Quantitative Methods for Public Policy

Summary

Introduction

What is quantitative literacy? How do you teach it? How do you measure it? How can you develop a program that will ensure that all undergraduates have it by the time they graduate? During the academic year 2001–02, faculty from Macalester College wrestled with these questions and found answers. These have led to a pilot program, Quantitative Methods for Public Policy (QM4PP), that is currently running at Macalester with funding from the Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education and the National Science Foundation's Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Instruction program.

The QM4PP program is interdisciplinary. It involves courses from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. It is also cohesive. The focus is on public policy, and all courses use the same policy issue as a source of illustrations and applications. All students from all of the participating courses come together one evening per week to hear experts debate the policy issue and to talk about their own use of quantitative methods in analyzing options. The policy topic changes on a regular basis. While a core of courses participate each year, there are departments that participate only when the topic is particularly relevant. This is a mechanism for drawing in a variety of less quantitative departments.

Viewing quantitative methods through the lens of policy analysis is a strong motivator for students, especially those who are “math averse,” demonstrating the power of quantitative methods in a context they recognize as important.