About

Nicola Alexander is a Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, Diversity, and International Initiatives at the University of Minnesota. Her research examines the implications of policy for society as a whole, entire student populations, and specified student groups, focusing on how policy does not always work in the way we expect or want. She is involved in initiatives related to diversity and international education within the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development.

Research topics

• Political science
• Sociology
• Mathematics education
• Psychology
• Public administration

Selected publications

• Exploring the Link Between States’ Principal Evaluation Policies and Student Achievement

  Educational Administration Quarterly · 2025-03-28 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  Purpose: This study investigated the links between states’ principal evaluation policies and student achievement. We focused on three levers that policymakers have used to hold principals accountable for improving student achievement: (1) including student academic growth data, (2) mandating observations of principal behavior (site visits), and (3) requiring or explicitly allowing stakeholder feedback via surveys. Data and Research Methods: We used repeated cross-sectional data for the principal evaluation policy levers collected at nine points in every odd numbered year from 2001 to 2017 by assembling a range of datasets collected by the National Center for Teacher Quality and previous studies; we also used the nationally representative National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and math scores of eighth-grade students. We adopted a novel framework of counterfactual estimation of matrix completion methods to examine the causal link between the state principal evaluation policies and student achievement. Findings : We found that requiring the inclusion of student academic growth data in principal evaluations had no significant impact on state eighth-grade NAEP achievement scores. However, we found that policies mandating observations or site visits and requiring or explicitly allowing stakeholder surveys were associated with small increases in state eighth-grade NAEP reading scores. Implications : Principal evaluation models can help policymakers to shape the impact principals have on student achievement, but policy design matters. The importance of focusing on principal behavior rather than student achievement is discussed. We also discuss the benefit of multiple data sources for principal evaluation models and suggest directions for future research.

  PublisherDOI

• ‘Synonymization’ Threat, Equity, and the Funding of Districts with Relatively High Populations of Latinx Students

  Journal of education finance · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  abstract: This study explored the implications for education funding in districts when Latinx status and language learning needs (English learner status) are conflated (i.e., when all Latinx students are assumed to be English learners), or when poverty is conflated with Latinx status. Extending Alexander and Jang’s (2019) synonymization threat framework, we posited and tested three claims: (1) largely Latinx districts are not largely poor districts; (2) dollars appropriated to largely poor districts are not equivalent to dollars appropriated to largely Latinx districts; and (3) dollars appropriated to largely English learner (EL) districts are not equivalent to dollars appropriated to largely Latinx districts. We adopt cross-sectional multivariate regression analysis for the 15-year period between 2000 and 2014 to substantiate these claims. Focusing on Minnesota, we found relatively weak correlations between the percentages of poor students and the percentages of Latinx students served. Our findings also revealed that the only minoritized identity that has consistently received additional funding as their proportion of the population increases is poverty status. We discussed the implications of synonymization among three groups—Latinx, ELs, and students living in poverty—in practice and policy.

  PublisherDOI

• Exploring the Changing Face of Adequacy

  2024-01-18

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Adequacy is a derived concept whose origins in the school finance literature probably stem from San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973), a landmark federal case. Although there is often a recycling of definitions, 3 decades later, there is still little consensus on how to operationalize that concept. The purpose of this article is to synthesize the different conceptualizations of adequacy and to document its evolution in the field. A critical historical mapping lays the groundwork for highlighting the future direction of research. This article relies on economical, sociological, and legally based perspectives, framing the discussion of adequacy around the notions of (a) adequacy of educational inputs, (b) adequacy in school processes, and (c) adequacy of educational outputs. Each focus draws on school-centered explanations of differences in attainment. Consequently, adequacy research looks largely at how policymakers can appropriately divide resources among schools (and ultimately students) to achieve desired results. There is a long-established focus in the literature on the appropriate levels of inputs and outputs in discussions of the adequacy of the education production function. Largely missing from that discussion, however, is a more detailed examination of the adequacy of the process, which speaks to the capacity of institutions to meet various standards set.

