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Education
1961
AB, UC Berkeley, Mathematics and Sociology
1966
Ph.D., Harvard University, Sociology
Overview of Professional Positions and Experience
2000-
Professor of Public Policy, School of Public Policy, George Mason University
1992-99
Research Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University
Dr. Armor teaches graduate courses in multivariate statistics, program evaluation, and social policy; he conducts research in numerous policy areas including education, family, civil rights and military manpower. He was Director of the PhD Program in Public Policy from 2002 to 2005. He was Principal Investigator of a grant to study social and racial representation in the military, which resulted in the article, "Race and Gender in the U.S. Military,"published in Armed Forces and Society. His book, Forced Justice: School Desegregation and the Law was published by Oxford University Press in June 1995. He served as a member of the National Academy of Science Committee on Enlistment Standards in Military Recruitment. He was Principal Investigator of several grants to study family and school factors that affect IQ and academic achievement and published his book on this topic, Maximizing Intelligence, in 2003. In July 2006 he was invited to testify before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the issue of racial diversity in public school.
1995-97
Consultant, Pioneer Institute, Boston
Dr. Armor was Principal Investigator of a study of the Massachusetts open enrollment (choice) law. The study tested the applicability of the market competition thesis to public schools and evaluated the social and racial consequences of inter-district transfers. A book, Competition in Education: A Case Study of Interdistrict Choice, was published by the Pioneer Institute in April 1997.
1989-
President, National Policy Analysts
Dr. Armor consults and conducts studies on a number of national policy issues, including education, school desegregation, school choice, and military manpower. He has testified as an expert witness in many school desegregation cases and educational adequacy cases, including New York City, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Cleveland, Tampa, Kansas City, St. Louis, Dallas, Hartford, Savannah, Topeka, DeKalb County (GA), and Wilmington (DE). His essay, "Why is Black Achievement Rising?" was published in the Summer 1992 issue of The Public Interest. He has also served on National Academy of Science committees advising the Department of Defense on various military manpower issues, and contributed a chapter in a NAS report, "Military Manpower Quality: Past, Present, and Future."
1986-89
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Acting
Assistant Secretary, Force Management and Personnel
Dr. Armor joined the Department of Defense in 1986 as Principal Deputy and in 1987 became Acting Assistant Secretary. He supervised 6 Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense and oversaw the DoD military personnel budget of $75 billion. The Assistant Secretary (FM&P) advised the Secretary of Defense on all manpower and personnel policies including requirements, compensation, recruiting, officer/enlisted management, training, safety, drug programs, mobilization, equal opportunity, and the military overseas school system (Dodds). In 1988, Dr. Armor chaired a Task Force on Women in the Military.
1985-86
Elected Member, Los Angeles Board of Education
The Los Angeles Board of Education sets policy for the largest unified (K-12) school system in the country, with an enrollment of 650,000 students. Dr. Armor was one of 7 elected members, representing a West Los Angeles district of about 700,000 residents.
1973-82
Senior Social Scientist, The Rand Corporation
Dr. Armor served as project director on numerous studies, including military job performance measurement, substance abuse prevalence and treatment in the military, and evaluation of alcoholism treatment programs in the private sector. He also worked on studies of military health care, school desegregation, compensatory education, organization of mental health care facilities in Nevada, and the impact of television violence on aggressive behavior. During his years at Rand Dr. Armor published numerous books, articles, and reports, including Alcoholism and Treatment, "White Flight and the Future of School Desegregation," and "Mental Aptitudes and Army Job Performance."
1965-72
Assistant and Associate Professor of Sociology, Harvard University
While at Harvard Dr. Armor conducted policy research and taught courses on survey research methods, data analysis, and introductory sociology. He designed the first user-friendly computer system for statistical analysis of data (Data-Text) and developed new methods for the analysis of behavioral data. His research included contributions to the Coleman study of Equality of Educational Opportunity, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights study of racial isolation in the public schools, and studies of the treatment of mental illness. His major publications during this period included "The Evidence on Busing," The American School Counselor, and "Theta Reliability and Factor Scaling."
Honors and Awards
1961
Highest Honors in Sociology, UC Berkeley
1961-62
Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Harvard University
1963-65
Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship, Harvard University
1976
Article of the Year, Journal of Studies on Alcoholism
1989
Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal
Books
David J. Armor, The American School Counselor (New York, Russell Sage Foundation, 1969).
David J. Armor and Arthur S. Couch, The Data-Text Primer (New York, Free Press, 1972).
David J. Armor, J. Michael Polich, and Harriet Stambul, Alcoholism and Treatment (New York, Wiley Interscience, 1978)
J. M. Polich, D. J. Armor, and H. B. Braiker, The Course of Alcoholism: Four Years After Treatment (New York, Wiley, 1981).
