UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Christopher Lubienski, professor of education policy in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Indiana University and visiting professor at East China Normal University, Shanghai, will present the Robert F. Nicely and Donna C. Nicely Distinguished Scholar in Education lecture, sponsored by the Penn State College of Education, at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, in the Assembly Room of the Nittany Lion Inn.
Lubienski will speak on "Engagement, Impact, and Objectivity in an Age of Policy Advocacy." A reception will immediately follow the lecture. Those planning to attend should RSVP to Christi McClellan at cym8@psu.edu by Oct. 26.
Alongside his job as a professor at Indiana University and a visiting professor at East China Normal University, Shanghai, Lubienski is a fellow with the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado. He was previously a Sir Walter Murdoch visiting professor at Murdoch University in Western Australia. Lubienski is a scholar of the Scholar Strategy Network at Harvard University and is the co-leader and convener of the network's K-12 working group.
His research focuses on education policy, reform and the political economy of education, with a particular concern for issues of equity and access. His current work examines organizational responses to competitive conditions in local education markets and policymakers' use of research evidence as influenced by advocacy organizations.
Lubienski holds a doctorate in educational policy and social analysis and a master's degree in history, both from Michigan State University. As an undergraduate, he graduated summa cum laude in history at Northern Michigan University.
Lubienski recently was named a Fulbright Senior Scholar for New Zealand, where he studies school policies and student enrollment patterns. He is lead Principle Investigator of a multi-year project on intermediary organizations' ability to influence the use of research evidence in the policymaking process. Lubienski has also been invited to testify before the U.S. Congress.
Lubienski has authored both theoretical and empirical journal articles on questions of innovation and achievement in school choice systems, including peer-reviewed articles in the American Journal of Education, the Oxford Review of Education, the American Education Research Journal, the Journal of Education Policy, Educational Researcher and the Congressional Quarterly Researcher. His work also has been featured in news media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.
Lubienski's recent book, "The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools" (with co-author Sarah Theule Lubienski, University of Chicago Press), won the 2015 PROSE Award for Education Theory from the American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence. His newest book, "Privatization and the Education of Marginalized Children: Policies, Impacts and Global Lessons," was published by Routledge in 2017.
The Nicely Lecture is made possible through the Robert F. Nicely Jr. and Donna C. Nicely Distinguished Scholar in Education endowment, established by Robert and Donna Nicely. This endowment enables the College of Education to bring prominent educational scholars and speakers to University Park to give speeches, meet with faculty, and lead seminars for students, to support interaction among faculty members, graduate students, and other educators with national and international experts in the areas of curriculum, instruction and educational leadership.
Robert Nicely is an associate dean emeritus and professor emeritus in the College of Education. He served on the Dean's Development Council for the Investing in People initiative from 2003 to 2007, and he is a past member of the College of Education Alumni Society Board. Donna Nicely also retired from the College of Education, where she was the contracts and proposals specialist.