David Blazar

David Blazar is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland College Park in the Education Policy program, as well as the faculty director of the Maryland Equity Project. With training in the economics of education, Blazar's research examines the efficient, effective, and equitable allocation of educational resources, focusing in particular on resources related to teachers and teaching. His current projects largely explore questions related to educator diversity, including: Why does educator diversity matter for school and student outcomes? What are the policies and programs that are effective at diversifying the educator workforce? How can school systems ensure that educators of color have successful experiences once they enter schools and classrooms? He has been the PI or co-PI on numerous foundation- and federally funded grants to support this work, many of which are formalized research-practice partnerships with state agencies in Maryland, the District of Columbia Public Schools, and other collaborators. His research has been published in American Education Research Journal, Economics of Education Review, Educational Researcher, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Review of Educational Research, among other publications. Blazar received the Excellence in Scholarship (Pre-Tenure) award from the University of Maryland College of Education, and the Jean Flanigan Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Association for Education Finance and Policy. He received his doctorate and master's degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and his bachelor's degree in history and literature from Harvard College. Prior to graduate school, he taught high-school English Language Arts in New York City.