  PublisherDOI

• Minnesota

  2023-05-22

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Black Women Principals in American Secondary Schools: Quantitative Evidence of the Link Between Their Leadership and Student Achievement

  Educational Administration Quarterly · 2022-01-28 · 37 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Purpose: This study aims to provide quantitative knowledge concerning the leadership of Black women principals in American secondary schools. We examined (1) the demographic composition of the schools in which Black women principals serve, (2) these principals’ instructional leadership behaviors, (3) the collective responsibility among teachers in those schools, and (4) the association between their interacting identities and the math achievement scores of the 9 th graders at the schools they led. Research Design and Methods: We used a critical quantitative intersectionality framework along with the base-year data from the High School Longitudinal Studies 2009 provided by the National Center for Education Statistics. Multiple regression analysis and linear mixed-effect modeling were used to examine how the convergence of principals’ race or ethnicity and gender is associated with the variables of interest. Findings: The results showed that on average, Black principals served schools with relatively higher percentages of students who were eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch and relatively higher percentages of students of color. We found that Black women principals were associated with a higher level of teachers’ collective responsibility as perceived by teachers and higher math achievement scores among students. There was a positive association between the principals’ instructional leadership behaviors perceived by teachers and female principals. Implications for Research and Practice: The importance of understanding the multiplicative influences of race or ethnicity and gender in research and principal preparation programs are discussed. We suggest that policymakers prepare intersectionality-informed policy interventions that specifically support leadership by Black women principals.

  PublisherDOI

• "Synonymization" Threat, Equity, and the Funding of Districts With Relatively High Populations of Latinx Students

  Proceedings of the 2021 AERA Annual Meeting · 2021-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This study explored the implications for education funding in districts when Latinx status and language learning needs (English learner status) are conflated (i.e., when all Latinx students are assumed to be English learners), or when poverty is conflated with Latinx status. Extending Alexander and Jang’s (2019) synonymization threat framework, we posited and tested three claims: (1) largely Latinx districts are not largely poor districts; (2) dollars appropriated to largely poor districts are not equivalent to dollars appropriated to largely Latinx districts; and (3) dollars appropriated to largely English learner (EL) districts are not equivalent to dollars appropriated to largely Latinx districts. We adopt cross-sectional multivariate regression analysis for the 15-year period between 2000 and 2014 to substantiate these claims. Focusing on Minnesota, we found relatively weak correlations between the percentages of poor students and the percentages of Latinx students served. Our findings also revealed that the only minoritized identity that has consistently received additional funding as their proportion of the population increases is poverty status. We discussed the implications of synonymization among three groups—Latinx, ELs, and students living in poverty—in practice and policy.

  PublisherDOI

• Valor-agregado no Ensino Superior: uma nova metodologia para os cursos de graduação no Brasil

  2021-05-01

  article
  Publisher

• Minnesota

  Journal of education finance · 2021-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Value-added in Higher Education: a new methodology for undergraduate programs in Brazil

  Avaliação Revista da Avaliação da Educação Superior (Campinas) · 2021-05-01

  articleOpen access

  Among the quality indicators released by the Brazilian Higher Education Assessment System (Sinaes), the Indicator “Difference between Observed and Expected Performance” (IDD) has the purpose of measuring the contribution of the course to student achievement during undergraduate programs. The research presented here offers a new methodology for calculating the IDD (Model IDD-VDCF), examining the philosophical and statistical underpinnings of quality measures, focusing on those that capture the value-added as a student achievement growth. The survey included a sample of 30,668 students, from 911 accounting undergraduate programs in Brazil. The insertion of control variables (at the student and at the institution level) reduced the bias of the IDD estimate associated with the student's selection in specific Accounting Sciences courses. The results call attention to the need to consider the students' learning context when one wants to compare the performance between institutions based on standardized tests. The major contribution of this work is the development of a measure that disentangles more fully what the contribution of program is to student learning, and what merely is a reflection of the capacity that a student brought to the program.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Minnesota

  Journal of education finance · 2020-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• C. Arnold Spek

  University of Amsterdam

  24 shared

• Sung Tae Jang

  University of Hong Kong

  13 shared

• Gilberto José Miranda

  Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

  5 shared

• Vivian Duarte Couto Fernandes

  5 shared

• Janser Moura Pereira

  Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

  3 shared

• Shipi Kankane

  University of Minnesota System

  2 shared

• Hyun‐Jun Kim

  University of Washington

  2 shared

• Samantha E. Holquist

  2 shared

Education

• PhD

  University at Albany Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy

  1998

Awards & honors

• National Education Finance Academy Distinguished Research an…
• National Education Finance Conference, Educational Considera…
• College of Education and Human Development Robert Beck Teach…