Christina Weiland

Core faculty

Christina Weiland

Co-director, Education Policy Initiative; Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy; Professor of Education

Christina Weiland is Professor at the Marsal Family School of Education and the Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, where she is affiliated with the Educational Studies de...

News

Tool tracking school closures puts data in hands of affected communities, informs work to find solutions

May 27, 2026

Kohn Professor Christina Weiland talks about the WV school closure tracker to help policymakers, community members, and families make informed policy decisions.

State & Hill

Faculty news, spring 2026

May 7, 2026

Ford School experts are publishing research, sharing their knowledge, and getting recognized.

A series of six headshots of people smiling

News

U-M-led study focuses on how schools successfully launch high-quality early learning curricula

Mar 10, 2026

Christina Weiland, co-director of U-M's Education Policy Initiative as well as a professor of education and public policy, discusses her team's research on early-learning curricula implementation across the country.

In the Media

Kindergarten explains the benefits of kindergarten

Feb 26, 2026 EdSurge

Ford School professor Christina Weiland discusses the importance of kindergarten

Publication

Should schools lower the chronic absenteeism threshold? New EPI research suggests they should

Feb 6, 2026

New evidence from the Ford School's Education Policy Initiative (EPI) shows absenteeism may hurt student's academics long before it is considered a chronic pattern. These findings, published in a January working paper, were recently featured in Educa...

Publication

Jacob and Weiland raise concerns about potential bias in traditional retention studies

Jan 30, 2026

In a recent article published in the Journal of Public Economics, University of Michigan professors Brian Jacob, Christina Weiland, and Jordan Berne (who earned his doctorate in economics from U-M), along with Katharine Strunk, dean of the University...

Headshots of Brian Jacob and Christina Weiland

In the Media

Weiland says Michigan's childcare programs can only be part of the solution

Jan 26, 2026 Crain's Detroit Business

Recently, child care programs in Michigan, such as Tri-Share, have seen increasing success, prompting them to be proposed at the federal level. While Tri-Share, among other child care programs have proved effective in Michigan, the Ford School's Chri...

News

Ford School faculty among the nation's top education scholars

Jan 8, 2026

Cohodes, Jacob, and Weiland made the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings.

Headshots of Brian A. Jacob, Christina J. Weiland, and Sarah Cohodes

State & Hill

How do you ensure every child gets a strong start?

Dec 8, 2025

For nearly two decades, Christina Weiland has partnered with education leaders nationwide to pinpoint how to strengthen early learning. She teamed up with Boston Public Schools to roll out and assess their universal pre-K program. With evidence-based...

Person at a podium giving an animated speech

State & Hill

Faculty news, fall 2025

Dec 8, 2025

Ford School experts are publishing research, sharing their knowledge, and getting recognized.

Headshots of Javed Ali, Bill Axinn, Samuel Bagenstos, Jenna Bednar, Elizabeth Gerber, Devin Judge-Lord, Alexander Ralph, