by statute, and eliminate them. This reorganization will impact staff, budgets, reporting, and more —and in coming months, we will determine how it can be accomplished with minimal delay and disruption. The President further tasked us with creating a plan to reallocate and reassign functions of the Department of Education that would be more effectively managed by other agencies. This plan will offer Congress a road map toward fulfilling the expectations of the President and the American people. The new vision—which I hope each of you will embrace going forward—can be expressed as four main convictions: Parents are the primary decision makers in their children's education. Students deserve to be protected from physical violence, racial discrimination, medical tyranny, and gender extremism ideology on campus. Postsecondary education should be a path to a well-paying career aligned with workforce needs. Taxpayer-funded education should refocus on meaningful learning: proficiency in math, reading, and core subjects, and patriotism in American history and civics. As we move to reduce the Department's middleman role in education, these four convictions must guide us toward conscientious and pragmatic action. The elimination of bureaucracy should free us, not limit us, in our pursuit of these goals Removing red tape and bureaucratic barriers will empower parents to make th
March 4, 2025 at 12:04 AM
billingsmer.bsky.social
Go Blue! But seriously though an important resource during these times where national datasets are disappearing.
dynarski.bsky.social Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · Feb 14
FANTASTIC

ICPSR at U Mich is coordinating the archiving of at-risk federal data (all of it?)

You can upload data you have & search for data you don’t have

www.datalumos.org/datalumos/
February 14, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
ericahgreenberg.bsky.social
🌟 Did you know that most federal education data are archived in the @urbaninstitute.bsky.social Education Data Explorer? It's a great resource for research and analysis - and there's even a full API version linked in thread. 🌟

#EduSky #EdPoliSky #EduSkyECEC
educationdata.urban.org/data-explorer
Education Data Explorer
Explore education data
educationdata.urban.org
February 10, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
aeraedresearch.bsky.social
AERA and COPAFS have issued a statement on the sudden termination of 169 contracts within IES, including those that NCES holds for the collection and reporting of education statistics. Read the full statement: www.aera.net/Newsroom/AER...
AERA and COPAFS Statement on the New Administration’s Sudden Termination of National Center for Education Statistics Contracts
AERA and COPAFS Statement on the New Administration’s Sudden Termination of National Center for Education Statistics Contracts
www.aera.net
February 11, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
deborahb.bsky.social
From a journalist friend: Just spreading the word. The CDC is purging data, so people should archive their favorite CDC datasets today, namely ones around race/ethnic diversity, LGBTQ, and reproductive health. Also health data involving climate. The youth risk behavior survey has already gone down.
January 31, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
paulgp.com
Happy to share a working paper version of @florianederer.bsky.social, Kyle and my forthcoming AEA P&P, Anonymous Attention and Abuse. We use our existing database of EJMR posts to study EJMR’s relationship with other information sources.

florianederer.github.io/anonymous_P&...

1/🧵
January 14, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
propublica.org
In 2020, we mapped out the danger zones that will close in on Americans over the next 30 years — combining climate data with wildfire projections by US Forest Service researchers.

See what changes are in store for your county.

By @shaw.al , @abrahm.bsky.social & Jeremy W. Goldsmith
New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States
According to new data analyzed by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, warming temperatures, rising seas and changing rainfall will profoundly reshape the way people have lived in North…
propub.li
January 12, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
alexmoran.bsky.social
Today is the last day to submit for Mentor Match! If you’re a student and want to have an informal conversation with the senior scholar of your dreams, please be sure to submit your response! tinyurl.com/aefpmentorma...
Mentor Match: Who's Your Dream Academic?
Thank you for your interest in the 2nd edition of Mentor Match, hosted by the AEFP Doctoral Students Community Group! This event is designed to bridge the gap between students and leading scholars in ...
tinyurl.com
January 11, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
catsofyore.bsky.social
Do you want more cats in your feed but hate image scrapers? Here is my starter pack that is all cat accounts run by real people, posting content that is non-stolen, non-AI images of their own cats or cat artwork with ALT text! go.bsky.app/J8yqxnN
January 3, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Meredith Billings
quintabrunson.bsky.social
Abbott elementary starts at 8pm this week with an hour long special. Please spread the word! 🎄 🫡
December 1, 2024 at 9:18 PM
billingsmer.bsky.social
Looking forward to reading some fiction books over the semester break. Recommendations? #books #readingisfun
December 1, 2024 at 7:05 PM
billingsmer.bsky.social
One of the things I was nervous about for #ASHE2024 was whether I could handle the cold after living in the South for seven and half(ish) years. Proud to say that my Northern blood has risen again and I am loving it 🥰🙌🏼
November 22, 2024 at 1:55 PM