Rebecca S. Natow
Associate Professor -- Higher Education Policy Expert -- Author -- Researcher
About Dr. Natow
Dr. Rebecca Natow, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at Hofstra University, is an expert in higher education policy and qualitative research methods. Dr. Natow has researched and written about federal and state higher education policies and policymaking processes and is author or coauthor of numerous writings including books, working papers, and scholarly articles. She is the sole author of two books, the award winning Reexamining the Federal Role in Higher Education: Politics and Policymaking in the Postsecondary Sector (Teachers College Press) as well as Higher Education Rulemaking: The Politics of Creating Regulatory Policy (Johns Hopkins University Press).
Affiliations
Faculty Appointment
Associate Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy, Hofstra University
Professional Association Memberships
American Educational Research Association
Association for the Study of Higher Education
Northeastern Educational Research Association
NASPA -- Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education
Fellow
Research & Publications
Books
Rebecca S. Natow (2022). Reexamining the Federal Role in Higher Education: Politics and Policymaking in the Postsecondary Sector. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Rebecca S. Natow (2017). Higher Education Rulemaking: The Politics of Creating Regulatory Policy. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Kevin J. Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Hana Lahr, Rebecca S. Natow, Lara Pheatt, & Vikash Reddy (2016). Performance Funding for Higher Education. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Kevin J. Dougherty & Rebecca S. Natow (2015). The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education: Origins, Discontinuations, & Transformations. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Academic Journal Articles
Rebecca S. Natow & Jordan McCaw. (2024). The Role of a School-Community Partnership in Enhancing Inclusive Special Education within a School District. Leadership & Policy in Schools.
Rebecca S. Natow, Vikash Reddy, & Victoria Ioannou. (2023). State-Level Responses to U.S. Federal Policy on State Authorization for Higher Education. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 31(4).
Rebecca S. Natow (2022). Understanding Higher Education Bill Success in the United States Congress. Review of Higher Education.
Rebecca S. Natow (2022). College Presidents' Public Messaging During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of Published Opinion Pieces as Crisis Communications. American Behavioral Scientist.
Rebecca S. Natow, Ane Turner Johnson, & Catherine A. Manly (2022). Higher Education Stakeholders’ Early Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis (editors’ introduction to a two-part special issue). American Behavioral Scientist.
Rebecca S. Natow (2022). Policy Actors' Perceptions of Qualitative Research in Policymaking: The Case of Higher Education Rulemaking in the United States. Evidence & Policy.
Rebecca S. Natow (2022). Research Use and Politics in the Federal Higher Education Rulemaking Process. Educational Policy, 36(3), 689-716.
Rebecca S. Natow (2020). Research Utilization in Higher Education Rulemaking: A Multi-Case Study of Research Prevalence, Sources, and Barriers. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 28(95).
Rebecca S. Natow (2020). The Use of Triangulation in Qualitative Studies Employing Elite Interviews. Qualitative Research, 20(2), 160-173.
Kevin J. Dougherty & Rebecca S. Natow (2020). Performance-Based Funding for Higher Education: How Well Does Neoliberal Theory Capture Neoliberal Practice? Higher Education,80(3), 457-478.
Rebecca S. Natow, Vikash Reddy, & Markeisha Grant (2020). Technology Use in Developmental Education: Experiences, Challenges, and Rationales. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 44(10-12), 738-756.
Rebecca S. Natow & Kevin J. Dougherty (2019). Performance Funding as Neoliberal Policy. International Higher Education, 98, 7-8.
Rebecca S. Natow (2019). Negotiated Rulemaking for U.S. Higher Education Regulatory Policy: A Process of Deliberative Democracy? The Journal of Public Deliberation, 15(1), art. 9.
Rebecca S. Natow (2019). Online Qualitative Data Sources for Federal Regulatory Policy Studies. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(3), 315-332.
Kevin J. Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Hana Lahr, Rebecca S. Natow, Lara Pheatt, & Vikash Reddy (2016). Looking Inside the Black Box of Performance Funding for Higher Education: Policy Instruments, Organizational Obstacles, and Intended and Unintended Impacts. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2(1), 147-173.
