Ronald Ferguson

Ronald F. Ferguson (born 1950) is an American economist and educator known for his research and contributions to addressing educational disparities in the United States. He has focused on issues ranging from state and local economic development to school reform and early childhood parenting.

Education Ferguson was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in economics.

Career Ferguson was appointed to Harvard University in 1983.

Ferguson's research with Helen Ladd during the 1980s on the Massachusetts Miracle (the economic transformation of the state's economy ) drew international attention during Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis’ 1988 presidential campaign, when Dukakis said he could do for the nation what he had done for Massachusetts. The Ferguson/Ladd report credited broader economic forces, attributing only a small role to state policy.

During the 1990s, Ferguson led the National Community Development Policy Analysis Network (NCDPAN), the research arm of the National Community Development Initiative (which in 2001 became Living Cities). In 1999, two dozen nationally prominent social scientists in NCDPAN completed the volume Urban Problems and Community Development, published by Brookings Press. Ferguson co-edited the book with William T. Dickens and contributed three synthesis chapters.

In 2001, Ferguson founded The Tripod Project working with educators in Shaker Heights, Ohio and the Minority Student Achievement Network to develop the first generation of Tripod Student Surveys for understanding how classroom experiences affect achievement gaps.

In 2008, Tripod Student Surveys became the student voice measure for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation project on Measures of Effective Teaching (MET). From 2009-2013, the MET project engaged nearly 3,000 K–12 teachers in multiple school districts to administer Tripod surveys. He served as a Senior Lecturer in Education and Public Policy with a joint appointment to the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kennedy School. Ferguson also served as a fellow for the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy.

In 2014, Ferguson co-founded The Tripod Education Partners, Inc.

In 2017, Ferguson founded The Basics, Inc., a nonprofit aimed to improve the basic foundational skills of early childhood caregiving and development, which stems from works of the Academic Gap Initiative. Additionally, he is one of the co-owners of Freshpond Education, Inc.