Robert M. Costrell is Professor of Education Reform and Economics and holds the Endowed Chair in Education Accountability at the University of Arkansas. His areas of expertise include standards-based reform and school finance.

Professor Costrell has both an academic and policy-making background. He was a member of the economics department of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from 1978 to 2006. His academic career has featured seminal publications on the economic theory of educational standards, as well as the theory of income distribution and testing. These have appeared in the top economics journals, such as the American Economic Review and the Journal of Political Economy. He has also written on education reform, school finance and litigation for more general audiences, in such publications as Brookings Papers on Education Policy and Education Next.

From 1999 to 2006, Dr. Costrell served in major policy roles for three governors of Massachusetts, including policy research director and chief economist. As Education Advisor to Governor Mitt Romney, he helped develop the governor’s comprehensive education reform proposal of 2005, and also led the reforms of the state’s district and charter funding formulas. In 2003, Dr. Costrell’s extensive expert testimony in Massachusetts’ school finance case (Hancock v. Driscoll) proved critical to the successful defense of that state’s education reform program. He represented the administration on the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (2001-03) and the Massachusetts School Building Authority (2005-06).

Professor Costrell joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas in August 2006. His current research topics include student achievement, teacher pension policy, fiscal impact of school choice, and methodologies for school funding estimation.

Professor Costrell received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1978 and his B.A. in economics from the University of Michigan in 1972.