GSE Professors Named in Top 200 RHSU Edu-Scholars Public Influence Rankings 

Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) is pleased to announce that three of its faculty members, Dr. Marybeth Gasman, Dr. W. Steven Barnett, and Dr. Nicole Mirra, have been recognized amongst the top 200 education scholars in the country in the 2024 RHSU Edu-Scholars Public Influence Rankings. 

From left to right: Dr. Marybeth Gasman, Dr. W. Steven Barnett, and Dr. Nicole Mirra.

Each year, Rick Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and Education Week blogger, spotlights education scholars who move ideas from academic journals into the national conversation. Using eight metrics, Hess calculated how much university-based academics contributed to public discussions of education. 

Given that there are well over 20,000 university-based faculty tackling educational questions in the United States, it is a particularly considerable accomplishment to be ranked in the top 200.  

“Rutgers GSE faculty are consistently ranked among the top academics in the country, and today’s announcement is acknowledgement of three of our faculty’s groundbreaking innovation and transformative leadership,” said Dr. Wanda J. Blanchett, dean of Rutgers GSE. “I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Gasman, Dr. Barnett, and Dr. Mirra. It is a privilege to work with them and such extraordinary faculty daily, and to be able to provide GSE students with world-class educators.” 

The rankings reflect, in roughly equal parts, the influence of a scholar’s academic scholarship and influence on public debate as reflected in old and new media. The rankings employ eight publicly available metrics: Google Scholar, Book Points, Highest Amazon Ranking, Education Press Mentions, Web Mentions, Newspaper Mentions, Syllabus Points, and Congressional Record Mentions.  

“One small way to encourage academics to step into the fray and revisit academic norms is, I think, by doing more to recognize and value those scholars who engage in public discourse,” Hess explains. “As I see it, the extraordinary public scholar excels in five areas: disciplinary research, scholarly analysis, popular writing on policy and practice, convening and shepherding collaborations, and speaking in the public square.” 

The full list of rankings can be found on Education Week.