Ronald Ferguson is an MIT trained economist who has taught at Harvard University since 1983. He is a senior lecturer in education and public policy with a joint appointment between the Graduate School of Education (GSE) and the Kennedy School of Government. He is also a senior research associate at the Kennedy School’s Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. His teaching and publications cover a variety of issues in education and economic development. In addition to teaching and writing, Dr. Ferguson consults actively with school departments and agencies at all levels of government on efforts to raise achievement levels and close achievement gaps. He is the creator and research director of the Tripod Project for School Improvement, the faculty cochair and director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard and a faculty cochair of the Pathways to Prosperity Initiative at HGSE on adolescent-to-adult transitions. His most recent book is Toward Excellence with Equity: An emerging vision for closing the achievement gap, published by Harvard Education Press. Dr. Ferguson earned an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and Ph.D. from MIT, both in economics. He is the father of two sons and is happily married to Helen Mont-Ferguson.
Ferguson, R. (2010). Racial Tensions and Teacher Engagement in Professional Learning. MASCD Perspectives - Online, Winter 2010. Publication of the Massachusetts Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. (2010)
Ferguson, R. (2010). How High Schools Become Exemplary. Report on the 2009 Annual Conference of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University. May 2010. (With Sandra Hackman, Robert Hanna, and Ann Ballantine.) Available at www.agi.harvard.edu (2010)
CNN Commentary: What Parents Can Do for their Kids. June 20, 2009. http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/07/17/ferguson.education.parents/ (2009)
Ferguson, R. (2008). Helping Students of Color Meet High Standards. In Mica Pollock, Ed., Everyday Anti-Racism. New York: New Press. (2008)
Ferguson, R. (2008). What We’ve Learned about ‘Stalled Progress’ in Closing the Black-White Achievement Gap. In Katherine Magnuson and Jane Waldfogel, eds., Steady Gains and Stalled Progress: Inequality and the Black-White Test Score Gap. New York: Russell Sage. (2008)
Ferguson, R., (2008). Raising Achievement and Closing Gaps in Whole School Systems: Recent Advances in Research and Practice. Report on the 2008 Annual Conference of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University. December 2008. (With Sandra Hackman, Robert Hanna, and Ann Ballantine) Available at www.agi.harvard.edu. (2008)
Ferguson, R. (2007). Become More Sophisticated about Diversity. Journal of Staff Development. 28( 3), Summer 2007. (2007)
Ferguson, R. (2007). Opportunity Now: Raising Achievement in Spite of Structural Impediments. In C. Deshano da Silva, J.P. Huguley, J.P., Z. Kakli, & R. Rao, Eds., The Opportunity Gap: Achievement and Inequality in Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. (2007)
Ferguson, R. (2007). Parenting Practices, Teenage Lifestyles, and Academic Achievement among African American Children. Focus (University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty) Vol. 25(1). Spring-Summer 2007. (2007)
Ferguson, R. (2007). Toward Excellence with Equity: An emerging vision for closing the achievement gap. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, December 2007. (2007)
Ferguson, R. (2007). Toward Excellence with Equity—The Role of Parenting and Transformative School Reform. In, Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin, Eds., The Price We Pay: Economic and Social Consequences of Inadequate Education. Washington DC: Brookings Press. (2007)
Ferguson, R. F. (2007). Professional Community and Closing Student Achievement Gaps. In R. D. Henderson (Ed.), Research Briefs from the NEA Visiting Scholars Series: Teacher Quality and Achievement Gaps (pp. 11-15). Washington, DC: National Education Association. (2007)
