Mark Weber
Curriculum Vitae
mark@markweber.com• mark.weber@rutgers.edu
 
Education policy, quantitative analysis, music and arts education.

 
STATEMENT
I have a unique record of success in education policy research, college teaching, PreK-12 teaching, teacher mentoring, project management, fundraising, and arts education. My quantitative skills, combined with many years of experience in public education, make me an exceptionally well-qualified candidate for a position at a college of education within a research university. I have also repeatedly demonstrated the ability to bring diverse stakeholders together to provide support for initiatives in the fields of education and the arts.

EDUCATION
PhD in Education Theory, Organization and Policy                                                                                          
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Graduate School of Education
2019                                                   

MA in Music Education
University of Central Florida
2005
 
MM in Jazz Studies
Manhattan School of Music
1990

BA in Music
University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music
1987

PUBLICATIONS

Dissertation

• The Effects of Charter School Proliferation and Locational Decisions on the Finances of Public District Schools .Defended successfully on October 17, 2018.
   

Peer-Reviewed Journals

• Weber, M.A. & Baker, B.D. (2017) Do For-Profit Managers Spend Less on Schools and Instruction? A national analysis of charter school staffing expenditures. Educational Policy, (32)6, 855-902.
• Baker, B.D., & Weber, M.A. (2016). Beyond the Echo-Chamber: State Investments and Student Outcomes in U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education. Journal of Education Finance, 42(1), 1-27.
• Baker, B.D., & Weber, M.A. (2016). State School Finance Inequities and the Limits of Pursuing Teacher Equity through Departmental Regulation. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(47), 1-35. http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/2230/1770

Policy Briefs

• Weber, M.A. (2019, in production) Ten Important Facts About New Jersey Charter Schools… And Five Ways To Improve The New Jersey Charter Sector.Trenton, NJ: The New Jersey Policy Perspective.
• Weber, M.A. (2018) Are Graduation Rates Really Improving Faster in Camden and Newark, New Jersey?New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. Retrieved from: https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/are-graduation-rates-really-improving-faster-in-camden-and-newark-new-jersey/
• Weber, M.A. & Rubin, J.S. (2018)New Jersey Charter Schools: A Data-Driven View, 2018 Update. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Retrieved from: https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/56004/
• Baker, B.D., Weber, M.A., Srikanth, A., Kim, R. & Atzbi, M. (2018). The Real Shame of the Nation: The Causes and Consequences of Interstate Inequity in Public School Investments. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and The Education Law Center. Retrieved from: http://www.schoolfundingfairness.org
• Weber, M.A. (2017). The Sweeny-Prieto School Aid Proposal: An Analysis. New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/the-sweeny-prieto-school-aid-proposal-an-analysis/
• Weber, M.A. & Baker, B.D. (2017). NEPC Review: “School District Reform in Newark (National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2017) and Impact of the Newark Education Reforms (Center for Education Policy Research, Harvard University, September 2017).”Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved from: http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-newark-reform.
• Baker, B.D., & Weber, M.A. (2017). Newark's Schools: The Facts. New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. Retrieved from: https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/newarks-schools-the-facts/
• Weber, M.A. (2016). New Jersey Charter Schools: A Data-Driven View, Part II - Finances and Staffing.Princeton, NJ: Daniel Tanner Foundation. http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/nj-charter-school-data/
• Weber, M.A. & Srikanth, A. (2016). How Fair Is the “Fairness Formula” for New Jersey School Children and Taxpayers?New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/how-fair-is-the-fairness-formula-for-new-jersey-school-children-taxpayers/
• Baker, B.D., & Weber, M.A. (2016). Deconstructing the Myth of American Public Schooling Inefficiency.Washington, DC: Albert Shanker Institute. http://www.shankerinstitute.org/resource/publicschoolinginefficiency
• Baker, B.D., & Weber, M.A. (2016). On the Relative Efficiency of New Jersey Public School Districts. New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2016/08/02/on-the-relative-efficiency-of-new-jersey-public-school-districts/
• Mead, J.F. & Weber, M.A. (2016).Review of “Special Education and English Language Learner Students in Boston Charter Schools.”Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-charter- expansion
• Weber, M.A. (2015). The (Mis-)Use of Data in Dale Russakoff’s “The Prize.”New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/the-mis-use-of-data-in-dale-russakoffs-the-prize/
• Weber, M.A. (2015) Camden’s “Transformation” Schools: Racial & Experience Disparity in Staff Consequences.New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/camdens-transformation-schools-racial-experience-disparity-in-staff-consequences/
  Weber, M.A. (2015). One Newark: Choosing “Great” Schools, or Merely Segregated Ones?New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/one-newark-choosing-great-schools-or-merely-segregated-ones/
• Baker, B.D., & Weber, M.A. (2015). Research Note: On Average, Are Children in Newark Doing Better?New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/research-note-on-average-are-children-in-newark-doing-better/
• Weber, M.A. (2014). Shortchanging New Jersey Students: How Inadequate Funding Has Led to Reduced Staff and Growing Disparities in the State’s Public Schools.Newark, NJ: Education Law Center. http://www.edlawcenter.org/assets/files/pdfs/publications/Shortchanging%20New%20Jersey%20Students.pdf
  Weber, M.A. (2014). New Jersey Charter Schools: A Data-Driven View, Part I - Enrollments and Student Demographics.Princeton, NJ: Daniel Tanner Foundation. http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/nj-charter-school-data/
• Weber, M.A. (2014). Buyer Beware: One Newark and the Market For Lemons. New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/buyer-beware-one-newark-and-the-market-for-lemons/
• Weber, M.A., Baker, B.D., & Oluwole, J.O. (2014). "One Newark's" Racially Disparate Impact on Teachers. New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. Retrieved from: https://njedpolicy.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/weber-baker-oluwole-staffing-report_3_10_2014_final2.pdf
• Baker, B.D., & Weber, M.A. (2014). A Response to “Correcting the Facts about the One Newark Plan: A Strategic Approach To 100 Excellent Schools.”New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/a-response-to-correcting-the-facts-about-the-one-newark-plan-a-strategic-approach-to-100-excellent-schools/
• Baker, B.D., & Weber, M.A. (2014).  An Empirical Critique of “One Newark.”New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/new-report-an-empirical-critique-of-one-newark/
• Weber, M.A. (2013). Charter Schools in Hudson County, NJ: Skimming the Cream?New Brunswick, NJ: NJ Education Policy Forum. https://njedpolicy.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/charter-schools-in-hudson-county-nj-skimming-the-cream/
   