Rebecca S. Natow (2015). From Capitol Hill to Dupont Circle and Beyond: The Influence of Policy Actors in the Federal Higher Education Rulemaking Process. The Journal of Higher Education, 86(3), 360-386.
Kevin J. Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Hana Lahr, Rebecca S. Natow, Lara Pheatt, & Vikash Reddy (2014). Performance Funding for Higher Education: Forms, Origins, Impacts, and Futures. The Annals of the American Academy of Political & Social Science, 655(1), 163-184.
Kevin J. Dougherty, Rebecca S. Natow, Rachel H. Bork, Sosanya M. Jones, & Blanca E. Vega (2013). Accounting for Higher Education Accountability: Political Origins of State Performance Funding for Higher Education. Teachers College Record, 115(1).
Kevin J. Dougherty, Rebecca S. Natow, & Blanca E. Vega. (2012). Popular but Unstable: Explaining Why State Performance Funding Systems in the United States Often Do Not Persist. Teachers College Record, 114(3).
Selected Reports and Working Papers
Rebecca S. Natow. (2024). The Experiences of Higher Education Authorizing Agencies with Implementing State Authorization Reciprocity. Postsecondary Equity & Economics Research Project.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2023). Negotiated Rulemaking in the U.S. Department of Education: Where Administrative Law Meets Higher Education Policy. The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, CSAS Working Paper 23-02.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2021). A Framework for Understanding Federal-State Partnerships for Higher Education. A Report to the Rockefeller Institute of Government.
Rebecca S. Natow, Vikash Reddy, & Victoria Ioannou (2021). How States Respond to Federal Policy on State Authorization: Findings from a Multi-Case Study. A Report to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
Kevin J. Dougherty & Rebecca S. Natow (2019). Analyzing Neoliberalism in Practice: The Case of Performance-Based Funding for Higher Education. Centre for Global Higher Education Working Paper No. 44.
Rebecca S. Natow, Vikash Reddy, & Markeisha Grant (2017). How and Why Higher Education Institutions Use Technology in Developmental Education Programming. A Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness (CAPR) Working Paper.
Sosanya Jones, Kevin J. Dougherty, Hana Lahr, Rebecca S. Natow, Lara Pheatt, & Vikash Reddy (2015). Organizational Learning by Colleges Responding to Performance Funding: Deliberative Structures and Their Challenges. Community College Research Center Working Paper No. 79.
Hana Lahr, Lara Pheatt, Kevin J. Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Rebecca S. Natow, & Vikash Reddy (2014). Unintended Impacts of Performance Funding on Community Colleges and Universities in Three States. Community College Research Center Working Paper No. 78.
Lara Pheatt, Hana Lahr, Kevin J. Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Rebecca S. Natow, & Vikash Reddy (2014). Obstacles to the Effective Implementation of Performance Funding: A Multistate Cross-Case Analysis. Community College Research Center Working Paper No. 77.
Rebecca S. Natow, Lara Pheatt, Kevin J. Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Hana Lahr, & Vikash Reddy (2014). Institutional Changes to Organizational Policies, Practices, and Programs Following the Adoption of State-Level Performance Funding Policies. Community College Research Center Working Paper No. 76.
Vikash Reddy, Hana Lahr, Kevin J. Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Rebecca S. Natow, & Lara Pheatt (2014). Policy Instruments in Service of Performance Funding: A Study of Performance Funding in Three States. Community College Research Center Working Paper No. 75.
Kevin J. Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Hana Lahr, Rebecca S. Natow, Lara Pheatt, & Vikash Reddy (2014). Implementing Performance Funding in Three Leading States: Instruments, Outcomes, Obstacles, and Unintended Impacts. Community College Research Center Working Paper No. 74.
Selected Commentary
Rebecca S. Natow. (2023). Federal Policy on Community Colleges: Presidential Priorities and Policy Tools. Rockefeller Institute of Government Blog.
