Professor Gema Zamaro
Professor Gema Zamaro was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Association for Educational Financing Policy (AEFP).
“AEFP is one of the education policy associations that brings together researchers, policy makers and practitioners to address some of the most important, if not the most important, education finance and policy issues. I am excited to serve the policy community,” Zamarro said. 21st Century Endowed Chair on Teacher Quality at the Faculty of University Educational Reform.
AEFP provides an opportunity for members to interact with each other on rigorous research that can inform education finance and policy decisions. “Ultimately, we work to improve education policy so that all students have access to educational opportunities and are given the tools to succeed in school and life,” the website says.
Patrick Wolf, Interim Director of the Department of Education Reform, said: “AEFP has significant influence in the education policy arena, making the board election highly competitive.” “Dr. Zamaro's win in this competition is a wonderful tribute to him and will help guide the organization's work over the next three years.”
Zamarro teaches educational policy and economics at the University of California and is also an adjunct senior economist at the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR). She previously worked as an economist at the Rand Corporation, a professor at the Pardee Rand School of Public Policy, and an assistant professor at the Department of Econometrics at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.
Mr. Zamaro's research focuses on education policy and labor economics. Her research interests include the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement, the impact of school closure policies on student achievement, and the impact of dual language immersion programs on student achievement. Her current research focuses on the teacher labor market and the gender and education impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Her work has been featured numerous times in the American and Spanish media and has helped inform policy at both the national and state levels.
