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NEPC Topic Experts on Democracy and Education

Samuel E. Abrams

International Partnership for the Study of Educational Privatization

Samuel E. Abrams is the director of NEPC’s International Partnership for the Study of Educational Privatization (IPSEP), launched in 2024, and the author of Education and the Commercial Mindset (Harvard University Press, 2016). In addition, he has written on education policy for The New Republic, The Los Angeles Times, Le Monde, and Columbia Journalism Review, among other publications. From 2015 to 2024, he served as the director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. In 2022-23, he served as a Fulbright visiting professor at the University of Turku in Finland, where he remains a visiting scholar. For his advancement of the understanding of Finnish education in the United States, he was knighted by the Finnish government in 2012. Abrams was previously a high school history teacher for 18 years. He earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Columbia.

Email Sam Abrams at: samuel.abrams@utu.fi

Derek W. Black

University of South Carolina

Derek Black is one of the nation’s foremost experts in education law and policy.  He focuses on educational equality, school funding, the constitutional right to education, segregation, and the federal role in schools. He has published over thirty scholarly articles in the nation’s top legal journals, including the flagship journals at Yale, Stanford, New York University, California-Berkeley, Cornell, Northwestern and Vanderbilt. That work has been cited several times in the federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. It has also drawn him into litigation disputes over school funding and federal policy, where he has served as an expert witness and consultant.

He is currently a Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina, where he holds the Ernest F. Hollings Chair in Constitutional Law and directs the Constitutional Law Center. He began his career in teaching at Howard University School of Law, where he founded and directed the Education Rights Center. Prior to teaching, he litigated education cases at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.   

Email Derek Black at: blackdw@law.sc.edu

Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

Georgetown University

Peter W. Cookson, Jr. co-leads LPI’s Equitable Resources and Access team and provides leadership for several equity initiatives. In addition to teaching sociology at Georgetown University, he co-leads the American Voices Project, a joint research project of Stanford University, Princeton University, and the American Institutes for Research. Most recently, he was Managing Director of the think tank Education Sector and founded The Equity Project at the American Institutes for Research. He is the author of 16 books and numerous articles on education and inequality, social stratification, school choice, and 21st century education. Dr. Cookson has a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Education from New York University, an M.A. in American History from New York University, an M.A.R. from the Yale Divinity School, and a B.A. in History from New York University.

Email Peter W. Cookson, Jr. at: pcookson@learningpolicyinstitute.org

Arnold Danzig

San José State University

Arnold Danzig runs the doctoral program in educational leadership and is a professor at San Jose State University. He was previously professor of leadership and policy studies and the associate director of the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University, and served as the director of the Division of Advanced Studies in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education at ASU.  He has authored or co-authored numerous articles, books, and reports on administrative leadership and education policy.  He is an editor of the Review of Research in Education sponsored by the American Educational Research Association.

Email Arnold Danzig at Arnold.danzig@sjsu.edu

Antonia Darder

Loyola Marymount University

Antonia Darder is a distinguished international Freirian scholar. She holds the Leavey Presidential Endowed Chair of Ethics and Moral Leadership at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles and is Professor Emerita of Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Her scholarship focuses on issues of racism, political economy, social justice, and education. Her work critically engages the contributions of Paulo Freire to our understanding of social inequalities in schools and society. Darder’s critical theory of biculturalism links notions of culture, power and schooling, as well as cultural issues to the brain, testing, and inequality. In recent scholarship on ethics and moral questions of education, she articulates a critical theory of leadership for social justice and community empowerment. She is the author of numerous books and articles in the field, including Culture and Power in the Classroom (20th Anniversary edition), Reinventing Paulo Freire: A Pedagogy of Love, and A Dissident Voice: Essays on Culture, Pedagogy, and Power; co-author of After Race: Racism After Multiculturalism; and co-editor of The Critical Pedagogy Reader, and Latinos and Education: A Critical Reader

E-mail Antonia Darder at antonia.darder@lmu.edu

Amy N. Farley

University of Cincinnati

Amy Farley is an assistant professor in the Educational Leadership & Policy Studies program within the School of Education at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses broadly on equity in P-20 education systems and how consequential K-12 and postsecondary policies impact educational opportunity. She pays particular attention to school and university reform; high-stakes policies, including those regarding data use, measurement, and assessment; and the disparate impact of policies on minoritized student and teacher populations. Before becoming a faculty member, Amy worked as a K-12 educator and a Strategic Data Fellow through Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research, where she worked closely with state and local agencies to conduct research and provide technical assistance regarding the implementation of education policies and reforms related to standards, educator evaluation, and student assessment.

