Michael Reynolds

Deputy Director

Ph.D., Sociology, University of Chicago
M.A., Sociology, University of Chicago
B.A., International Relations, University of Southern California

Michael Reynolds is Deputy Director for Research for the Academic Research Centers. Associated with NORC since 1997, he is a Senior Survey and Project Director working on both quantitative and qualitative social science research projects, primarily in the education and health fields. Reynolds' work also includes a large portfolio of international work.

With more than 20 years of experience in social science and survey research, Reynolds brings proven abilities in large-scale survey fieldwork, design and application of survey instruments, and statistical analysis. He has extensive experience with large national and longitudinal data collection efforts within the U.S. and several developing countries.

In the Academic Research Centers, Reynolds has served as the Project Director for a number of education studies including the Teaching Artist Research Project (TARP), a longitudinal evaluation of a Head Start intervention, Getting Back on Track Study (the development and validation of several diagnostic tools for 3 and 4 year olds), and an evaluation of the University of Chicago Title VI centers’ programs. Internationally, Reynolds has recently led or is leading several of NORC's evaluations of development projects in a number of developing countries including Honduras, Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, and Benin. Reynolds also taught at the Brazilian National University of Para and conducted research in Brazil for 6 years, examining the effects of migration and development on communities at the "edges" of the Amazon.

In addition to his experience in gathering and analyzing quantitative data, Reynolds is trained as an ethnographer and has conducted qualitative field research in sites as diverse as Chicago inner-city neighborhoods to Brazilian gold mines in the Amazon. He is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Representative Projects

Getting on Track Early for School Success: An Assessment System to Support Effective Instruction. Stephen W. Raudenbush and a team of co-investigators from the University of Chicago’s Committee on Education, Urban Education Institute, Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education, and NORC at the University of Chicago are developing objective, valid, and instructionally relevant tools for assessing the literacy and math skills of children of ages three and four. More

Teaching Artists Research Project (TARP). There have been remarkable advances in arts education, both in and out of schools, over the last fifteen years, despite a challenging policy environment. Teaching artists, the hybrid professionals that link the arts to education and community life, are the creative resource behind much of this innovation.The Teaching Artists Research Project (TARP) deepens our understanding of world of teaching artists through studies in twelve communities, and it will inform policy designed to make their work sustainable, more effective, and more meaningful. More