Greer Mellon
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greermellon.bsky.social
Greer Mellon
@greermellon.bsky.social
170 followers 210 following 14 posts
Sociologist researching organizational transitions in education and the labor market. Focus on school district leadership and politics. Postdoc at Brown PSTC & Annenberg Institute. On the job market in Fall 2025. http://greermellon.com
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greermellon.bsky.social
After hearing a teaser of the results at AEFP last year, I'm excited to fully read this exciting new paper on the impact of Montessori preschool programs! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
A national randomized controlled trial of the impact of public Montessori preschool at the end of kindergarten | PNAS
Although seminal studies from the early 1960s suggested quality preschool can have lasting positive effects, agreement is lacking on the efficacy o...
www.pnas.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
agamoran.bsky.social
Great to see @greermellon.bsky.social with the lead article in the latest ASR. And there’s good news: even in polarized times, school boards are selecting superintendents based on perceived competence and interpersonal skills, not party affiliation. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Competence over Partisanship: Party Affiliation Does Not Affect the Selection of School District Superintendents - Greer Mellon, 2025
In recent decades, affective polarization and partisan animosity have risen sharply in the United States. To what extent have these trends affected hiring decis...
journals.sagepub.com
August 21, 2025 at 6:03 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
Thrilled to read these new RCT results on the positive impact of Big Brothers Big Sisters (@bbbsamerica.bsky.social)! As a former Big Sister volunteer myself, it was such a privilege to support and cheer on my amazing Little on her journey from middle school to college! shorturl.at/fEbX2
Arnold Ventures | The Results Are In: Big Brothers Big Sisters Makes…
A 4-year randomized controlled trial finds BBBS mentoring cuts youth delinquency and substance use.
shorturl.at
August 21, 2025 at 4:07 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
Really looking forward to reading this:
paul-bruno.com Paul Bruno @paul-bruno.com · Aug 18
Why Does Value-Added Work? Implications of a Dynamic Model of Student Achievement www.nber.org/papers/w34119

"Although conventional value-added estimates are biased for individual teachers due to attenuation, we find they are forecast unbiased when applied across a sample of teachers"
Why Does Value-Added Work? Implications of a Dynamic Model of Student Achievement
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
August 18, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
ssrc.org
In @asrjournal.bsky.social, ten years of mixed-methods data analyzed by @greermellon.bsky.social on hiring outcomes in Florida and California school districts suggests that partisan affiliation does not affect superintendent hiring outcomes.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
In recent decades, affective polarization and partisan animosity have risen sharply in the United States. To what extent have these trends affected hiring decisions? I examine partisan biases in hiring by considering the case of school district superintendent appointments: chief executives of local U.S. elementary/secondary education systems. I analyze mixed-methods data on a decade of hiring outcomes in Florida and California from 2009 to 2019. Despite rising polarization, the data consistently show that partisan affiliation is not a primary factor in these hiring decisions. Quantitative analyses reveal no significant relationship between changes in board partisan composition and superintendent hiring outcomes within school districts. I find no relationship between board-level partisan composition and superintendent exits. Qualitative findings show hiring decisions are primarily shaped by evaluations of candidates’ interpersonal skills and competence, even among board members with strong partisan views on other policy issues. Board members discuss a strong commitment to building consensus in their selections. While I cannot rule out very small effects, these results show that school boards do not routinely prioritize applicants from their own political party. This study advances research on affective polarization and social closure by demonstrating the contingent nature of partisan affiliation on decision-making and by providing evidence of a strong respect for professionalism in a critical U.S. public sector setting.
August 15, 2025 at 2:40 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
I'm at #ASA2025 presenting new research on school district superintendents' funding priorities on Tuesday, 8/12 at 8am. The panel has a great set of papers - hope to see folks there, or around the conference!
August 9, 2025 at 1:57 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
There’s also an accompanying podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
greermellon.bsky.social Greer Mellon @greermellon.bsky.social · Jul 22
In our polarized political environment, I’m excited to share my new ASR publication: “Competence over Partisanship: Party Affiliation Does Not Affect the Selection of School District Superintendents”. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
July 23, 2025 at 12:12 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
In our polarized political environment, I’m excited to share my new ASR publication: “Competence over Partisanship: Party Affiliation Does Not Affect the Selection of School District Superintendents”. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
July 22, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
emilyrauscher.bsky.social
Two new papers on when and how school spending matters. With fabulous co-authors @greermellon.bsky.social @susannaloeb.bsky.social
Now if only the federal govt would fund schools appropriately...

