Michael R. Harwell

My research interests are defined by three lines of work.  One focuses on the application of nonparametric statistics to data from complex research designs, and typically involves the use of computer simulation studies to examine the robustness of statistical estimators and tests.  A second line of research examines the role and impact of theoretical models of socioeconomic status (SES) and related measurement strategies in educational data analyses.  This work began with the observation that educational researchers often include one or more measures of SES as control variables when modeling educational outcomes but fail to provide a conceptual model of SES or a compelling rationale for the selection of particular SES measures.  Currently I am studying several conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues surrounding the use of student eligibility for a free or reduced price lunch as a measure of SES in educational research and as a trigger for Title I funds for a school.  A third line of research is based on work on two National Science Foundation-funded grants studying the impact of students completing a particular high school mathematics curriculum on high school and college course-taking and performance especially in mathematics.  An important purpose of this work is to contribute research findings to debates over the efficacy of high school mathematics curricula that have pitted advocates of traditional curricula emphasizing repetition and teacher-centered learning against advocates of newer curricula that encourage problem solving and small group work.

Publications

1. Harwell, M.R., & LeBeau, B. (2010). Student eligibility for a free lunch as an SES measure in educational research.  Educational Researcher, 39, 120-131.

2. Post, T.R., Medhanie, A., Harwell, M.R., Norman, K., Dupuis, D., Muchlinski, T., Anderson, E., & Monson, D. (2010).  Prior achievement, curse-taking patterns and persistence.  Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 41, 274-308.

3. Harwell, M.R., Post. T.P., Cutler, A., Maeda, Y., Anderson, E., Norman, K.W., & Medhanie, A.  The preparation of students from National Science Foundation-funded and commercially developed high school mathematics curricula for their first university mathematics course.  American Educational Research Journal, 46, 203-231.

4. Harwell, M.R., & Maeda, Y.  (2008). Reporting deficiencies in meta-analyses and some remedies.  Journal of Experimental Education, 76, 403-428.

5. Harwell, M.R., Post, T.P., Maeda, Y., Davis, J.D., Cutler, A., Anderson, E., & Kahan, J.A.  (2007). Standards-based mathematics curricula and secondary students’ performance on standardized achievement tests. Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 38, 71-101.

6. Peng, C.Y., Harwell, M., Liou, S.M., & Ehman, L.H. (2006). Advances in missing data methods and implications for educational research.  In Real Data Analysis (S.S. Sawilowsky, Ed.), pp. 31-78.  Charlotte, NC: New Information Age Publishing.