Mark Dynarski

Advisor, Education
George W. Bush Institute

Mark Dynarski is founder and president of Pemberton Research, which focuses on understanding and utilizing research evidence in decision making.  Previously, he was vice president and director of the Center for Improving Research Evidence at Mathematica Policy Research. He also previously served as director of the What Works Clearinghouse at the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education, and as director and principal investigator of numerous education programs with a focus on at-risk children and youth. Currently he is a senior fellow (nonresident) at the Brown Center for Education Policy at the Brookings Institute.

Dynarski is an advisor to government agencies, philanthropies, and nonprofit organizations. He is well known for his expertise in econometrics and evaluation methodology, including the design, implementation, and analysis of evaluations of education programs using random assignment and quasi-experimental designs

Dynarski has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, including Educational Researcher, Educational Leadership, and Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk. He is also on the editorial boards of Effective Education and The Elementary School Journal.

Dynarski earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the Johns Hopkins University and holds a B.A. in economics from the State University of New York at Geneseo. He also was a tenured professor of economics at the University of California, Davis, where he taught theory, statistics, and econometrics.

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Read the article When Done Right, Standardized Tests Reveal a Student's Knowledge.
Aug 29, 2018

When Done Right, Standardized Tests Reveal a Student's Knowledge

By: Mark Dynarski
Parents may be curious, even skeptical, about the validity of the standardized exam their child took. But Bush Institute Education Reform Fellow Mark Dynarski explains how a rigorous process goes into creating those exams, and why they reveal a student's knowledge.
Read the article The Promise of Using Evidence to Improve Education.
Feb 25, 2016

The Promise of Using Evidence to Improve Education

By: Mark Dynarski
Data and evidence in education have come a long way since the Nineties. Today is the time to ensure that 15 years from now, we don’t wonder what happened with all that talk about using evidence to improve education.
Read the article Are Tests Bad?.
Feb 17, 2015

Are Tests Bad?

By: Mark Dynarski
None of us looked forward to taking our driver’s test. Yet none of us thinks doing away with the test is such a good idea. Passing the test...