Lesley Turner

Lesley J. Turner is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Maryland, faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research, CESifo research affiliate, and a faculty associate of the Maryland Population Research Center. Her research applies theory and methods from labor and public economics to topics in education economics and broadly considers the role government should play in providing and financing education.

Her work on K–12 education policy has examined the impact of school accountability measures on student achievement, the impact of incentive pay for teachers on student achievement and teacher effort, and the impact of school and classroom gender composition on student achievement. Regarding higher education, Dr. Turner has studied how postsecondary institutions strategically respond to need-based student aid to estimate the economic incidence of the Pell Grant Program, how Pell Grant aid impacts educational attainment and borrowing, and how price shocks affect undocumented students’ educational attainment. She was awarded the Upjohn Institute Dissertation award for the best PhD dissertation in labor economics in 2012 and received the CESifo Distinguished Young Affiliate Prize in 2015.