IES Pre-Doctoral Program Course Requirements

IES Fellows are required to take a program of courses in educational policy and human development and schooling, in addition to a rigorous sequence of courses in statistical methods. These courses include:

  • “Causal Inference in Educational Studies,” taken in the Spring Quarter of the second year of study.
  • “Seminar on Effective and Coherent Interventions to Reduce Educational Inequality,” taken during the third year of study
  • A minimum of two additional courses focusing on human development and schooling
  • At least one course related to educational policy or urban school reform
  • A minimum of four additional courses in statistical design and analysis
  • Regular attendance at the weekly Education Workshop

Please Note:

Our goal is for students to be able to satisfy IES recruitments en route to completing the requirements of their respective departments. Courses taken toward IES requirements may be double-counted with departmental ones wherever possible. With the exception of the two required courses and the workshop, the specific courses students use to fulfill the requirements will vary. They can include courses that are not on the lists given below. To seek approval for a specific course you wish to take, please reach out to the co-directors of the IES Pre-Doctoral Training Program, Steve Raudenbush (sraudenb@uchicago.edu) or Elaine Allensworth (elainea@uchicago.edu).

 

Electives in Human Development and Schooling
Each fellow must take at least two electives on human development and schooling, for example:

  1. Development in Adolescence (CHDV 40207)
  2. Inequality in Education: Theory, Policy, and Practice (CHDV 40400)
  3. Advanced Seminar in Developmental Psychology (PSYC 40500)
  4. Social-Cognitive Development (PSYC 41115)
  5. Seminar in Language Development (PSYC 43200)
  6. Seminar on Mathematical Development (PSYC)
  7. Urban Adolescents in their Families, Communities, and Schools (SSAD 44800)
  8. Cultural Studies in Education (SSAD 63412)
  9. History of American Urban Education (SSAD 66000)
  10. Schooling and Social Inequality (EDSO 33006)
  11. Schooling and Identity (EDSO 33002)
  12. Developmental Risk and Resilience (SSAD 52412)

 

Electives in Education Policy or Urban School Reform
Each fellow must take at least one elective related to education policy or urban school reform, for example:

  1. Early Childhood: Human Capital Development and Public Policy (PPHA 40700)
  2. Economics of Education Policy (PPHA 35700)
  3. Education in Developing Contexts (PPHA 35240)
  4. The Scale-Up Effect in Public Policy: Understanding and Addressing Threats to Scalability (PPHA 43650)

 

Methodological Course Requirements
In addition to taking “Causal Inference in Educational Studies,” each fellow must take at least four additional courses in statistical design and analysis. Many doctoral-level courses in the disciplines of Economics, Public Policy, Political Science, or Sociology will satisfy these requirements, for example:

  1. Statistical Theory and Methods I & II (STAT 244-245)
  2. Empirical Analysis I, II, & III (ECON 310-311-312)
  3. Topics in Econometrics and Advanced Econometrics (ECON 317-318)
  4. Applied Econometrics I & II
  5. Labor Economics (ECON 344)
  6. Multilevel Modeling (PBHS 33400/CHDV 32401)
  7. Statistical Applications (PBHS 33500/STAT 35800/CHDV 32702)
  8. Applications of Hierarchical Linear Models (SOCI 30112)
  9. Foundations for Statistical Theory (SOSC 36006)
  10. Principles and Methods of Measurement (SOSC 36008)
  11. Statistical Methods of Research (SOCI 30004)
  12. Methods in Child Development Research (CHDV 33150/EDSO 33150)
  13. Social Experiments: Design and Generalization
  14. Survey Methodology
  15. Longitudinal Data Analysis
  16. Introduction to Causal Inference
  17. Mediation Analysis