Md. Juwel Ahmed Sarker is a doctoral candidate and doctoral fellow in Education Policy at the University of Arkansas. His research examines the fiscal architecture and efficiency of K–12 school finance, with a current focus on the fiscal consequences and efficiency gains of small-district consolidation in Arkansas. His work also extends to teacher labor markets and mental health, including a study of how failing a teacher licensure exam on the first attempt affects teacher supply and value-added outcomes in Arkansas. Juwel has expertise in advanced quantitative research methods and machine learning techniques, as well as extensive experience working with large-scale administrative and survey data.

Before beginning his doctoral studies, Juwel served as an Assistant Professor of development studies at Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU) in Bangladesh, where he led several research and program evaluation projects. In addition to his academic teaching, he brings six and a half years of professional experience in the non-profit sector.

Juwel holds a Master of Economics in Development Economics from the Dhaka School of Economics, and both a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in development studies from the University of Dhaka. Drawing on a foundation in economics, development studies, and quantitative methods, including Stata, R, and Python, Juwel brings a data-driven, equity-focused approach to school finance research.