He is an economist who specializes in the economics of education and education policy. His research focuses on issues in domestic education and has recently studied charter schools, classroom peer-effects, accountability, bilingual education, gifted education, in-school breakfast and school uniforms. Currently he is researching teacher incentive pay, the labor market returns to higher education, and economic determinants and implications of autism. He is also a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member of the board of directors for the Association for Education Finance and Policy.