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
July 10, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
annenberginstitute.bsky.social
What a kickoff! 🎉

Our 1st #EdWorkingPapers webinar brought together researchers, policymakers, & educators for a real-time conversation on when and how funding matters in schools.

Thanks to @weilanch.bsky.social, @chriscandelaria.com, @emilyrauscher.bsky.social, and all who attended.
May 23, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
emilyrauscher.bsky.social
Look forward to presenting our work about when school funding matters most with coauthor @greermellon.bsky.social
Please join us!
@annenberginstitute.bsky.social
May 17, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
annenberginstitute.bsky.social
Does school funding actually improve outcomes? 🤔Join our first-ever #EdWorkingPapers webinar Wed 5/21 at 2pm ET with @emilyrauscher.bsky.social and @chriscandelaria.com to find out. buff.ly/TW1oFhu #research #schoolfunding
May 6, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
dont-d.bsky.social
PLEASE REPOST
Two colleagues and I have been looking at corporate racial justice responses to the George Floy murder/BLM protests. Top line finding is influential DEI staff mattered. I suspect that the current DEI backlash is at least in part a response.
theconversation.com/we-analyzed-...
We analyzed racial justice statements from the 500 largest US companies and found that DEI officials really did have an influence
Only 1 in 5 Fortune 500 companies made strong racial justice commitments in response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Those companies were more likely to have DEI staff.
theconversation.com
March 28, 2025 at 1:36 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
An important and courageous op-ed from @tiffjhuang.bsky.social on the critical need to uphold commitments in the fight against racial inequality in education: www.dispatch.com/story/opinio...
Ohio State cutting DEI programs shows a breathtaking fear of the truth | Opinion
Pretending racism does not exist will not stop Donald Trump's attack on higher education.
www.dispatch.com
March 26, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
schoolfinance101.bsky.social
Summing up the damages
March 15, 2025 at 12:43 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
I'm really looking forward to #AEFP2025 next week! I'm presenting new work with @emilyrauscher.bsky.social and @susanna-loeb.bsky.social on superintendents' funding priorities at the Politics and School Finance panel on Friday at 1:45pm!
March 8, 2025 at 7:22 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
I'm looking forward to attending #ESS this week. I'm presenting research on the role of partisan affiliation in local public sector hiring - focusing on the case of school district superintendents - in the "From Polarization to Solidarity" mini-conference. DM me if you want to chat or grab coffee!
March 3, 2025 at 5:19 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
This is all so terrible - lays out the details of cancelled contracts (including extensions to core datasets like the ECLSK, and RCTs on reading interventions).
February 14, 2025 at 12:18 PM
greermellon.bsky.social
copafs.bsky.social COPAFS @copafs.bsky.social · Feb 4
SIGN-ON Letter to Congressional leadership expressing concern about the recent incidents involving federal data being selectively removed from agency websites. Please consider signing on. Thank you.

We are accepting signatures until noon (ET), Friday, February 7.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Protecting and Preserving Public Access to Federal Data
February **, 2025 Re: Protecting and Preserving Public Access to Federal Data Dear Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and Minority Leader Jeffries, We write to express o...
docs.google.com
February 5, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Greer Mellon
epopppp.bsky.social
Thanks to @lpeblog.bsky.social for the invitation to write about what policy scholars should do if "policy" is permanently broken. There are lots of good answers, but we can't afford to ignore the question.
In This Brave New World, Does Scholarship Still Matter?
If the recent past is no longer a useful guide to seeking change in the present, what good is policy-adjacent scholarship?
lpeproject.org
January 28, 2025 at 6:46 PM