David J. Armor, Forced Justice: School Desegregation and the Law, New York: Oxford University Press, 1995
David J. Armor and Brett M. Peiser, Competition in Education: A Case Study of Inderdistrict Choice, Boston: The Pioneer Institute, 1997
C.H. Rossell, D.J. Armor, & H. Walberg, Editors, School Desegregation in the 21st Century, New York: Praeger, 2002.
David J. Armor, Maximizing Intelligence, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2003
Chapters in Books
David J. Armor, "Guidance Counselors," in James Coleman, et al., Equality of Educational Opportunity (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966).
David J. Armor, "Racial Composition of Schools and College Aspirations of Negro Students," in U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Racial Isolation in the Public Schools, Vol. II (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967).
David J. Armor, "School and Family Effects on Black and White Achievement," in Mosteller and Moynihan, Eds., On the Equality of Educational Opportunity, (New York, Random House, 1972).
Armor, David J., "White Flight and the Future of School Desegregation" in Walter G. Stephan and Joe R. Feagin (eds.) School Desegregation Past, Present, and Future, Plenum Press, New York, 1980, 187-226.
Armor, David J., "The Rand Reports and the Analysis of Relapse" in Griffith Edwards and Marcus Grant (eds.) Alcoholism Treatment in Transition, Croom Helm Ltd., London, 1980, pp. 81-95.
David J. Armor and Jan Evan Meshkoff, "Remission Among Treated and Untreated Alcoholics," Advances in Substance Abuse, Vol. III., Greenwich, CN: JAI Press, 1983
David J. Armor, "School Busing: A time for Change," in P. Katz and D. Taylor, editors, Eliminating Racism, (New York, Plenum, 1988).
David J. Armor, "Military Sociology," in E.F. and M.L. Borgatta, eds., Encyclopedia of Sociology (New York, Macmillan, 1992)
David J. Armor and C. R. Roll, "Military Manpower Quality: Past, Present, and Future," in Bert F. Green and Anne S. Mavor, Editors, Modeling Cost and Performance for Military Enlistment, National Academy of Science, 1994.
David J. Armor and Brett M. Peiser, "Interdistrict Choice in Massachusetts,"in Paul Peterson & Bryan Hassel, eds., Learning from School Choice, Washington, DC: Brookings Institute, 1998
David J. Armor, "Military Sociology," in E.F. and M.L. Borgatta, eds., Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2nd Edition (New York: Macmillan, 2000)
David J. Armor and Christine H. Rossell, "Desegregation and Resegregation in the Public Schools,"in Abigail and Stephen Thernstrom, eds., Beyond the Color Line: New Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity, Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 2002
David J. Armor, "Desegregation and Achievement,"in C.H. Rossell, D.J. Armor, & H. Walberg, eds., School Desegregation in the 21st Century, New York: Praeger, 2002
David J. Armor, "Reflections of an Expert Witness,"in S.J. Caldas and C.L. Bankston, eds., The End of Desegregation?, Huntington, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2003
David J. Armor, "Family Policy and Academic Achievement,"in Isabel V. Sawhill, One Percent for the Kids, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2003
Contributor, Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth: Implications for Military Recruiting, Paul Sacket and Anne Mavor, eds., Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2003
David J. Armor and Paul Sackett, "Manpower Quality in the All-Volunteer Force,"in Curtis L. Gilroy and John T. Warner, eds., The All-Volunteer Force: Thirty Years of Service, Brassey's (2004)
David J. Armor, "Lessons Learned from School Desegregation," in Paul Peterson, ed., Generational Change: Closing the Test Score Gap, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2006.
Contributor, Assessing Fitness for Military Enlistment: Physical, Medical, and Mental Health Standards, Paul Sacket and Anne Mavor, eds., Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2006
David J. Armor, "Can NCLB Close Achievement Gaps,"in A. Sadovnik et al, eds., No Child Left Behind and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap, Routledge (2008)
Articles in Refereed Journals
Eva Y. Deykin, Gerald L. Klerman, David J. Armor, "The Relatives of Schizophrenic Patients; Clinical Judgements of Potential Emotional Resourcefulness," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 36 (April, 1966).
Howard E. Freeman, J. Michael Ross, David J. Armor, and Thomas F. Pettigrew, "Color Gradation and Attitudes among Middle-Income Negroes," American Sociological Review, 31 (June, 1966).
Aaran Lazare, Gerald L. Klerman, and David J. Armor, "Oral, Obsessive, and Hysterical Personality Patterns," Archives of General Psychiatry, 15 (June, 1966).
David J. Armor and Gerald L. Klerman, "Professional Ideologies: Psychiatrist's Treatment Orientations," Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 9 (September, 1968).
David J. Armor, "Developments in Data Analysis Systems for the Social Sciences," Social Science Information, 9 (1971).