Email Amy Farley at: farleyay@ucmail.uc.edu

Walter C. Farrell, Jr.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Walter C. Farrell, Jr. heads a management, education, and litigation consultant group.  He earned a B.A. degree from North Carolina Central University, a Masters and Ph.D from Michigan State University, and a post-doctoral Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He most recently served as Professor of Community Management & Policy Practice in the School of Social Work, Associate Director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center in the Kenan Institute in the Kenan-Flagler Business School, and as a Fellow in the Center for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He was previously Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Policy & Community Studies in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an adjunct professor in the Departments of Curriculum & Instruction, Urban Studies, and Allied Health.

Dr. Farrell has served as a consultant to NEA, AFT, and their state and local affiliates.

Dr. Farrell has published numerous essays and articles on K-12 education, the agenda to privatize public schools, diversity, social and immigration issues, and death penalty mitigation.  He has appeared on National Public Radio (NPR)—The Connection and the Today Show (with Matt Lauer) to discuss public education (vouchers, charters, and school privatization).  He currently writes a weekly column, “Defending Public Education,” for Black Commentator, an online Journal

Email Walter C. Farrell, Jr. at: wcfpr@bellsouth.net

Gustavo E. Fischman

Arizona State University

Gustavo E. Fischman is professor in educational policy and director of edXchangethe knowledge mobilization initiative at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University. His areas of specialization are comparative education and critical policy and gender studies in education. He is currently leading two research projects. The first analyzes knowledge mobilization strategies of graduate schools of education. Specifically, this project explores the processes of knowledge-exchanges between academic centers and relevant stakeholders such as other scholars, educators, administrators, policymakers, and the general public. The second project focuses on understanding and strengthening the quality, impact and reach of open access publishing in scholarly communication in Latin America.

Dr. Fischman has published extensively and presented in numerous national and international conferences, and has been a visiting scholar in numerous graduate programs in Europe and Latin America. In 2013 has been elected fellow of the International Academy of Education. He serves in numerous editorial boards, and is also the lead editor of Education Policy Analysis Archives and co-editor of Education Review/Reseñas Educativas,

Email Gustavo Fischman at: Fischman@asu.edu

 

References to selected publications:

Fischman, G. E. & Diaz, V. D. (2013) Education without Redemption: Ten Reflections about the Relevance of the Freirean Legacy, Interamerican Journal of Education for Democracy 4 (2) pp. 70-87.

Fischman, G. E. (2013) ‘Hacerlo bien’: Acceso, visibilidad e impacto de la investigación latinoamericana. Cuadernos del Pensamiento Crítico Latinoamericano, CLACSO, no. 6, oct 2013

Fischman, G. E. & Haas, E. (2012) Beyond “idealized” citizenship education: Embodied cognition, metaphors and democracy. Review of Research in Education (RRE), Volume 36: Education, Democracy and the Public Good,pp 190-217.

Alperin, J., Fischman, G. E., & Willinsky, J. (2012). Scholarly Communication Strategies in Latin America’s Research-Intensive Universities. IESALC-Educación Superior y Sociedavol 16(2). http://ess.iesalc.unesco.org.ve/index.php/ess/article/view/409

 

Patricia H. Hinchey

Pennsylvania State University

Pat Hinchey is Professor Emerita of Education at Penn State. She is experienced in a wide variety of teaching situations and in conducting professional development for both in-service teachers and her faculty colleagues. Her research interests center on issues of equity and the undermining of education for democracy. Having written extensively on the translation of critical theory to classroom practice, more recently she has turned her attention to teacher assessment and proposals for restructuring the teaching profession.  Pat's most recent book, Getting to Where We Meant to Be: Working Toward the Educational World We Imagine/d, analyzes the common assumptions related to the various futures imagined for K-12 education. 

Email Patricia H. Hinchey at: pxh12@psu.edu

Jennifer Jellison Holme

University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Jennifer Jellison Holme is an Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Planning at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on the politics and implementation of educational policy, with a particular focus on the relationship between school reform, equity, and diversity in schools. Her specific areas of research include school desegregation policy, high stakes testing, and school choice policy. She earned her B.A. in Sociology from UCLA, her Ed.M. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her Ph.D. in Urban Schooling from UCLA.

