The OERC Blog

Career Resource Navigator: A useful tool for mapping your career journey

2/17/2023

Ohio’s Career Resource Navigator (CRN) provides job seekers, students, career counselors, and others with information on Ohio’s post-secondary education and career training programs. A team of researchers from the Ohio Education Research Center at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and the CHRR worked with a group of key stakeholders to design this valuable tool. It was launched in December and is now available for anyone to use.

The Ohio Education Research Center is please to welcome our new Data Science Analyst, Caroline Barto

8/8/2022

Ms. Barto is a recent graduate of The Ohio State University’s College of Arts and Sciences. She will primarily work with the team at CHRR, bringing her expertise from her Data Analytics major and her past research projects to support the work of the OERC. We interviewed Ms. Barto to learn more about her background and what she hopes to accomplish here at the OERC.

Intern of the Week: Ian Montgomery

8/8/2022

Our next intern of the week is Ian Montgomery. Ian is a third year Economics Major from Columbus, Ohio. He is interning with the Ohio Department of Education to on an analysis to identify positive outlier schools in Ohio.

Intern of the Week: Evelyn Arrey

7/29/2022

Our next intern of the week is Evelyn Arrey. Evelyn is a Ph.D. student in Industrial and System Engineering.

Intern of the Week: Tiana Stussie

7/19/2022

Our next intern of the week is Tiana Stussie. Tiana is going into her fifth year at Ohio State to earn a mathematics minor in addition to her major in Public Policy Analysis.

Dr. Julie Maurer, OERC Lead Research Manager, will present her poster "Effective self-directed learning activities for master’s in Public Administration policy simulation and modeling curriculum." at the 2022 International System Dynamics Society Conference

7/12/2022

July 18-20

This presentation overviews how grounding instructional design strategies in andrigological principals can result in engaging and accessible self-directed learning activities effective for teaching system dynamics to adults. Effectively teaching system dynamics as a policy modeling tool to master’s students in public administration presents myriad challenges – particularly when delivered remotely in an online environment. One such challenge is building efficacy for learners from diverse non-technical disciplines pursuing careers in public administration. This case study of developing a public policy simulation and modeling course using instructional strategies anchored in the six key principals of androgogy. We examine the use of a model building project as a practical way to consider individual learners contexts, motivations and other unique characteristics. This inclusive approach may be useful for others who are developing curricula to teach applied system dynamics to adults.

Visit the 2022 International System Dynamics Society Conference web page

Intern of the Week: Sarah Stouffer-Lerch

7/5/2022

Our next intern of the week is Sarah Stouffer-Lerch. Ms. Stouffer-Lerch is interning with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency analyzing their Homeowners Assistance Fund data.

Intern of the Week: Qiqi Ding

6/27/2022

Our first intern of the Week is Qiqi Ding. Ms. Ding is a 4th year Economics major from Wenzhou, China. She is interning with the Ohio department of Higher Education on a project analyzing their facilities data.

The Ohio Education Research Center is pleased to welcome our new Senior Research Associate, Dr. Jessica Collura.

6/23/2022

Dr. Collura comes to us from the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University. She will be working with the OERC on a number of projects utilizing her extensive research and facilitation skills. We interviewed Dr. Collura to learn more about her background and what she hopes to accomplish here at the OERC.

Public Sector Data Science Program Guest Speakers

6/23/2022

The Ohio Education Research Center would like to thank all of our guest speakers this summer for donating their time and expertise to connect with our Public Sector Data Science interns. Each speaker has brought a unique perspective on the data science field and has helped our interns to explore careers in a variety of positions and sectors.

Meet The 2022 Public Sector Data Science Interns

6/23/2022

The Public Sector Data Science Internship Program is an internship for rising juniors and seniors in the Glenn College and is a collaboration between the OERC, Glenn College and CHRR. Students interested in exploring careers in policy research and evaluation receive instruction from Glenn Faculty and Staff on investigating policy problems through data analysis. The students are then partnered with a state agency in Columbus where they will work on a project for the Summer, culminating in a presentation of work at the end of the Summer! This year we have five interns working at five different state agencies. More information about the internship program can be found on the Glenn College website.

