Robert Kelchen, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy in the College of Education and Human Services, has been recognized by the prestigious publication, Education Week, as number 54 in a ranking of the top 200 United States educational scholars and public influencers for 2018 out of an estimated 20,000 education faculty in the nation.

The 2018 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings was compiled by Frederick M. Hess, American Enterprise Institute director of education policy studies. The article spotlights 200 scholars credited with moving ideas from academic journals into the national conversation. Using nine metrics, Hess calculated how much university-based academics contributed to public discussions of education.

"One small way to encourage academics to step into the fray and revisit academic norms is, I think, by doing more to recognize and value those scholars who engage in public discourse," explained Hess. "As I see it, the extraordinary policy scholar excels in five areas: disciplinary scholarship, policy analysis and popular writing, convening and shepherding collaborations, providing incisive media commentary, and speaking in the public square."

These rankings seek to highlight education scholars who are helping to shape public policy discussions by using research productivity, media coverage, and social media engagement as metrics. The scholars on this list are the ones who are influential in state and federal education policy discussions, and most are nationally recognized top tenured faculty.

Kelchen was also recognized in Education Week's related ranking of the top ten influential faculty in five particular categories. He was highlighted as number eight in the area of Government and Policy along with colleagues from Harvard, Stanford, UCLA and USC. He also was chosen number two out of nine in the Junior Faculty category.

"I want to give a special nod to junior faculty who earned spots on the list. Given that the rankings, by design, favor scholars who've assembled bodies of work and had sustained impact, the junior faculty who score well deserve particular notice," said Hess.

To learn more, read these articles in Education Week:

• The 2018 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings
• 2018 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence: Top Tens