Education Policy Initiative | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
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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.

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News

Ford School welcomes PPIA 2023 cohort

Jun 19, 2023
The 2023 Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute (JSI) has welcomed 23 students from 11 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This year’s cohort will spend seven weeks taking classes, participating in...
PPIA Welcome 2023
News

The education journey of EPI's Sam Owusu

Jun 19, 2023
Research analyst Sam Owusu recently worked on a project, which surveyed every school district in the state of Michigan about the availability of early childhood programs. It is a part of his job as a research analyst at the Education Policy...
Headshot of Sam Owusu
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

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
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

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
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
In the Media

Michelmore breaks down Child Tax Credit study

Oct 20, 2022 Michigan Radio
Katherine Michelmore, Michigan Radio: “It takes a long time to determine whether a policy did something good. I think we’re showing in the short term it certainly is improving the material well-being of very low-income families in the U.S. So that’s...
Photo of Katherine Michelmore teaching a Ford School class
News

Mussadiq looks at northern Michigan school enrollment trends

Oct 19, 2022
Northern Michigan has continually seen a decline in school-aged children. But, during the pandemic, that trend became more prominent. Tareena Mussadiq, Institute of Education Sciences postdoctoral fellow with the Education Policy Initiative, broke...
Photo of a cafeteria filled with middle school students
Publication

Stange research quantifies “brain drain”

Sep 23, 2022
Many states invest heavily in their institutions of higher education only to see graduates leave for employment opportunities. To better understand that dynamic, Ford School Professor Kevin Stange and his colleagues developed a new measure of labor...
Photo of many rows of soon-to-be graduates seated in an auditorium
In the Media

Reducing student loan debt is a significant step - Michelmore

Sep 12, 2022 Oakland Press
Over 1.3 million Michiganders hold around $50 billion in student loan debt, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education. The Biden administration's plan to forgive $10,000 of loan debt, and up to $20,000 for those students who...
Headshot of Katherine Michelmore