Public Sector Data Science Internship Program

The OERC is now accepting applications for the Summer 2022 Public Sector Data Science Internship Program. Explore careers in policy research and evaluation. Public Sector Data Science interns work with the Ohio Education Research Center and a partner state agency to investigate policy problems using data-based methods. Built for undergraduate juniors and seniors, this opportunity provides practical experience and the opportunity to put theory into practice.

You can apply here.

The Ohio Education Research Center is pleased to welcome our new Postdoctoral Scholar, Dr. Seong Ji Jeong

Dr. Jeong comes to us from Seoul National University, where she completed her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Vocational Education with a dissertation titled, “The Impact of Learning Experiences and Readiness-Related Characteristics on the Middle-Aged Participants’ Volition in a Returning to Farming Education Program.” She will be working with the OERC’s team of analysts and research scientists on a number of evaluations of education, training and workforce programs using the Ohio Longitudinal Data Archive. We interviewed Dr. Jeong to learn more about her background and what she hopes to accomplish here at the OERC.

OERC in Action: Lina Osorio-Copete and Tian Lou and the Applied Data Analytics Training Program

10/9/2020

Since 2019, the Ohio Education Research Center (OERC) has partnered with the Coleridge Initiative to host the Coleridge Initiative’s Applied Data Analytics Training program. The Applied Data Analytics Training program focuses on increasing public employees’ capacity to skillfully use workforce and postsecondary education administrative records, like those contained in the Ohio Longitudinal Data Archive, to solve public policy problems. The training program accomplishes this goal by assembling a diverse group of public agency personnel and data analysts and then teaching them how to apply data analytic techniques and tools to solve real problems with actual administrative data.

Innovation in Education: Resources for Online Teaching and Learning During the Coronavirus Pandemic

9/1/2020

Disruptions in education caused by the sudden shift to online instruction at all grade levels in response to the coronavirus pandemic have underscored the need for proven high-quality, affordable resources to support online teaching and learning. Teachers are challenged to quickly adopt innovative approaches to delivering online lessons, using virtual assessment tools and engaging in countless other activities related to managing their classrooms. The rapid pace of this shift to a new learning environment requires adaptability, flexibility and a willingness to embrace education technology to be successful. Read more here.

Unemployment Insurance Eligibility after COVID-19

4/1/2020

Unemployment benefits are increasingly important for Ohioans. Between January 1 and the first week of April over 750,000 people have filed unemployment benefits in the state. This compares with 100,000 during the same time period in 2019. The decline in economic activity has thrown many people out of work. Many workers lost their jobs and are covered by the traditional UI benefits system. However, the federal legislation (CARES Act) and Ohio government have made substantial changes in the eligibility for UI Benefits in response the economic crisis.

Public Sector Data Intern Profile: Maddie Dewhirst

11/14/2019

The Ohio Education Research Center — a collaborative of the John Glenn College and the Center for Human Resource Research — offers the Public Sector Data Internship Program for students interested in exploring careers in policy research and evaluation. Students receive instruction on data based methods to investigate policy problems, and work at a state agency in Columbus for the summer.

Ohio’s Workforce Supply Tool

5/01/2019

The State of Ohio's Workforce Supply Tool provides employers and job seekers important and actionable information about more than 200 of the most in-demand occupations in Ohio.

Employment Projections: a new tool in Ohio’s Workforce Data Toolbox

10/19/2018

The State of Ohio has a new tool in its workforce data toolbox. The new Employment Projections Tool provides job seekers with information on job openings, growth, and wages by occupation in Ohio.

Meet The 2018 Public Sector Data Science Interns

05/21/2018

The Public Sector Data Science Internship Program is an internship for rising juniors and seniors in the Glenn College and is a collaboration between the OERC, Glenn College and CHRR.

Are People in Ohio Interested in getting a GED?

05/05/2018

How interested are Ohio residents in getting a GED? Perhaps analyzing Google search data can provide some insight.

How Do Ohio Students Fare In Reading Compared To The Rest Of USA?

04/30/2018

Ohio students are tested on their reading many times before they graduate. How do our state’s students compare with students from the rest of the nation in reading?

Dropouts In Ohio

04/01/2018

The number of high school dropouts in Ohio have decreased in recent years, Dr. Jay Zagorsky presents his most recent analysis of that data.

Higher Education and Workforce Policy

10/31/2017

What is the role of government in strategic planning, funding, and monitoring education of higher education?