<< Back to Faculty Daniel W. Player Associate Professor of Public Policy Education & Training Ph.D., Economics, University of Washington, 2006 B.S., Economics, Brigham Young University, 1999 434-243-0904 dwp2g@virginia.edu Garrett Hall L046 Curriculum Vitae (269.8 KB) @playerdw Areas of focus Economics Education UVA partners School of Education and Human Development Dan Player is an associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research focuses on issues in education policy, examining questions such as how teacher ability is recognized and rewarded in schools, factors that predict teacher turnover, and how teachers respond to working conditions. He is also interested in evaluating the effectiveness of education policies designed to improve student outcomes. At Batten, Player teaches courses on policy analysis, education policy, economics, and research methods. Player’s work has appeared in academic journals such as the Economics of Education Review, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and Education Finance and Policy. Player received his doctorate in Economics from the University of Washington. Prior to joining the faculty at Batten he worked as a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research and as a research assistant professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development. Related Content Building Connections & Finding Purpose: Prof. Daniel Player on Teaching News Daniel Player, associate professor of public policy with a focus on education policy, found his "dream job" teaching at the Batten School. Batten Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching, Service, Research and Engagement News This academic year, Batten School professors won a slew of internal and external recognitions for excellence in teaching, service, research and engagement. Navigating the Path from Data to Policy Workshop We know that policy should be based on data, but how do we go about transforming data into policy? What does the path from data to policy look like? And what does it mean for policy to be driven by data? The purpose of this program is to help participants gain fluency in the fundamentals of policy research: understanding causality, combating biases in data collection and analysis, accounting for different interpretations of data, and—most importantly—how data can become policy. New Batten and School of Education Program Helps Virginia Schools Respond to the Pandemic News Students in the inaugural class of Ed Policy Associates are collaborating with Virginia policymakers on vital research, and gaining vital experience at the same time. Measuring the Quality of Teacher-Child Interactions at Scale: The Implications of Using Local Practitioners to Conduct Classroom Observations Research Are Parents’ Ratings and Satisfaction with Preschools related to Program Features? Research This study examines whether parents’ overall satisfaction with their child’s early childhood education (ECE) program is correlated with a broad set of program characteristics, including (a) observational assessments of teacher-child interactions; (b) structural features of the program, such as teacher education and class size; (c) practical and convenience factors (e.g., hours, cost); and (d) a measure of average classroom learning gains. It then describes associations between parents’ evaluation of specific program characteristics and externally collected measures of those features. Identifying and Predicting Effective Leader Practices: Examining Principal Experience and Prior Roles Research The importance of leadership in schools is substantiated, and we know that effective leaders call upon certain practices to influence student achievement. What remains less clear is how the professional backgrounds of educators may influence effective leader practice. How Principal Leadership and Person-Job Fit Are Associated with Teacher Mobility and Attrition Research While existing studies of teacher retention have attempted to isolate economic and organizational factors that predict teacher turnover, this paper etends the research base by incorporating measures of principal leadership and person-job (P-J) fit. Using data from roughly 3000 teachers from the 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey and the 2012-13 Teacher Follow-up Survey, we explore how leadership and P-J fit are associated with teachers’ mobility. Assessing School Turnaround: Evidence from Ohio Research Policy makers have struggled to find successful approaches to address concentrated, persistent low school achievement. While NCLB and the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program have devoted significant time and attention to turnaround, very little empirical evidence substantiates whether and how these efforts work. View All
Building Connections & Finding Purpose: Prof. Daniel Player on Teaching News Daniel Player, associate professor of public policy with a focus on education policy, found his "dream job" teaching at the Batten School.
Batten Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching, Service, Research and Engagement News This academic year, Batten School professors won a slew of internal and external recognitions for excellence in teaching, service, research and engagement.
Navigating the Path from Data to Policy Workshop We know that policy should be based on data, but how do we go about transforming data into policy? What does the path from data to policy look like? And what does it mean for policy to be driven by data? The purpose of this program is to help participants gain fluency in the fundamentals of policy research: understanding causality, combating biases in data collection and analysis, accounting for different interpretations of data, and—most importantly—how data can become policy.
New Batten and School of Education Program Helps Virginia Schools Respond to the Pandemic News Students in the inaugural class of Ed Policy Associates are collaborating with Virginia policymakers on vital research, and gaining vital experience at the same time.
Measuring the Quality of Teacher-Child Interactions at Scale: The Implications of Using Local Practitioners to Conduct Classroom Observations Research
Are Parents’ Ratings and Satisfaction with Preschools related to Program Features? Research This study examines whether parents’ overall satisfaction with their child’s early childhood education (ECE) program is correlated with a broad set of program characteristics, including (a) observational assessments of teacher-child interactions; (b) structural features of the program, such as teacher education and class size; (c) practical and convenience factors (e.g., hours, cost); and (d) a measure of average classroom learning gains. It then describes associations between parents’ evaluation of specific program characteristics and externally collected measures of those features.
Identifying and Predicting Effective Leader Practices: Examining Principal Experience and Prior Roles Research The importance of leadership in schools is substantiated, and we know that effective leaders call upon certain practices to influence student achievement. What remains less clear is how the professional backgrounds of educators may influence effective leader practice.
How Principal Leadership and Person-Job Fit Are Associated with Teacher Mobility and Attrition Research While existing studies of teacher retention have attempted to isolate economic and organizational factors that predict teacher turnover, this paper etends the research base by incorporating measures of principal leadership and person-job (P-J) fit. Using data from roughly 3000 teachers from the 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey and the 2012-13 Teacher Follow-up Survey, we explore how leadership and P-J fit are associated with teachers’ mobility.
Assessing School Turnaround: Evidence from Ohio Research Policy makers have struggled to find successful approaches to address concentrated, persistent low school achievement. While NCLB and the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program have devoted significant time and attention to turnaround, very little empirical evidence substantiates whether and how these efforts work.