Email Jennifer Holme at: jholme@austin.utexas.edu

Robert Kim

Education Law Center

Robert Kim is the Executive Director of Education Law Center, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving public education and fostering equitable educational opportunity for students in the United States. His expertise includes most facets of education law and policy related to pre-K-12 and postsecondary education in the United States, civil rights litigation and advocacy, and constitutional law.

Email Robert Kim at: robertkimnyc@gmail.com

Ben Kirshner

University of Colorado Boulder

Ben Kirshner is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His research examines how young people interpret their social context and learn how to exercise collective political agency, particularly around issues of education justice. In a study supported by the Spencer Foundation, Ben worked with literacy and science teachers to provide opportunities for students to discuss, investigate, and take action to dismantle educational barriers, ranging from hostile school climates to inadequate facilities. Ben is co-PI for an international study, led by Roderick Watts and funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, which examines community-based youth organizing as a vehicle for civic engagement in South Africa, Ireland, and the United States. He is also co-PI for a study of the role of community organizations in advancing the More and Better Learning Time agenda in Colorado. His publications have discussed youth civic engagement and activism, participatory action research, and urban education policy.

Email Ben Kirshner at: Ben.Kirshner@colorado.edu

William J. Mathis

University of Colorado Boulder

Following a decade as the Managing Director of the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado, William J. Mathis serves as a Senior Policy Advisor to the center. He was a co-recipient of the national Friend of Public Education award. As the superintendent of schools in Brandon, Vermont, he was a National Superintendent of the Year finalist and a Vermont Superintendent of the Year. A plaintiff and finance expert in the successful school funding lawsuit, the state’s educational system was transformed. He was appointed to the Vermont State Board of Education and served as vice-chair. In earlier work he was Deputy Assistant Commissioner in New Jersey where he directed the state’s assessment system and evaluated the Constitutionality of the school system. Consultant work across the nation followed. He has published or presented research on finance, assessment, accountability, standards, cost-effectiveness, education reform, history, and Constitutional issues. He also serves on various editorial boards and frequently publishes commentaries on educational policy issues. He has co-edited several books and has been featured in several periodicals. He is a board member of the Horace Mann League and sits on his local school board.

Email William J. Mathis at: williamjmathis@gmail.com

 

Elizabeth J. Meyer

University of Colorado Boulder

Elizabeth J. Meyer is a Professor in Educational Foundations, Policy, and Practice in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is the author of three books: Queer Justice at School: A Guide for Youth Activists, Allies, and their Teachers (2025, Teachers College Press), Gender, Bullying, and Harassment: Strategies to End Sexism and Homophobia in Schools (2009, Teachers College Press), and Gender and Sexual Diversity in Schools (Springer). Dr. Meyer completed her M.A. at CU Boulder, and Ph.D. at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her recent research has focused on the First Amendment, Title IX implementation, and supports for trans and nonbinary youth. She has discussed her research on FOXNews, National Public Radio, CTV National News (Canada), and other regional media outlets. Professor Meyer received the American Educational Research Association's 2021 award for Distinguished Contributions to Gender Equity in Education Research. She maintains the Gender and Education blog for Psychology Today.

Email Elizabeth Meyer at: Elizabeth.J.Meyer@colorado.edu

Dana L. Mitra

Pennsylvania State University

Dana L. Mitra is Professor of Education Policy Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. She recently released a book with Teacher’s College Press entitled The Empowered Professor: Breaking the Unspoken Codes of Inequity in Acad­­emia. Dana is founding editor of the International Journal of Student Voice and Co-Editor of The American Journal of Education. She has published over 40 papers on the topics of student voice, civic engagement, and making a difference. The second edition of her textbook—Educational Change and the Political Process has just been published with Routledge. Previous books include Civic Education in the Elementary Grades: Promoting Engagement in an Era of Accountability and Student voice in school reform: Building youth-adult partnerships that strengthen schools and empower youth