David J. Armor, "The Evidence on Busing," The Public Interest (Summer, 1972).
David J. Armor, "Theta Reliability and Factor Scaling," in Herbert Costner, Ed., Sociological Methodology, 1973-74 (San Francisco, Jossey Bass, 1974).
Polich, J. M., D. J. Armor, and H. B. Braiker, "Patterns of Alcoholism Over Four Years," Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 41:397-416, 1980.
David J. Armor, "After Busing: Education and Choice," The Public Interest, 95, Spring 1989.
David J. Armor, "Circuit Courts Collide over Busing," Network News and Views, (IX, #2), February 1990
Jackson Toby and David J. Armor, "Carrots or Sticks for High School Dropouts,"The Public Interest, Winter 1992
David J. Armor, "Why is Black Educational Achievement Rising?" The Public Interest, Summer, 1992
Christine Rossell and David J. Armor, "The Effectiveness of School Desegregation Remedies, 1968-1991," American Politics Quarterly 24:267-302, 1996
David J. Armor, "Race and Gender in the U.S. Military," Armed Forces and Society, Fall 1996
David J. Armor, "Facts and Fictions about Education in the Sheff Decision, Connecticut Law Review 29:981-997, 1997
David J. Armor, "On Family Size and Intelligence," American Psychologist 56: 521-2, June-July 2001.
David J. Armor, "The End of Desegregation and the Achievement Gap," Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, 28: 629-654, Spring 2001
David J. Armor, Race, the Supreme Court, and Social Science Evidence, Teachers College Record, June 15, 2009
David J. Armor and Curtis L. Gilroy, "Changing Minority Representation in the U.S. Military," Armed Forces and Society 36(2) January 2010
David J. Armor and Stephanie Duck O'Neill, "After Seattle: Social Science Research and Narrowly Tailored Desegregation Plans,"Teachers College Record June 2010
Other Publications and Reports
David J. Armor,"Correlates of Effectiveness in NIAAA Comprehensive Treatment Centers" (The Rand Corporation, WN-8678-HEW, July 1974).
David J. Armor, "Toward a Unified Theory of Reliability for Social Measurement" (The Rand Corporation, P-5264, July 1974).
David J. Armor, "The Causal Analysis of Change in Panel Studies," (The Rand Corporation, 1975)
David J. Armor, Robert Crain, et al., "Design of a National Longitudinal Study of School Desegregation," (The Rand Corporation, R-1516-USCCR, 1974).
David J. Armor, G. Brewer, and J. Kakalik, "Treatment for Alcohol and Drug Abuse," Chapter 9 in Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services in Nevada (The Rand Corporation, R-1800-FLF, 1975).
David J. Armor, "Treatment Outcomes," Chapter 5 in Lee Ruggles, et al., A Followup Study of NIAAA Alcoholism Treatment Centers (Stanford Research Institute, 1975).
David J. Armor, Paula Johnson, Sue Polich, and Harriet Stambul, "Trends in U.S. Adult Drinking Practices" (The Rand Corporation, WN-9742, Feb. 1977).
Paula Johnson, David J. Armor, Sue Polich, and Harriet Stambul, "U.S. Adult Drinking Practices: Time Trends, Social Correlates, and Sex Roles" (The Rand Corporation, WN-9923, NIAAA).
H. B. Braiker and D. J. Armor, "Outcomes in Alcoholism Treatment," P-5845, The Rand Corporation, 1977.
David J. Armor, "Patient Acceptance of the Air Force Physician Assistant," (The Rand Corporation, N-1303-AF, 1979).
P. Carpenter-Huffman, B. R. Orvis, D. J. Armor, and G. Burkholtz, "The Effectiveness of the Air Force Alcohol Eduction Seminars," R-2727-AF, The Rand Corporation, 1981.
David J. Armor, "Enlistment Standards in the Army," The Rand Corporation, P-6701, October 1981.
David J. Armor, et al., "Mental Aptitudes and Army Job Performance: Setting Enlistment Standards for Infantrymen," The Rand Corporation, R-2874-MRA&L, 1982.
Armor, D. J., Bruce R. Orvis, Polly Carpenter-Huffman, and J. Michael Polich, "The Control of Alcohol Problems in the U.S. Air Force," The Rand Corporation, R-2867-AF, 1982.
David J. Armor, "The Evidence on Desegregation & Black Achievement," National Institute for Education, 1984.
David J. Armor, "The Changing Shape of DoD's Civilian Work Force,"Defense '89, Department of Defense, January/February 1989
David J. Armor, "Defense Policy and Applied Psychology," invited address at the American Psychological Association meetings in New Orleans, August 1989.
