Overview
Clara Muschkin is an associate research professor emerita of public policy at Duke University and an affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy. She directed the Child Policy Research Certificate Program and was the faculty director for the North Carolina Education Research Data Center (NCERDC).
Muschkin is a sociologist and demographer with an interdisciplinary research focus. In her research, she asks how education policies that influence the composition and organization of educational institutions can influence student behavior and academic performance. Her current research interests include: the impact of early childhood education policies on subsequent student outcomes; the impact of grade configuration on student behavior; the influence of grade retention and age on behavior and academic performance; impact of school composition by race and immigrant status on student behavior and achievement across grade levels; evaluation of high school reform policies; and successful outcomes for community college students.
Research Interests:- Education and social policy
- Academic performance and student behavior
- Public Policy
- Early Childhood education
- Peer Influence in schools
- Poverty and Inequality
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Pre-K Enrollments and Teaching Environments in North Carolina Elementary Schools.
Journal Article Children and youth services review · September 2024 Prior research finds that some high-quality preschool programs are successful in generating significant initial academic gains and long-term benefits for students as they progress through school. This study examines one of the mechanisms through which Nort ... Full text CiteUnderstanding Heterogeneity in the Impact of Public Preschool Programs.
Journal Article Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development · June 2023 We examine the North Carolina Pre-K (NC Pre-K) program to test the hypothesis that observed variation in effects resulting from exposure to the program can be attributed to interactions with other environmental factors that occur before, during, or after t ... Full text Open Access CiteLong-term effects of early childhood programs through eighth grade: Do the effects fade out or grow?
Journal Article Children and youth services review · May 2020 Support for policies to improve early childhood educational development and reduce disparities grew rapidly this century but recently has wavered because of findings that program effects might fade out prematurely. Two programs implemented at scale in Nort ... Full text Open Access CiteRecent Grants
Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research - CALDER
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by American Institutes for Research · 2013 - 2018RTI University Scholars
Institutional SupportPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Research Triangle Institute International · 2017 - 2018Multi-site Prevention of Adolescent Conduct Problems
ResearchResearch Scientist · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1990 - 2010View All Grants