Degrees

Ph.D., Stanford University, 1998, evaluation
M.P.P., University of Michigan, 1984, public policy
B.A., University of Michigan, 1982, economics

Areas of Interest

Program evaluation
Cost-effectiveness analysis
Cost-benefit analysis
Economic analysis
Policy analysis

Profile

I apply evaluation methods to evaluate social programs and policies. Recently, I completed a series of publications that analyzed the cost-effectiveness of various approaches for raising student achievement: a 10 percent increase in educational spending, voucher programs, charter schools, increased accountability, class size reduction, comprehensive school reform, NBPTS teacher certification, value-added teacher assessment, and programs that assess students 2 to 5 times per week and provide rapid feedback of the results to students and teachers.

I am especially interested in the application of systems theory to understand why certain problems persist, despite the existence of programs and policies designed to address those problems, and to assist in the identification of areas where new policies or changes in existing policies may be beneficial.

Selected Publications

1. Yeh, S. S. (in press). Is an international treaty needed to fight corruption and the narco-insurgency in Mexico? International Criminal Justice Review.

2. Yeh, S. S. (in press). An evaluation of IMF and World Bank policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of African Policy Studies.

3. Yeh, S. S. (in press). A re-analysis of the effects of KIPP and the Harlem Promise Academies. Teachers College Record.

4. Yeh, S. S. (2012). A high-value agriculture-based strategy for reducing poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. Poverty and Public Policy, 4(2).

5. Yeh, S. S. (2012). The reliability, impact and cost-effectiveness of value-added teacher assessment methods. Journal of Education Finance, 37(4).

6. Yeh, S. S. (2011). Corruption and the rule of law in sub-saharan Africa. African Journal of Legal Studies, 4(2), 187-208.

7. Yeh, S. S. (2011). Ending corruption in Africa through United Nations inspections. International Affairs, 87(3), 629-650.

8. Yeh, S. S. (2011). A failure of imagination: UAVs and international security. Comparative Strategy, 30(3), 229-241.

9. Yeh, S. S. (2011). The cost-effectiveness of 22 approaches for raising student achievement. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.

10. Yeh, S. S. (2010). Cost-benefit analysis of reducing crime through electronic monitoring of parolees and probationers. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38(5), 1090-1096.

11. Yeh, S. S. (2010). The cost-effectiveness of 22 approaches for raising student achievement. Journal of Education Finance, 36(1), 38-75.

12. Yeh, S. S. (2010). The cost-effectiveness of NBPTS teacher certification. Evaluation Review, 34(3), 220-241.

13. Yeh, S. S. (2010). Financial sector incentives, bailouts, moral hazard, systemic risk, and reforms. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 1(2).

14. Yeh, S. S. (2010). Understanding and addressing the achievement gap through individualized instruction and formative assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 17(2), 169-182.

15. Yeh, S. S. & Ritter, J. (2009). The cost-effectiveness of replacing the bottom quartile of novice teachers through value-added teacher assessment. Journal of Education Finance, 34(4), 426-451.

16. Yeh, S. S. (2009). The cost-effectiveness of raising teacher quality. Educational Research Review, 4(3), 220-232.

17. Yeh, S. S. (2009). The cost-effectiveness of class size reduction. Educational Research Review, 4, 7-15. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2008.09.001.

18. Yeh, S. S. (2009). Shifting the bell curve: The benefits and costs of raising student achievement. Evaluation and Program Planning, 32(1), 74-82.

19. Yeh, S. S. (2008). Raising the bar and reducing failure on state-mandated exit exams. Teachers College Record. Available at www.tcrecord.org (Number 14939).

20. Yeh, S. S. (2008). High stakes testing and students with disabilities: Why federal policy needs to be changed. In E. Grigorenko (Ed.), Educating individuals with disabilities: IDEIA 2004 and beyond (pp. 319-335). Springer.

21. Yeh, S. S. (2008). The cost-effectiveness of comprehensive school reform and rapid assessment. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 16(13).

22. Yeh, S. S. & Connell, D. B. (2008). Effects of rhyming, vocabulary and phonemic awareness instruction on phoneme awareness. Journal of Research in Reading, 31(2), 243-256.

23. Selameab, T., & Yeh, S. S. (2008). Evaluating intangible outcomes: Using multi-attribute utility analysis to compare the benefits and costs of social programs. American Journal of Evaluation, 29(3), 301-316.

24. Yeh, S. S. (2007). The cost-effectiveness of five approaches for raising student achievement. American Journal of Evaluation, 28(4), 416-436.

25. Yeh, S. S. (2006). Can rapid assessment moderate the consequences of high-stakes testing? Education and Urban Society 39(1), 91-112.

26. Yeh, S. S. (2006). Reforming federal testing policy to support teaching and learning. Educational Policy, 20(3), 495-524

27. Yeh, S. S. (2006). High stakes testing: Can rapid assessment reduce the pressure? Teachers College Record, 108(4), 621-661.

28. Yeh, S. S. (2006). Raising student achievement through rapid assessment and test reform. Teachers College Press.

29. Yeh, S. S. (2005). Limiting the unintended consequences of high-stakes testing. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 13(43).

30. Yeh, S. S. (2003) An evaluation of two approaches for teaching phonemic awareness to children in Head Start. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 18(4), 513-529.

31. Yeh, S. S. (2001). Tests worth teaching to: Constructing state-mandated tests that emphasize critical thinking. Educational Researcher, 30(9), 12-17.

32. Yeh, S. S. (2000). Improving educational and social programs: A planned variation cross-validation model. American Journal of Evaluation, 21(2), 171-184.

33. Yeh, S. S. (2000). Building the knowledge base for improving educational and social programs through planned variation evaluations. American Journal of Evaluation, 21(1), 27-40.