Professional Update
April / 2019
Professional Development Opportunities Abound at APPAM This Spring in Washington, DC!
APPAM members seeking professional development opportunities will find no shortage of them through APPAM between next week and the first week of June.

T he first among them is the May 1st Career Pathways Programs: What We Know and Where We Should Go From Here - a half-day of speeches and seminars co-produced by APPAM and Abt Associates . Scheduled for next Wednesday morning, May 1st at the American College of Cardiology's Conference Center at Heart House, this forum will explore the policy and practice behind workforce development strategies, especially those supporting low-income Americans. Expected speakers include policy experts from Abt Associates, Columbia University, MDRC, the University of Michigan, and numerous federal government offices, to cite just a few organizations represented.

Two weeks later, we're presenting our first Spring Conference in three years. Entitled Are We Preparing Our Students for Success? Employment Outlooks for Policy Graduate Students , the conference will be comprised of a series of panels, concurrent sessions and food-and-beverage networking events presented Tuesday, May 14th through Wednesday, May 15th at the Mathematica Policy Research offices in Washington, DC. With graduate programs, academic employers and non-academic employers well represented among the speakers, we will look at the curricula design and skill sets pushed by today's graduate programs of public policy alongside the education and skills employers want most. This program will complement our May 1st forum well while providing a different set of networking opportunities and new sessions.

We'll close out our DC Spring series on June 5th with our second forum of the year: Bringing Rigor and Intentionality to Mixed Methods Evaluations of Social Sciences Programs . Co-produced with Westat , this forum will address challenging questions about mixed methods data science through seminars and open discussions. Speakers from Westat, the Urban Institute, MDRC, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Pew Charitable Trusts will be on hand for consultation about your methodological issues throughout the day. This forum will last a full business day on Wednesday, June 5th at the American College of Cardiology's Conference Center at Heart House.

We look forward to seeing many of you here in Washington, DC over the next several weeks!
New Opportunities from APPAM:
#2019APPAM Preconference Workshop and Communities Proposals Welcomed!

We are now seeking proposals for our Preconference Workshop at the Fall Research Conference in Denver. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at the Denver Sheraton Hotel from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. All APPAM Professional Members are encouraged to ask their institutions to submit a workshop proposal on an emerging policy area or topic of interest such as methodology, management topics, or timely research. View our RFP for the Preconference workshop here for further details! Our submissions deadline for Preconference workshop proposals is June 14, 2019.

In addition to the Preconference workshop opportunity, APPAM is announcing an initiative to promote community building and networking at the 2019 Fall Research Conference: APPAM Communities is a new program that will support opportunities for any group of people to meet at the annual Fall Research Conference to talk about the topics that are most important to them. These get-togethers may focus on any number of shared interests or experiences, including, but not limited to, the following: race, ethnicity, gender, geographical location, methodology, or approach. This initiative builds on suggestions made by APPAM’s Diversity Committee, and other requests for additional networking opportunities in the context APPAM’s growth. The RFP for 2019 Fall Research Conference Community Affinity Gatherings can be viewed here. Our submissions deadline for APPAM Communities proposals is July 31, 2019.
APPAM Awards Watch:
Spencer Foundation Award Nominations Accepted through July 12th

Are you or any of your colleagues working in education policy?

If so, we welcome your nominations for the Spencer Foundation Award. Granted biennually, the award recognizes noteworthy contributions through research and analysis in the field of education policy and management. Funding for the award comes from the Spencer Foundation , which was created by Lyle M. Spencer in 1962 to "investigate ways in which education, broadly conceived, can be improved around the world.

The winner will deliver the lecture at our Fall Research Conference in Denver. In addition, the winner will receive $5,000 and support for travel expenses.

Nominations should be sent to Samantha Oliver at soliver@appam.org by July 12th at 11:59 PM PT. Further details can be found on the award's website .
JPAM Closer Look Author Interview:
Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes and Esther Arenas-Arroyo on Immigration Enforcement and Children's Living Arrangements

Immigration is probably one of the most talked-about subjects by our Professional level members, whether in the coffee rooms of their workplaces, in the research projects their firms and universities are developing, or in their presentations at our conferences. We thought we'd address this common thread among our members by introducing the new JPAM Closer Look Author Interview series, created by Michelle Slattery of JPAM, with an interview between Slattery and two experts in immigration policy: Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes and Esther Arenas-Arroyo.

Visit appam.org to read the full interview on their research, which contributes to a rapidly growing literature on the consequences of a fragmented approach to immigration policy.

The JPAM article that inspired the interview can be found here .
Spotlight:
Professional Members in the News
Five active APPAM members - Agustina Laurito, Johanna Lacoe, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Patrick Sharkey, and Ingrid Gould Ellen - saw their paper School Climate and the Impact of Neighborhood Crime on Test Scores published in the Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences last month.

Nathan Favero, Assistant Professor at the American University School of Public Affairs, was recently awarded a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation to examine the impact of progressive school funding on the achievement of students in low-income school districts.

David Reed has begun publishing a new column in the Federal Times entitled Dear Bureaucrat. The advice column provides advice for people who work in the public sector and gives the federal workforce a resource for questions about their careers.

Ron Haskins, along with co-author Timothy Smeeding, published the op-ed How to Cut Child Poverty in Half through Brookings earlier this month. Founded on the premise that "nations must be judged by the way they treat their children," his article puts forth several ideas likely to be of interest to our professional members at large.

Have news about yourself, your colleagues or your employer to share?
We want to feature it! E-mail coverage and information to  rrobinson@appam.org .
Upcoming Deadlines and Events:
Mark Your Calendars for These Important Dates
Member
Corner

Membership question?
Email Membership and Administration Manager Ryan Martz for assistance.
Present a Podcast or Webinar through APPAM!

In addition to being excellent researchers, many of you are outstanding presenters. We encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to create and present your own webinar or podcast through APPAM - as a benefit of your Professional membership! Contact Ryan Martz at rmartz@appam.org for more information.