Email Dana Mitra at: dlm54@psu.edu

Michele S. Moses

University of Colorado Boulder

Michele S. Moses is Professor of Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice at the University of Colorado Boulder. A philosopher by training, Professor Moses has particular expertise in policy disagreements that involve racial, ethnic, and gender diversity and equity; moral and political values; and democracy and the public good; and academic freedom. She has been serving as CU Boulder's Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Affairs since 2019, after serving as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the CU Boulder School of Education. She has been a Fulbright New Century Scholar and is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. Her work has appeared in the American Educational Research Journal, Educational Researcher, Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Higher Education, and Journal of Social Philosophy. In addition, Professor Moses is the author of Living with Moral Disagreement: The Enduring Controversy about Affirmative Action (University of Chicago Press, 2016), Embracing Race: Why We Need Race-Conscious Education Policy (Teachers College Press, 2002), and co-editor of Affirmative Action Matters: Creating Opportunities for Students around the World (Routledge, 2014). A first-generation college graduate, Professor Moses holds a BA from the University of Virginia, an MEd in higher education and student affairs from the University of Vermont, and an MA in Philosophy and PhD in Educational Foundations and Policy from CU Boulder.

Email Michele S. Moses at: michele.moses@colorado.edu

Susan Ohanian

Unaffiliated

Susan Ohanian, a long-time public school teacher, is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in Atlantic, Parents, Washington Monthly, The Nation, Phi Delta Kappan, Education Week, Language Arts, and American School Board Journal. In 2003, Ohanian received The National Council of Teachers of English's "NCTE Orwell Award" for her outstanding contribution, via her now-defunct website, to the critical analysis of public discourse.

Email Susan Ohanian at: susano@gmavt.net

 

 

Joe Polman

University of Colorado Boulder

Joe Polman is a Professor in Learning Sciences and Science Education, as well as Associate Dean for Research, in the School of Education at University of Colorado Boulder. He designs and studies project-based learning environments for youth in schools and community programs. He focuses on learning and identity development connected to practices of science, literacy and journalism, with a particular focus on fostering more engaged democratic participation. He is an Executive Editor of Cognition and Instruction, serves on the editorial board of Journal of the Learning Sciences, and is on the board of the International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Email Joe Polman at: joseph.polman@colorado.edu

John Rogers

University of California, Los Angeles

John Rogers is a professor in UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and the Director of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA). He also serves as the faculty co-director of UCLA’s Principal Leadership Institute. Rogers studies public engagement and community organizing as strategies for equity-focused school reform and democratic renewal. He draws extensively on the work of John Dewey to explore the meaning of, and possibilities for, democratic education today. John Rogers is the co-author (with Jeannie Oakes) of Learning Power: Organizing for Education and Justice (2006) and co-editor (with Marion Orr) of Public Engagement for Public Education: Joining Forces to Revitalize Democracy and Equalize Schools (2010). Professor Rogers received his Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University and his B.A. in Public Policy and African American Studies from Princeton University.

Email John Rogers at: rogers@gseis.ucla.edu

Beth C. Rubin

Rutgers University

Beth C. Rubin, Ph.D. is professor of education at Rutgers University Graduate School of Education. In her work, she uses a critical, sociocultural approach to investigate how young people develop, both as learners and as citizens, amid the interwoven contexts of classroom, school, and community, with particular attention to the ways that these settings are shaped by historical and structural inequalities. Her work appears in a variety of journals, including the American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, the Harvard Educational Review, Curriculum Inquiry, Equity and Excellence in Education, the Urban Review, and others. Her most recent book is Making Citizens: Transforming Civic Learning for Diverse Social Studies Classrooms (Routledge, 2012).

Email Beth Rubin at: beth.rubin@gse.rutgers.edu

Kenneth Saltman

University of Illinois at Chicago

Kenneth Saltman is a Professor of Educational Policy Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago. His interests include the political economy and cultural politics of public school privatization. His work also explains how the privatization movement in education is part of the broader movement to undermine public democratic power and expand global corporate power.

He is the author and editor of numerous books on educational policy and politics including Capitalizing on Disaster: Taking and Breaking Public Schools, The Gift of Education: Public Education and Venture Philanthropy, The Edison Schools, Education as Enforcement: the Militarization and Corporatization of Schools, The Failure of Corporate School Reform, The Politics of Education: A Critical Introduction, and Toward a New Common School Movement.  His most recent book (2016) is Scripted Bodies: Corporate Power, Smart Technologies, and the Undoing of Public Education.

