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Michael Ponza
Senior Fellow and Associate Director
Michael Ponza is a senior fellow and associate director in Mathematica’s Oakland, CA, office.
Ponza is currently the project director of the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS) for the Food and Nutrition Service, which is examining the effects of new nutrition standards on school meal programs’ food service operations, nutrition quality of meals, meal costs, and student participation and dietary intakes.
Ponza was the director of operations for the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), a large-scale project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to bring trustworthy answers to decision makers in education.
Ponza also directed and served as principal investigator for the first national study of payment errors in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program (APEC-I) and is currently serving as quality assurance advisor for APEC-II. He has taken a lead role on many other large-scale studies, including assessments of the food stamp program, infant feeding practices, and school meal programs.
Before joining Mathematica, Ponza was on staff at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. He publishes in a variety of journals, including the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Economic Outlook USA, and Public Opinion Quarterly, and presents research findings to policy, practitioner, and professional groups. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.
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- Areas of Expertise
- Key Projects
- Publications
- Nutrition
- Family Support
- Education
- School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study
- What Works Clearinghouse
- Impact of School Meal Certification Approaches on the Uptake of Free- and Reduced-Price Meals
- Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study
- "Teaching Self-Sufficiency Through Home Visitation and Life Skills Education." Trends in Family Programs and Policy, Issue Brief #3 (July 2009)
- "Factors Associated with School Meal Participation and the Relationship Between Different Participation Measures" (June 2009)
- "Who Picks Up the Tab? Reducing Payment Errors in School Nutrition Programs." Trends in Nutrition Policy, Issue Brief #3 (February 2009)