Tom Swiderski

Researcher at EPIC at UNC exploring how to help more young people thrive as they transition to adulthood. MSW + Public Policy PhD. 🏳️‍🌈🇺🇸

[Carrie Conaway @clconaway]

Education researchers: Learn how to write for non-academic audiences through @AnnenbergInst's EdResearch for Action writing fellowship program, which I direct!
***New this year: not just for K-12 researchers anymore.***
Apps due by Friday, November 15. https://t.co/UsSZL6heMV

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

Very excited to have been awarded an inaugural SUMI research grant! Through the work funded by this grant, we'll be learning more about the workforce skills that students are developing in high school and how those skills relate to their college & early career outcomes

[Chad Aldeman @ChadAldeman]

{new} One graph that changed my understanding of the student attendance problem: https://t.co/OpApIeedXx via @StudentSuccess @BrookingsEd @tswid_phd @SarahCFuller1 @kevin_c_bastian

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

In this post, @SarahCFuller1 @kevin_c_bastian and I examine student attendance patterns since the onset of the pandemic. Our results show meaningful variation in the severity & duration of absenteeism across students, adding support to the call for multi-tiered policy responses.

[Brookings Brown Center @BrookingsEd]

Between 2018-19 and 2021-22, the percentage of chronically absent K-12 students nearly doubled from 15% to 28%, with only a marginal decline in 2022-23, remaining well above pre-pandemic levels.
https://t.co/wv0KNp2Ujn

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

Here's a look at NC students' total days absent over the first 3 post-pandemic years vs last 3 pre. The distribution shifted up at all points, but much more so at the top. The 95th pctile student missed 111 days of school over those 3 years, or 37/year!

https://t.co/u8KfyRoNFL

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

From my latest work: nearly 8% of elementary and middle school students in NC were chronically absent *every year* over the first three years after pandemic onset, 3x more than pre-pandemic.

https://t.co/yrihOBIrmK

[Ethan Hutt @ehutt1]

This report nicely echoes a core argument we make in Off the Mark: one of the key functions of grades and tests (since to the 1840s!) has been to communicate to audiences near (eg parents) and far (eg colleges). If the communication function breaks down, you have a big problem.

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

New work out by @SarahCFuller1 & I on the Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard today! "Student GPA and test score gaps are growing--and could be slowing pandemic recovery" @EPIC_UNC

https://t.co/pQB55cKXL0

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

Hey folks, I'd be happy to take a blue sky invite code if anyone has one!

[Sarah Morris @SarahR_Morris]

Hey, @aefpweb First Gen/Doc Students! BOO!👻

No, just kidding :) Join us and this pleasant panel on Oct 30 to learn how to navigate the job market. @WaltEcton @skabourek @TatiVelasco @gema_zamarro

Register here: https://t.co/bNSvujqdQV

@_ajmoran @Quintero05Diana @tswid_phd

[EPIC-UNC @EPIC_UNC]

We are hiring a Data Systems Analyst whose role will be to process, clean, and build foundational datasets; manage the exchange of data with partners; and contribute to project-specific data builds and analyses. See here for the posting and please forward! https://t.co/MUjNHYg2z7

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

Thanks to Jamya Davis and The Fordham Institute (@educationgadfly) for this excellent review of my recently published study on Early College High Schools in North Carolina!

https://t.co/MdPL0jnCvm

[Jeremy Singer @jeremylsinger]

The increase in chronic absenteeism (missing 10% or more school days) across the country is concerning, and this research and reporting is important.

Here is a (slightly) deep(er) dive into Michigan's numbers, using data from @mieducation https://t.co/SV4ScmvcfB🧵

[Rachel S. White @ImRachelWhite]

🖐️hey @aefpweb First Gen scholars🤓

@tswid_phd & I are working on developing programming for our community group & would love to hear your voice📢

Please consider taking 2-3 mins to share your thoughts on community mtg topics & mtg timing!

https://t.co/BhKez77RFB

[EPIC-UNC @EPIC_UNC]

Several recent studies have examined the teacher education pipeline and the role of community colleges in that pipeline. New work by @tswid_phd, @kevin_c_bastian, and @SarahCFuller1 adds to this work in NC. https://t.co/c1MrDiGLZQ

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

(And as a technical note, I use PS methods that are based on very strong admin data, in a context where within-study comparisons have validated PS for other outcomes, and where a confound would need to explain not so much STEM attainment as changes in within-STEM major choice!)

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

New paper accepted at EFP! I show that Early College High Schools in NC increase STEM degree attainment, though growth is not equal across all STEM fields. https://t.co/ZOItwApOMP

[Tom Swiderski @tswid_phd]

I originally wrote this paper for my dissertation, so I am very grateful to my committee, as well as to @EPIC_UNC for continued support and an excellent review process at EFP that led to very positive changes to the paper.