DEMETRA NIGHTINGALE, PH.D.
Demetra S. Nightingale, Ph.D.
Principal Research Scientist
Employment, welfare, poverty and social policy
The focus of my teaching and research is social policy, particularly issues related to employment, welfare, and families. Public policies at the national, state, and local levels affect the lives of individuals and families of every income, as well as the vitality of businesses and communities. Analyzing policies from various organizational, individual, and programmatic perspectives helps improve knowledge about how government action can best address society’s social and economic needs. Some of my recent work has examined changes in the structure of the nation’s economy, analyzing, for example, the skills needed in growing sectors of the economy and how public and private strategies, such as career ladders, skills training and lifelong learning options, can meet those needs. I also study the functioning of the labor market as it relates to specific groups that may require specific services to effectively participate in the economy, including older workers, persons with limited education, immigrants, the unemployed, and parents moving from welfare to work.
Dr. Nightingale holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the George Washington University. She has directed numerous program evaluations and policy studies, publishes extensively, and sits on many advisory groups, boards, and task forces. Before joining Johns Hopkins, for over twenty-five years she was at the Urban Institute, most recently as a principal research associate and program director in the Labor and Social Policy Center.
C.V.
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Current Research/Projects
- Evaluation of New York City Food Stamp Paperless Application Demonstration
- Process and Implementation Evaluation of the Partnership for Fragile Families Initiative
- Evaluation of the Colorado Works Program
- Evaluation of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to Employ Demonstrations
- Evaluation of the High Growth Job Training Initiative
- Innovative Employment Strategies
- Job Training Expenditures in the U.S.
- Performance Management in the Workforce Development System
- The Role of Food Stamps in the Post-Reform Safety Net: The Three City Study
- Workforce Policy for the Next Decade and Beyond
- Nightingale, Demetra Smith and Harry J. Hoelter (eds) (2007). Reshaping the American Workforce in a Changing Economy. Washington DC: Urban Institute Press.
- Nightingale, Demetra Smith, P. Sharkey, and C. Ratcliffe (2007). “Welfare Program Performance: An Analysis of South Carolina's Family Independence Program,” The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 65-90.
Course Offerings
195.652 Social Policy -- Special Topics Seminar
195.683 Seminar: Applied Evaluation
