Ph.D., Stanford University, 1975

Lorraine McDonnell came to UCSB from RAND, where as a senior political scientist from 1975 to 1991, she led research projects on the implementation of state and federal education policies, the political role of teacher unions, and the design of educational accountability systems. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and several foundations. Her book, Politics, Persuasion, and Educational Testing (Harvard University Press, 2004), focuses on the politics of student testing. Currently, she is working with Stephen Weatherford examining U.S. presidential leadership in economic policy.

McDonnell is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Research Council and was a member of the NRC's Board on Testing and Assessment for seven years. She is 2008-2009 president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Courses Taught:

Selected Recent Publications:

"Deliberation with a Purpose: Reconnecting Communities and Schools," in Shawn Rosenberg, ed., Deliberation, Participation, and Democracy: Can the People Govern? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) (with M. Stephen Weatherford).

"The Politics of Education: Influencing Policy and Beyond, " in Susan H. Fuhrman, David V. Cohen, and Fritz Mosher, eds., The State of Education Policy Research (Erlbaum, 2007).

"Ronald Reagan as Legislative Advocate: Passing the Reagan Revolution's Budgets in 1981 and 1982" (with M. Stephen Weatherford), Congress and the Presidency 32:1 (2005).

"No Child Left Behind and the Federal Role in Education: Evolution or Revolution?" Peabody Journal of Education 80:2 (2005).