Email Kenneth Saltman at: ksaltman@uic.edu 

Carrie Sampson

Arizona State University

Carrie Sampson, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University. Her scholarship focuses on how educational leadership and policymaking at the K-12 level influences equity and social justice for minoritized youth and their families. Dr. Sampson has conducted research on school desegregation policies. Her most recent line of research is centered at the school district level with an emphasis on governance, particularly the role of school boards, community advocacy, decentralization, and school choice policies. Her methodological expertise is in case study and qualitative methods. Dr. Sampson’s research on school boards was recently funded by the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Email Carrie Sampson at: csampso4@asu.edu

Ron Scapp

College of Mount Saint Vincent

Ron Scapp is the founding director of the Graduate Program of Urban and Multicultural Education at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx where he is professor of humanities and teacher education. He is currently the director of program development at the College, and is President of the National Association for Ethnic Studies. He is also serving as a member of the International Committee for Kappa Delta Pi and a member of United Federation of Teachers policy board for the NYC Teachers Center.  He has written on a variety of topics—from popular culture to education, from social and political philosophy to art criticism. 

His recent books include, Managing to Be Different: Educational Leadership as Critical Practice (Routledge) and Living With Class: Philosophical Reflections on Identity and Material Culture, co-edited with Brian Seitz (Palgrave Macmillan). He has collaborated with others on different projects, most notably with cultural critic and author bell hooks [sic]. He is currently working on a book about education and the culture of reform and is co-editor with Kenneth J. Saltman of the Routledge series, Positions: Education, Politics and Culture. He is editor of the journal Ethnic Studies Review, and is a founding member of Group Thought, a philosophy collective based in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Email Ron Scapp at: ron.scapp@mountsaintvincent.edu

Katherine Schultz

University of Colorado Boulder

Kathy Schultz is Professor of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education and with the Renée Crown Wellness Institute. She was Dean of the School of Education from 2017-2023 following her appointment as Dean of the School of Education at Mills College in Oakland, California from 2010-2016. She served as professor and director of the teacher education program at the University of Pennsylvania from 1997-2010. During that time, she was the faculty director of the Philadelphia Writing Project and served on the Empowerment Board (School Board) of the Chester Upland School District. 

Her scholarly work has focused on the research, development, and dissemination of practices that support new and veteran teachers working with marginalized populations in high poverty areas. Her two books, Listening: A framework for teaching across differences and Rethinking classroom participation: Listening to silent voices address these issues. Her most recent book, Distrust and educational change: Overcoming barriers to just and lasting reform, about the role of distrust in educational reform, draws on her work in Oakland, as a school board member in Chester, PA, and leader of professional development in international settings. One of her current projects addresses dignity, teachers, and teaching.

Email Katherine Schultz at: Katherine.Schultz@colorado.edu

Janelle T. Scott

University of California, Berkeley

Janelle Scott is a Professor and the Robert C. and Mary Catherine Birgeneau Distinguished Chair in Educational Disparities at the University of California at Berkeley in the Graduate School of Education, African American Studies Department, and Goldman School of Public Policy. She earned a Ph.D. in Education Policy from the University of California at Los Angeles’ Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley. Before earning her doctorate, she was a teacher in Oakland, California. 

Professor Scott’s research investigates how market-based educational reforms affect democratic accountability and equity in public education. She has explored this research program across several policy strands: 1) the racial politics of public education, 2) the politics of school choice, marketization, and privatization, 3) the politics of research evidence on market-oriented reforms, and, 4) the role of elite and community-based advocacy in shaping public education and research evidence utilization. Her work has appeared in several edited books and journals, including the Peabody Journal of Education, Educational Policy, Qualitative Inquiry, the American Educational Research Journal, and the Harvard Educational Review.

She was awarded a Spencer Dissertation Year Fellowship, and a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2014, she was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Committee on Scholars of Color.  In 2020, she was elected as an AERA Fellow. She is Vice President for Division L (Policy and Politics) of AERA (2019-2022). She is the editor of School choice and diversity: What the evidence says (2005 Teachers College Press), and, with Sonya Horsford and Gary Anderson, author of The Politics of Education in an Era of Inequality: Possibilities for democratic schooling (2018 Routledge). 

