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Gary W. Ritter is an Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy and holder of the Endowed Chair in Education Policy in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. He is also the Associate Director of the inter-disciplinary Public Policy Ph.D. program and the Director of the new Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas. The goal of the Office is to be a resource that aids state legislators, school board members, and other policymakers in thoughtful decision-making concerning K-12 education in the State of Arkansas.
Gary earned a Ph.D. in Education Policy in 2000 from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Gary’s dissertation work was a random assignment study of the effectiveness of a volunteer tutoring program in which he did everything from recruiting the 11 participating school sites to writing up the final project report. At the University of Arkansas, Gary has worked with his graduate students in conducting small-scale program evaluations with several neighboring school districts, including Bentonville, Rogers, and Springdale. His research interests include program evaluation, school finance, volunteer tutoring programs, standards-based and accountability-based school reform, racial segregation in schools, and the impact of pre-school care on school readiness.
Gary currently teaches courses in Education Policy, Program Evaluation, and Research Methods to graduate students. His work has been published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, the Journal of Education Finance, the Journal of Research in Education, the International Journal of Testing, the Georgetown Public Policy Review, Black Issues in Higher Education, Education Next, and Education Week.
Currently (since March 2005), Gary has been working with the US Department of Education’s “What Works Clearinghouse” as a Principal Investigator for reviews of the impacts of elementary school math curricula and middle school math curricula.
Gary graduated from John Carroll University with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance in 1990. After working as a Jesuit Volunteer for Sacred Heart School in Camden, NJ, he attended the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, where he earned an MA in Social Policy. Upon his return to the United States, Gary earned an MA in Public Policy from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with his three young children.
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Ritter began his professional career working for two years as the research coordinator of a study examining the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project at the University of Pennsylvania. He then joined the University of Arkansas faculty in Educational Leadership and Foundations as an assistant professor. After only two years, he became the Director of the University-Wide Public Policy Program. The following year, he became Inaugural faculty in the Clinton School of Public service and the Director of the Office for Education Policy. In 2004, he was deemed associate professor in the Education Leadership and Foundations College and granted tenure. |
| Teaching Areas |
- Education Policy
- Program Evaluation
- Public Policy
- Research Methods in Education
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| Research Interests |
- Program Evaluation
- School Finance
- At-risk youth
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| Publications |
General Publications
- Ritter, Gary W. & Lucas, Christopher J. ( forthcoming 2006) . Devil in the Details: Making Sensible Modifications to “No Child Left Behind”. Education Finance & Policy.
- Ritter, Gary W. & Lucas, Christopher, J. 2005. Choosing the Lesser of Two Inequities. Education Week. 24, 37, 31.
- Mulvenon, Sean W., Stegman, Charles E., & Ritter, Gary W. 2005. Text Anxiety: A Multifaceted Study on the Perceptions of Teachers, Principals, Counselors, Students, and Parents. International Journal of Testing, 5, 1, 37-61.
- Ritter, Gary W, Newgent, Rebecca A., & Higgins, Kristin K. 2004. The University Volunteer Tutoring Experience. Journal of Research in Education, 14, 1, 67-72 .
- McDonald, Janet D., Hughes, Mary F., & Ritter, Gary W. 2004. School Finance Litigation and Adequacy Studies. University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review, 27, 1, 69-105 .
- Summers, Julie, Barnett, Joshua H., Ritter, Gary W., & Greer, Jenni. 2004. “ Arkansas School Finance 2004: Under the Eyes of Two Special Masters.” Report Published by the School Finance Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association in the Annual Monograph from the Proceedings of the State of the States and Provinces Symposium. (Note: This is not refereed).
- Ritter, Gary W. & Lucas, Christopher, J. 2003. Puzzled States. Education Next, 3, 4, 55-61.
- Ritter, Gary W., Zief, Susan, G., & Lauver, Sherri C. 2003. The Use of Evidence in Out of School Time Initiatives: Implications for Research and Practice. Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education , 2, 1. Available:
- Ritter, Gary W. & Lauver, Sherri C. 2003. School Finance Reform in New Jersey: A Piecemeal Response to A Systemic Problem. Journal of Education Finance. 28, 4, 575-598.
- Barnett, Joshua H., Ritter, Gary W., & Lucas, Christopher J. 2002. Educational Reform in Arkansas: Making Sense of the Debate over School Consolidation. Arkansas Educational Research & Policy Studies Journal. 2, 2, 1-21.
- Ritter, Gary W. & Lucas, Christopher, J. 2002. The ‘Common School’ Fallacy: Two Suspect Arguments in the Debate over Choice. Education Week. 22, 8, 44.
- Ritter, Gary W., Rush, Alison, & Rush, Joel. 2002. How Might School Choice Affect Racial Integration in Schools? New Evidence from the ECLS-K. Georgetown Public Policy Review. 7, 2, 125-136.
- Hill, O. Fitzgerald, Ritter, Gary W., Murry, Jr., John W., & Hufford, Candice. 2002. Coaching: Colleges’ (Un)Level Playing Field. Black Issues in Higher Education. 19, 4, 111.
- Ritter, Gary W. & Miller, William H. 2001. Arkansans’ Views on Key Educational Policy Issues. Arkansas Educational Research & Policy Studies Journal , 1, 1, 18-41.
- Lauver, Sherri C., Ritter, Gary W., Maynard, Rebecca A., & Alberino, Cristi. 2001. Extended Learning Opportunities for Philadelphia Students: Local Actions, National Implications? The Fels Center of Government Journal of City and State Public Affairs, 2, 1, 18-31.
- Ritter, Gary W. & Boruch, Robert F. 1999. The Political and Institutional Origins of a Randomized Controlled Trial on Elementary School Class-size: Tennessee’s Project STAR. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 21, 2, 111-125.
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Recent Project Reports, Media Coverage, and Media Publications
- Ritter, Gary W. August 6, 2003. Interviewed by KUAF (National Public Radio Affiliate in Fayetteville, AR) News Show, “Ozarks at Large,” for a story on school consolidation in Arkansas.
- Ritter, Gary W. February 7, 2003. Commentary: Freedom and Leisure. KUAF (National Public Radio Affiliate in Fayetteville, AR) News Show, “Ozarks at Large.”
- Ritter, Gary W. 2002. “A Tale of Two Education Systems: Lessons for Arkansas.” Arkansas Democrat Gazette. December 31, 2002.
- Ritter, Gary W. December 27, 2002. Commentary: A Lost Opportunity to Repeal the Food Tax. KUAF (National Public Radio Affiliate in Fayetteville, AR) News Show, “Ozarks at Large.”
- Ritter, Gary W. December 6, 2002. Commentary: Reacting to the School Finance Lawsuit in Arkansas. KUAF (National Public Radio Affiliate in Fayetteville, AR) News Show, “Ozarks at Large.”
- Ritter, Gary W. November 8, 2002. Commentary: The Disconnect Between Arkansans’ Desired Educational Reforms and their Willingness to Pay. KUAF (National Public Radio Affiliate in Fayetteville , AR ) News Show, “Ozarks at Large.”
- Ritter, Gary W. September 1, 2002. Commentary: The Myth of the Common School. KUAF (National Public Radio Affiliate in Fayetteville, AR) News Show, “Ozarks at Large.”
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