Matthew C. Makel is an Associate Research Professor for the Johns Hopkins School of Education. His research focuses on academic talent development and open science research methods. In talent development, he investigates the equitable allocation of gifted identification and services as well as how schools can better meet student learning needs. In open science, he explores how to improve research transparency and rigor so that society can better understand the generalizability, reproducibility, and replicability of research findings. The influence of education research is too great to be driven by narrow irreplicable results. He has conducted direct and conceptual replications, both in collaboration with the original authors and independently. He co-edited Toward a More Perfect Psychology: Improving Trust, Accuracy, and Transparency in Research with Jonathan Plucker (American Psychological Association) and From Giftedness to Gifted Education: Reflecting Theory in Practice with Jonathan Plucker and Anne Rinn (Prufrock Press). He has earned degrees from Duke University, Cornell University, and Indiana University.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Indiana University, Educational Psychology
M.A., Cornell University, Developmental Psychology
B.A., Duke University, Psychology
BOOK PUBLICATIONS
Plucker, J. A., Rinn, A. N., & Makel, M. C. (Eds.) (2017). From Giftedness to Gifted Education: Reflecting Theory in Practices. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Makel, M. C. & Plucker, J. A. (Eds). (2017). Toward a More Perfect Psychology: Improving Trust, Accuracy, and Transparency in Research. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
SELECT PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES
Makel, M. C., Hodges, J., Cook, B. G., & Plucker, J. A. (2021). Both questionable and open research practices are prevalent in education research. Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X211001356
Peters, S. J., Makel, M. C., & Rambo-Hernandez, K. (2021). Local norms for gifted and talented student identification. Everything you need to know. Gifted Child Today, 44(2), 93-104. https://doi.org/10.1177/1076217520985181
Snyder, K. E., Makel, M. C., Adelson, J. L., Crawford, B. F., & Barger, M. M. (2021). Concordance and discordance in implicit beliefs about intelligence and giftedness. Learning and Individual Differences, 86, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2021.101971
Peters, S. J., Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., Makel, M. C., Matthews, M. S., & Plucker, J. A. (2020). Reflections on the registered report process for “Effect of local norms on racial and ethnic representation in gifted education”. AERA Open 6(2), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858420919054
Makel, M. C., Smith, K. N., McBee, M. T., Peters, S. J., & Miller, E. M. (2020). Collaboration in giftedness and talent development research. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 43(2) 91-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162353220912019
Makel, M. C., Smith, K. N., McBee, M. T., Peters, S. J., & Miller, E. M. (2019). A path to greater credibility: Large-scale collaborative education research. AERA Open, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419891963
Crüwell, S., van Doorn, J., Etz, A., Makel, M. C., Moshontz, H., Niebaum, J., Orben, A., Parsons, S., & Schulte-Mecklenbeck, M. (2019). 7 easy steps to open science: An annotated reading list. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 227(4), 237-248. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000387
Wai, J., Makel, M. C., & Gambrell, J. (2019). An opportunity to reflect on the relationship between elite education, inferred cognitive ability, and the development of eminent creative expertise. Journal of Expertise, 2(2). Retrieved from: https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume2_issue2/JoE_2019_2_2_Wai_Reply.pdf
Wai, J., Makel, M. C., & Gambrell, J. (2019). The role of elite education and cognitive ability in eminent creative expertise: An historical analysis of the TIME 100. Journal of Expertise, 2(2). Retrieved from: https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume2_issue2/JoE_2019_2_2_Wai.pdf
Peters, S. J., Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., Makel, M. C., Matthews, M. S., & Plucker, J. A. (2019). The effect of local norms on racial and ethnic representation in gifted education. AERA Open 5(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419848446
McBee, M. T. & Makel, M. C. (2019). The quantitative implications of definitions of giftedness. AERA Open, 5(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419831007
Smith, K. N. & Makel, M. C. (2019). Open science: A candid conversation. Journal of Advanced Academics, 30(2), 111-123. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X19829750
Davis, W. E., Giner-Sorolla, R., Lindsay, D. S., Lougheed, J. P., Makel, M. C., Meier, M. E., Sun, J., Vaughn, L. A., & Zelenski, J. M. (2018). Peer review guidelines promoting replicability and transparency in psychological science. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(4), 556-573. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245918806489