Benjamin Rifkin, Rebecca S. Natow, Nicolas P. Salter, & Shayla Shorter. (2023). Why Doctoral Programs Should Require Courses on Pedagogy. Chronicle of Higher Education.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2022). What Will It Take to Make College More Affordable? Chronicle of Higher Education.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2022). Resources for "Virtual Field Trips." Hofstra Virtual Faculty Hallway Chat.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2022). Starting Points of the U.S. Federal Role in Higher Education. Teachers College Press Blog.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2021). Using Technology to Advance Equity in Higher Education. AJE Forum.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2021). Higher Education in the United States: Present Challenges and Future Policy Solutions. Hofstra Horizons.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2021). Higher Education Policy Implications of President Biden's First 100 Days. Rockefeller Institute of Government Blog.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2021). What are Open Educational Resources and How Can They Be Useful in Teaching? Hofstra Virtual Faculty Hallway Chat.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2021). How Do Policymakers Perceive Qualitative Research? Evidence & Policy Blog.
Rebecca S. Natow. (2021). A Better Future Is Possible: On Policy Advocacy for Student Affairs Professionals. ACPA Developments.
Rebecca Natow. (2021). Why Haven't More Colleges Closed? The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Rebecca Natow. (2021). “Faculty Sharing Circles” as Professional Development for Teaching with Technology. Hofstra Virtual Faculty Hallway Chat.
Rebecca Natow. (2021). The Importance of Congressional Leadership for Higher Education Policy. Rockefeller Institute of Government Blog.
Rebecca Natow. (2020). How to Engage Students in Fully Online Classes. Hofstra Virtual Faculty Hallway Chat.
Rebecca Natow. (2020). Implications of the 2020 Presidential Election for Federal Higher Education Policy. Rockefeller Institute of Government Blog.
Rebecca Natow. (2019). The public comment period of higher education rulemaking: Your opportunity to influence accreditation policy. Community College Research Center: The Mixed Methods Blog.
Rebecca Natow & Kevin Dougherty (2019). Neoliberalism is not always negative. Times Higher Education.
Markeisha Grant, Rebecca Natow, & Vikash Reddy (2017). Anticipating and addressing challenges with technology in developmental education. EdSurge.
Rebecca Natow (2017). What’s happening beyond the public eye in the Dept. of Education? The Hechinger Report.
Rebecca S. Natow (2016). Influences on Higher Education Rulemaking. Johns Hopkins University Press Blog.
Kevin Dougherty, Sosanya M. Jones, Hana Lahr, Rebecca S. Natow, Lara Pheatt, & Vikash Reddy (2016). Does Performance Funding Work? Inside Higher Education.
Rebecca S. Natow (2016). The 2016 Election and Higher Education Rulemaking: Important Implications for Regulations Governing Financial Aid and Other Federal Programs. Johns Hopkins University Press Blog.
Invited Book Review
Grants, Awards, & Recognitions
Hofstra College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty Research & Development Grant
2023
Hofstra University Presidential Research Award Program
2023
Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award
2024
Lorne H. Woollatt Distinguished Paper Award, Northeastern Educational Research Association
2023
Finalist for the Foreword Indies 2022 Book of the Year Award in the Category of Education
2023
Finalist for the Next Generation Indies Book Award in the Category of Education/Academic
2023
Second Place in the Category of Education, Royal Dragonfly Book Award
2022
First Place in the Category of Politics, Royal Dragonfly Book Award
2022
Hofstra College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty Research & Development Grant
2022
NASPA Foundation Channing Briggs Small Research Grant
2022
Teacher of the Year Award, Hofstra University School of Education
2020-2021
State Higher Education Executive Officers Association's State Authorization Research Grant
2020-2021
Hofstra College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty Research & Development Grant
2018-2020
Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellowship, Rockefeller Institute of Government
2020-2021
NASPA Region II Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member
2021
Hofstra University Presidential Research Award Program
2022
Critics' Choice Book Award, American Educational Studies Association
2022
Finalist for American Book Fest "Best Book" Award in the Category of Education
2022
Hofstra University Presidential Research Award Program
2020
Finalist for AERA Division J Outstanding Dissertation Award
2014
Winner of Politics of Education Association Outstanding Dissertation Award
2014
Teachers College Policy Research Fellowship
2010-2011
Teachers College Dean's Grant for Student Research
2010-2011
Teachers College Higher & Postsecondary Education Program Endowed Fellowship
2010