David J. Armor, "Race and Socioeconomic Effects on Academic Achievement," George Mason University, July 1996
David J. Armor, "Outcomes of School Desegregation in the Public Schools,"statement prepared for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Briefing on the Benefits of Diversity in Elementary and Secondary Schools, July 28, 2006
David J. Armor and Shanea J. Watkins, "School Segregation and Black Achievement: New Evidence from the 2003 NAEP,"George Mason University, June 2006
David J. Armor, Abigail Thernstrom, and Steven Thernstrom, Amicus Curia Brief to the Supreme Court on the Educational and Social Benefits of Racial Diversity, filed August 21, 2006
David J. Armor and Stephanie Duck, "The Effect of Black Peers on Black Test Scores,"Education Working Paper Archives, University of Arkansas, September 2007
Papers Presented at Professional Meetings
David J. Armor, "A Computer Language for the Analysis of Variance," Proceedings of the Social Statistics Section, American Statistical Association (1969).
David J. Armor, "The Data-Text System: An Application Language for the Social Sciences," Proceedings of the Spring Joint Computer Conference (American Federation of Information Processing Societies, 1972).
David J. Armor, "White Flight and the Future of School Desegregation," presented at the American Sociological Association meetings, San Francisco, September 1978
David J. Armor, "Job Performance Measurement and Defense Manpower Management," Presented at the DoD/ETS Conference on Job Performance Measurement Technologies, San Diego, 1987.
David J. Armor, "The Future of School Desegregation after Kansas City,"at a regional meeting of the Education Writers Association, St. Louis, Missouri, 1995
David J. Armor, "The End of Desegregation and the Achievement Gap,"presented at a conference on school desegregation sponsored by the University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, Colo., 2000
David J. Armor, "Achievement Evidence in Educational Adequacy Cases,"presented at the annual conference of the National Association of Attorney Generals, Washington, DC, 2002
David J. Armor and Paul Sackett, "Manpower Quality in the All Volunteer Force,"Prepared for the 30th Anniversary Conference on the All-Volunteer Force sponsored by the Department of Defense, September 15-17, 2003, Fort Meyer, Washington, D.C.
David J. Armor, "Black Achievement 50 Years after Brown,"paper presented at a conference on the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, JFK School of Government, Harvard University, April 23, 2004
David J. Armor, "Closing the Racial Gap in Education,"National Association for Scholars meeting, New York City, May 21-23. 2004
David J. Armor, "Can NCLB Close Achievement gaps?"presented at the American Sociological Association meetings in Philadelphia, August 20, 2005
David J. Armor and Stephanie Duck, "Unraveling Black Peer Effects on Black Achievement,"Presented at the APPAM Research Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, November 4, 2006
David J. Armor and Shanea J. Watkins, "School Composition and Hispanic Achievement,"Presented at the Sociology of Education Association conference in Monterey, California, February 10, 2007
David J. Armor and Curtis L. Gilroy, "Changing Minority Representation in the U.S. Military," Presented at the Biennial International Conference of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, Chicago, October 2007
Op-eds/Commentaries
Wall Street Journal, 1992, Why is Black Achievement Rising?
Education Week, 1995, Desegregation Fails in Kansas City
Education Week, 2003, Environmental Effects on IQ: From Families or Schools, Nov. 19
Teacher's College Record, 2004, "No Excuses: Overly Simplistic Solution for the Achievement Gap?"
Teacher's College Record, August 2006, "Can NCLB Close Achievement Gaps?"
Teacher's College Record, August 2007, "Rearguing Brown v. Board of Education”
Teacher's College Record, June 15, 2009, "Race, the Supreme Court, and Social Science Evidence”
Grants and Contracts
PI for grant from the Spencer Foundation to support early studies on school busing, Harvard
Co-PI on several studies of education/school desegregation while at the Rand Corporation
Co-PI on contract from State of West Virginia to evaluate a HS dropout prevention program, Rutgers
Co-PI on contract from Department of Education to conduct a national study of magnet schools, AIR
PI on grant from SRF to write book on school desegregation, Forced Justice, GMU
PI on grant from Department of Education (NCES) to study SES effects on student achievement, GMU
PI on grant from SRF to study school and family factors that raise IQ and achievement scores, GMU
PI on grant from SRF to study the competition effects of charter schools in Mass., GMU
PI on grants from SRF to study the relationship between racial composition and minority achievement
Courses Taught at George Mason
PUBP 704 Statistical Methods for Policy Analysis
PUBP 713 Policy and Program Evaluation
PUBP 800 Culture and Policy
PUBP 804 Multivariate Statistical Analysis in Public Policy
PUBP 833 Civil Rights Policy
PUBP 860 Social Theory and Public Policy
PUBP 861 Research Seminar in Culture and Policy
Public Service Work
Testimony before various Comissions and Committees of Congress on topics related to school desegregation and other educational topics, including the House Judiciary Committee, the House Select Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Consultant and expert witness in numerous federal and state court cases involving various education issues, including school desegregation and educational adequacy.