Shaun Dougherty

Shaun M. Dougherty (Ed.D., quantitative policy analysis, Harvard University), is a Professor of Education & Policy at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education & Human Development. His research and teaching interests focus on education policy analysis, causal program evaluation and cost analysis, and the economics of education, with an emphasis on career and technical education, educational accountability policies, and the application of regression discontinuity research designs. Across these substantive areas, he emphasizes how education can address human capital development as well as issues of equity related to race, class, gender, and disability.

At Boston College, Dougherty is also the director of the Catholic Education Research Initiative. Dougherty’s work has been published in leading journals and has been cited by major media outlets. He has received research funding from IES, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Institute for Research on Poverty, which also recognized him as an Early Career Scholar. In addition, he is a Strategic Data Project Faculty Adviser through the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, and has conducted applied policy analysis with several states and large districts, as well as the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and the Manhattan Institute.

Selected Recent Publication

• Ecton, W.G., & Dougherty, S.M., (In Press). Understanding Heterogeneity in the Selection into and Returns to Technical Education, Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis
• Chen, B., Dougherty, S.M., Goldhaber, D. Holden, K., Theobald, R. (Online First), CTE Teacher Licensure and Long-Term Student Outcomes, Education Finance & Policy.
• Brunner, Eric, Shaun M. Dougherty, and Stephen Ross. (2021).The Effects of Career and Technical Education: Evidence from the Connecticut Technical High School System, Review of Economics & Statistics, 1–46.
• Gottfried, M.A., Plasman, J., Freeman, J., & Dougherty, S.M. (2021), Who’s Taking What? “Applied STEM” Coursetaking for High School Students with Learning Disabilities, AERA Open.
• Kraft, M.A., Brunner, E.J., Dougherty, S.M., Schwegman, D. (2020) Teacher Accountability Reforms and the Supply and Quality of New Teachers, Journal of Public Economics, 188.
• Dougherty, S.M., Harbaugh Macdonald, I. (2020). Can Growth in the Availability of STEM Technical Education Improve Equitable Access? Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 72(1), 47-70.
• Donaldson, M.L., Mavrogordato, M., Dougherty, S.M., Al Ghanem, R., and Youngs, P., (2021) Principal Evaluation under ESSA: A Comprehensive Policy Review, Education Finance and Policy, 16 (2): 347–361.

Grants and Fellowships

• Kreisman, D. (PI), Carruthers, C. (Co-PI), & Dougherty, S.M. (Co-PI), Theobald, R., Goldring, T. CTE Teacher Labor Markets, Attributes, and Student Outcomes, Institute for Education Science (2022-2026, $1.7million)
• Dougherty, S.M. (PI), Brunner, E. (Co-PI), Ross, S.L. (Co-PI), The Causal Impact of Attending a Career Technical High School on Student Achievement, High School Graduation and College Enrollment, Institute for Education Sciences Extension Grant, (2020-2025, $647,499).
• Gottfried, M. (PI), Dougherty, S.M. (Co-PI), Understanding the Antecedents of STEM Career and Technical Education Coursetaking for High School Students with Learning Disabilities, Institute for Education Sciences (2019-2021, $250,000)
• Hughes, K. (PI), Dougherty, S.M. (Co-PI), Expanding the Evidence Base for Career and Technical Education (CTE) Network – Network Lead, Institute for Education Sciences. (2018-2023, $750,000 subcontract on $5 Million total award).
• Brunner, E. (PI), Dougherty, S.M. (Co-PI), Ross, S.L. (Co-PI), The Effect of Attending a Career Technical High School on Employment and Earnings, Smith Richardson Foundation, (2018-2021, $191,327).
• Kemple, J. (PI), Dougherty, S.M. (Co-PI), Unterman, R. (Co-PI), Assessing the Implementation and Impact of Career Technical Education Innovation: New York City as a Laboratory for Learning, Institute for Education Sciences, (2017-2021, Subcontract of $299,983 on $3 Million total award).
• Sass, T. (PI); Kreisman, D. (Co-PI), Carruthers, C. (Co-PI), & Dougherty, S.M. (Co-PI), A Multistate Lab for Evidence-based Career and Technical Education Policy, Arnold Foundation (June 2017-May 2020, $230,000 subcontract on $2.2 Million total award)

Honors and awards

• Outstanding Reviewer, Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis 2017, 2020
• Outstanding Research Paper, Association for Career & Technical Education Research 2020
• Outstanding Policy/Paper Report Award, Education Policy Collaborative 2020
• Reviewer of the Year, Exceptional Children 2017