Email Janelle T. Scott at: jtscott@berkeley.edu

Paul Shaker

Simon Fraser University

Paul Shaker is a career educator who has served as teacher, teacher educator, and dean in five of the United States, in Asia, and in Canada at Simon Fraser University of British Columbia where he is professor emeritus and immediate past dean. An alumnus of Ohio State, Shaker has sought to advance the progressive legacy in public schools and higher education through scholarship, leadership and media activism. He has developed and directed independently funded projects such as Friends of Simon, an outreach to immigrant and refugee children that provides university students as after-school tutors. Shaker also hosts Your Education Matters, a television program widely cablecast in British Columbia that is a venue for qualified educators to speak on a range of education topics (see www.youreducationmatters.ca). Scholarly recognition includes his appointment in Kuwait as a Fulbright Senior Scholar for evaluation; the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Outstanding Writing Award for the co-edited volume Teachers and Mentors; and in 2009 the American Educational Research Association Award for Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education for Reclaiming Education for Democracy: Thinking Beyond No Child Left Behind (co-author, Elizabeth Heilman.)

Email Paul Shaker at: pshaker@sfu.ca or see www.paulshaker.com

Christine Sleeter

California State University, Monterey Bay

Christine Sleeter is Professor Emerita in the College of Education at California State University Monterey Bay, where she was a founding faculty member. Her research focuses on anti-racist multicultural education, the impact of ethnic studies on students, and the preparation of teachers for racially and ethnically diverse schools.

Email Christine Sleeter at: csleeter@gmail.com

Gregory A. Smith

Lewis & Clark College

Gregory A. Smith is emeritus professor of education from the Lewis & Clark College Graduate School of Education and Counseling in Portland, Oregon. His work focuses on ways educators can contribute to the regeneration of social and biotic communities.

Email Gregory A. Smith at: gasmith@lclark.edu

Tina Trujillo

University of California, Berkeley

Tina Trujillo is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. She earned her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA and her M.A. in Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is a former urban public school teacher, school reform consultant, and educational evaluator. Dr. Trujillo uses tools from political science and critical policy studies to study the political dimensions of urban district reform, the instructional and democratic consequences of high-stakes testing and accountability policies for students of color and English Learners, and trends in urban educational leadership. Her work is published in a range of journals, including the American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, Educational Policy, Journal of Educational Administration, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. She is the co-editor of Learning from the Federal Market-Based Reforms: Lessons for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (2016, Information Age Publishing, with William Mathis).

Email Tina Trujillo at: trujillo@berkeley.edu

Michelle Renée Valladares

University of Colorado Boulder

Michelle Renée Valladares is Associate Director of the National Education Policy Center and Faculty Affiliate of the CU Boulder School of Education. She leads and partners in a series of projects that aim to increase educational opportunities for all students. This includes serving as CO-PI of the Research Hub for Youth Organizing and the Price of Opportunity Project, as the media and policymaker contact for NEPC, and as a member of the Schools of Opportunity Project leadership.  Michelle leads a Research Hub study of youth organizing and &youth development in California and supervises a research practice partnership with the Cuba Independent School District in New Mexico. For the Price of Opportunity, Michelle leads our partnerships with school finance advocates, contributes to research design, analysis and writing and manages the project team. Michelle also co-leads the Caminos de Bilinguismo partnership with Boulder Valley School District. Michelle has conducted original research on indicator systems, youth and adult education organizing, parent and family engagement, and school turnaround. Michelle has a PhD in education from the University of California, Los Angeles.  

Email Michelle Renée Valladares at: michelle.valladares@colorado.edu

Terri S. Wilson

University of Colorado Boulder

Terri S. Wilson is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on the philosophical foundations of education policy, including issues raised by school choice, marketization and parent engagement. Her current research explores how to balance the interests of families in choosing distinctive schools—especially ones that affirm ethnic, linguistic or cultural identities—against arguments for a common, integrated school system. She received her PhD in Philosophy and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and was a 2012-2014 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow.

Email Terri S. Wilson at: Terri.Wilson@colorado.edu

Adam York

University of Colorado Boulder

Adam York is a Research Associate with the Center for Assessment, Design, Research and Evaluation (CADRE) at CU Boulder. In this work he draws on experience in qualitative research methods to evaluate educational programs and support services for students. He also contributes to projects of the National Education Policy Center (NEPC). With the NEPC, Adam currently works on the Price of Opportunity project to organize and lead the qualitative data analysis procedures. Adam earned his PhD in educational psychology and learning sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder. He worked in the nonprofit sector as a program director, counselor, and grant writer. He has taught courses at CU Boulder and the University of Colorado Denver in educational foundations, education policy, and human development. Adam earned a master's in community counseling from Lewis and Clark College, and a bachelor's in psychology from Colorado College.

Email Adam York at: Adam.J.York@colorado.edu