The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) has launched a new website that now makes its applied policy research even more accessible to lawmakers, education practitioners, and other researchers. From the website, EPI disseminates information on current and recent projects within the broad areas of K-12 education, postsecondary education, and the social context of schooling.
The new website also serves as a hub for the latest EPI-related news, as well as information on and selected video of the initiative's many events, including seminars, conferences, and public lectures.
Housed in the Ford School, the Educational Policy Initiative began as an area with the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP). Under the leadership of Susan M. Dynarski and Brian A. Jacob, EPI became a stand-alone initiative in 2012, whose goals are to produce and disseminate applied, policy-relevant education research; inform education policy debates in Michigan and nationwide; and to train graduate students and others to conduct cutting-edge research in education. To that end, EPI also offers three rigorous programs: a master's student internship program, a doctoral student seminar series, and a postdoctoral training program.
Current research projects include The Michigan Charter School Research Project; Identifying Effective Teachers During the Hiring Process; and Educational Pathways and Employment Outcomes of Community College Students.