Michael A. Gottfried is an associate professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his PhD and MA in applied economics from the University of Pennsylvania and his BA in economics from Stanford University. Gottfried has conducted numerous research studies in the area of school absenteeism, ranging from estimating the effects of absences on achievement and socioemotional development to identifying school factors and programs that can reduce chronic absenteeism, and has lectured domestically and internationally on the subject.
Ethan L. Hutt is an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his MA in history and PhD in the history of education from Stanford University. His research focuses on the historical relationship between quantification, education policy, and the law. In particular, he looks at the numbers and metrics that are used to describe, define, and regulate American school systems and has explored such topics as the history of the GED, grading practices, standardized test use, value-added measures, and longitudinal datasets.