AWARDS/GRANTS

• Kappa Delta Pi, education honor society (2018).
• David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar in K-12 Educational Administration and Policy (2017).
• Graduate Research Assistant, Indicators of Educational Inequality in U.S. States, 1993-2013. Funded by the William T. Grant Foundation. (2015-16).
   

CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS

• “Newark Schools: How Much Progress?” Rutgers University-Newark, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Center for Urban and Public Service; May 12, 2018.
• “Erasing Segregation, Extolling the Market: Revisiting Milton Friedman’s Shifting Arguments for School Vouchers.” Education Reform, Communities and Social Justice: Exploring the Intersections, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University; May 19, 2017.
• Keynote Speaker, New Jersey Education Association Annual Convention; Atlantic City, NJ; Nov. 10, 2016.
• "Do For-Profit Managers Spend Less on Schools and Instruction? A national analysis of charter school staffing expenditures." Education Reform, Communities and Social Justice: Exploring the Intersections, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University; May 20, 2016.
• "Blogging Education Policy With School Finance 101 and Jersey Jazzman." AERA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.; April 8, 2016.
• “The State of Education Policy in New Jersey.” Abbott Leadership Institute at Rutgers-Newark; April 22, 2014.

TESTIMONY

• NJ Legislature Joint Committee on the Public Schools, March 11, 2015. Topic: “One Newark” update.
• NJ Legislature Joint Committee on the Public Schools, March 11, 2014. Topic: “One Newark” school reorganization plan.
• NJ Legislative Black Caucus, February 18, 2014. Topic: “One Newark” school reorganization plan.

COLLEGE TEACHING EXPERINCE

• 2017-present: Lecturer, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Teach graduate level course “Public School Finance.” Create unique datasets for students’ portfolio projects, using measures of school- and district-level finances, student population characteristics, and staff characteristics.
• 1994-1996: Adjunct Music Instructor, Neumann College, Aston, PA.
• 1991-1992: Instructor of Music, Five Towns College, Dix Hills, New York.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

• 2018-present: Special Analyst for Education Policy, The New Jersey Policy Perspective, Trenton, NJ. Produce regular reports on New Jersey education policy topics, including charter schools, school funding, teacher evaluation. Solicited and coordinated funding for project ($100K annually).
• 2016-present: School Funding Fairness Data System; Rutgers Graduate School of Education/Education Law Center. Data collection, database construction, codebook author. http://www.schoolfundingfairness.org
• 2014: New York State school/district database. Education Law Center. Data collection, database construction.

 
K-12 TEACHING EXPERINCE

• 2006-present: Music Teacher, Warren Township Schools, NJ. Vocal and instrumental music in a PreK-8 district. Mentor for alternate route and beginning teachers. Lead curriculum writer for music program. 2017-18 Teacher of the Year. 2014 Morris-Union Jointure Award for Service to the Music Festival. 2012 Model Curriculum Writing Project, a statewide initiative sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Education.
• 2005-2006: Music Teacher, South Orange/Maplewood School District, NJ. Vocal music in a K-12 district. Mentor for alternate route teachers.
• 2003-2005: Music Teacher, Lake Mary Preparatory School, Lake Mary, FL. Vocal music and drama in a Pre-K-12 school. Director of Performing Arts.
• 2002-2003: Music Teacher, Choices In Learning Charter School, Longwood, FL. Vocal music in a K-5 school.

OTHER EXPERINCE

• 1990-2002, full-time; 2002-present, part-time: Composer/pianist/conductor. Composition awards include: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship, others. Educational composition portfolio includes works for choirs, concert band, jazz band, elementary classroom.
• 1997-2002: Composer-In-Residence and Music Education Programs. Designed and directed programs for elementary and secondary students in computer-based music appreciation workshops. Partners and funders include: Franklin Science Institute Museum, Rockefeller Foundation, Meet the Composer, William Penn Foundation.

SKILLS

• Education policy: Research interests include charter schools, educational “choice,” teacher evaluation, value-added modeling, arts education, school finance, teacher preparation.
• Quantitative analysis: Econometric modeling, causal analysis, mixed-methods, descriptive statistics, database construction/management. Expert user of Stata and QGIS; proficient in ArcGIS, SPSS, other statistical software.
• Writer: Author and co-author of many peer-reviewed papers and education policy briefs. Nationally recognized author and blogger (jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com) with many publications in popular media, including The Washington Post, Education Week, The PBS NewsHour, NJ Spotlight, and others.
• Teacher/mentor: 17 years PreK-12 music teaching experience at elementary and secondary levels. Teacher mentor, clinician, youth ensemble conductor.
• Project manager/fundraiser:Projects in arts education and education policy. Coordinated fundraising efforts; grantors include The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Rockefeller Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, The Daniel Tanner Foundation, Meet the Composer.

REFERENCES
 
Available on request.