McBee, M. T., Makel, M. C., Peters, S. J., & Matthew, M. S. (2018). A call for open science in giftedness research. Gifted Child Quarterly, 62(4), 374-388. doi: 10.1177/0016986218784178
Wai, J., Hodges, J., & Makel, M. C. (2018). Sex differences in ability tilt in the right tail of cognitive abilities: A 35-year examination. Intelligence, 67, 76-83. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2018.02.003
Pridemore, W. J., Makel, M. C., & Plucker, J. A. (2018). Replications in criminology and the social sciences. Annual Review of Criminology, 1(1), 19-38. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-091849
Olszewski-Kubilius, P., Makel, M. C., Plucker, J. A., Subotnik, R. F. (2017). Universal principles of learning require unique applications for gifted students. Canadian Psychology, 58(3), 271-275. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000118
Plucker, J. A., Makel, M. C., Matthews, M. S., Peters, S. J., & Rambo-Hernandez, K. E. (2017). Blazing new trails: Strengthening policy research in gifted education. Gifted Child Quarterly, 61(3), 210-218. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986217701838
Peters, S. J., Matthews, M. T., Rambo-Hernandez, K., Makel, M. C., & Plucker, J. A. (2017). Should millions of students take a gap year? Large numbers of students start the school year above grade level. Gifted Child Quarterly, 61(3), 229-238. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986217701834
Steenbergen-Hu, S., Makel, M. C., Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2016). What one hundred years of research says about the effects of ability grouping and acceleration on K-12 students’ academic achievement: Findings from two second-order meta-analyses. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 849-899. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316675417
Makel, M. C., Wai, J. Peairs, K., & Putallaz, M. (2016). Sex differences in the right tail of cognitive abilities: An update and cross cultural extension. Intelligence, 59, 8-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2016.09.003
Makel, M. C., Kell, H. J., Lubinski, D., Putallaz, M., & Benbow, C. P. (2016). When lightning strikes twice: Profoundly gifted, profoundly accomplished. Psychological Science, 27(7), 1004-1018. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616644735
Makel, M. C., Plucker, J. A., Freeman, J., Lombardi, A., Simonsen, B., & Coyne, M. (2016). Replication of special education research: Necessary but far too rare. Remedial and Special Education, 37(4), 205-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932516646083
Makel, M. C. & Wai, J. (2016) Does economic research in education work? For which studies? Journal of Advanced Academics, 27(2), 73-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X15628013 [invited commentary]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Editorial Board
2019-Present Journal for the Education of the Gifted
2015-Present Gifted Child Quarterly
2014-Present Journal of Advanced Academics
2009-2018 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Solving
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, AERA Open, Asia Pacific Education Review, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Researcher, Exceptional Children, Gifted & Talented International, High Ability Studies, Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, Journal of School Psychology, Language Learning, Learning and Individual Differences, New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Remedial and Special Education; Roeper Review; SAGE Open.
Recent Service
2020-Present EdArXiv Steering Committee Chair
2020-Present National Center for Research on Gifted Education, National Advisory Board
2020-Present Education Research Hub Steering Committee
2020-2021 Virtual Unconference Open Scholarship Practices in Education Research Planning Committee
2020 NAGC Research Roundtable on non-faculty research jobs
2020 NAGC Convention Visioning Advisory Group
2019-Present EdArXiv Steering Committee
2019 NAGC Executive Director Search Committee
2019 NAGC Research Roundtable on non-faculty research jobs
2019-Present NC Department of Public Instruction AIG Think Tank Series
2018-Present SIPS Awards Committee
2018-2019 NAGC Task Force on defining giftedness (co-chair)
2018-2019 NAGC Program Committee
2018-2020 NAGC Research & Evaluation Network Past-Chair
2018 Gifted Child Quarterly Badges Research Committee (chair)
2016-2018 NAGC Research & Evaluation Network Chair
2016-2017 Advisory Board for the Untapped Potential Project
2016-2017 Network Task Force, NAGC
2016 NAGC, Gifted Child Quarterly editor search advisory committee
2014-2019 NAGC Publications Committee
2014-Present American Education Research Association Research on Giftedness, Creativity & Talent SIG Graduate Student Mentor
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Education Research Association (AERA)
Association for Interdisciplinary Meta-Research and Open Science (AIMOS)
National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC)
Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS)