Departments and Research Centers

Education Policy Initiative

The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) is a program within the Ford School that brings together nationally-recognized education policy scholars focused on the generation and dissemination of policy-relevant education research.

Content type
Showing 1 - 30 of 616 results
Faculty by courtesy

Christina Weiland

Co-director, Education Policy Initiative; Associate Professor of Education
Christina Weiland is an associate professor at the University of Michigan's School of Education and Ford School of Public Policy (by courtesy), where she is affiliated with the Educational Studies department, the Combined Program in Psychology and…
Headshot of Christina Weiland
Core faculty

Brian A. Jacob

Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy; Professor of Public Policy, Economics, and Education
bajacob@umich.edu
(734) 615-6994
Jacob is co-director of the Youth Policy Lab. His primary fields of interest are labor economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education. Jacob's current research focuses on urban school reform, with a particular emphasis on standards and accountability initiatives.
Brian Jacob
Core faculty

Katherine Michelmore

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Michelmore is a leading scholar and educator on the social safety net, education policy, labor economics, and economic demography. She is a recognized expert on the efficacy of the Earned Income Tax Credit and its impact on children.
Katherine Michelmore
Core faculty

Kevin Stange

Associate Professor of Public Policy (on leave with the U.S. Department of Education)
Stange's research lies broadly in empirical labor and public economics, with a focus on education and health care. His prior research includes studies of college enrollment and persistence, the effect of resources and peers on community college students, the importance of amenities in college choice, and the effects of different pricing structures on major choice and student credit load.
Kevin Stange
Core faculty

Megan Tompkins-Stange

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Tompkins-Stange is a scholar of education policy and philanthropy, focusing on the influence of private foundations on the politics of K-12 school reform.
Megan Tompkins-Stange
Staff

Sam Owusu

Research Analyst, Education Policy Initiative
Sam Owusu is a research analyst at the Ford School's Education Policy Initiative. Originally from Chicago, IL. Samuel is a recent graduate from Davidson College in North Carolina where he majored in International Relations and Educational Studies.…
Headshot of Samuel Owusu
Staff

Thomas Staines

Research Area Specialist, Education Policy Initiative
Tom Staines is a data analyst with the Education Policy Initiative. He joined EPI after obtaining his MPP at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of…
Headshot of Thomas Staines
Staff

Anne Taylor

Data Analyst, Education Policy Initiative
Annie Taylor is a data analyst with the Education Policy Initiative. Her work at EPI focuses on early childhood projects, including designing and implementing research agendas for universal preschool programs in the Boston area. She joined EPI after…
Annie Taylor _ directory
Staff

Qia Yang

Data Programmer, Education Policy Initiative
Qia Yang is a data programmer for the Education Policy Initiative at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. His primary work is to maintain the Michigan Education Data Center, import data from the State of Michigan and…
Headshot of Qia Yang
In the Media

Weiland touts her preschool research findings

Feb 8, 2023 MIT News
Christina Weiland, MIT News: "I am really excited by this work. We’re seeing the really positive long-term effects of attending preschool. A really important question is not only whether preschool works, yes or no, but how, and what kind of...
Headshot of Christina Weiland
In the Media

Investment in Pre-K can expand access, increase pay - Weiland

Feb 6, 2023 Chalkbeat Detroit
Chalkboard Detroit: A shift toward free preschool for all 4-year-olds — which the Legislature will debate this session — could increase access and improve teacher pay at the same time. Indeed, that’s what happened in other states with universal...
Headshot of Christina Weiland
Publication

EPI brief looks at "Pre-k boost"

Jan 31, 2023
Children who attend a prekindergarten (Pre-K) program generally score higher on academic, social-emotional, and cognitive assessments at the start of kindergarten than children who do not. However, Pre-K nonattenders typically catch up to Pre-K...
Photo of young children and their teachers in a classroom. By Yan Krukov
Publication

Overcoming data collection challenges in ECE research

Jan 24, 2023
Rigorous research in early care and education requires high-quality data, often gathered through intensive in-person fieldwork. The COVID-19 pandemic upended the ECE sector, making it much more challenging to safely and successfully collect data in...
Photo of young students, each reading a book, seated around a small classroom table
News

Announcing winter 2023 Ford School events

Jan 11, 2023
 The Ford School is pleased to announce an exciting lineup for the winter 2023 Policy Talks @ the Ford School series and other special public events hosted with partners from across campus. Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise...
Headshots of Peter Meijer, Jelani Cobb, Jeh Johnson, Andy Levin, and Angela Harrelson
State & Hill

Education policy at the Ford School

Dec 19, 2022
Interdisciplinary, rigorous, and committed to real world impact and to mentoring: the Ford School has one of the strongest education policy programs in the country.  How did we get there? S&H asked the scholar at the front of the class, economist...
Photo of Brian Jacob standing at the Annenberg Auditorium podium, delivering remarks at a public event
State & Hill

Dot to dot

Dec 19, 2022
The Education Policy Initiative connects researchers and policymakers—helping make good use of their one-of-a-kind secure data clearinghouse By Daniel Rivkin A recent research project examined the ties between school funding and crime in...
Illustration of a bubble test sheet with bubbles filled in and lines connecting them like a circuitboard
State & Hill

COVID-19 and education: A tough time for all

Dec 19, 2022
Ford School education researchers look for answers By Shaun Manning From early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered public education in the United States. Many schools introduced remote learning for at least part of the 2020-2021...
Photo of a teacher in a classroom, speaking to a young student who is seated at their desk
State & Hill

An economic eye on equity in higher ed

Dec 19, 2022
As the first chief economist in the U.S. Department of Education, Ford School alumnus Jordan Matsudaira (PhD ’05), seeks to identify and implement policies that best promote student success—academically and financially—in higher education. Ford...
Abstract illustration
News

Tompkins-Stange weighs in on no-strings-attached donations

Dec 5, 2022
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is changing the world of education philanthropy by giving no-strings-attached, multimillion-dollar donations to schools. Megan Tompkins-Stange, associate professor of public policy, analyzed the donations, and the...
Megan Tompkins-Stange
News

EPI examines education impacts of the Flint Water Crisis

Dec 4, 2022
Eight years ago, the Flint water crisis captured national attention when the city’s tap water was shown to be contaminated with lead. Since then, researchers have been rigorously studying this crisis and measuring the effects of this lead exposure...
Photo of the Flint Water Plant water tower in Flint, Michigan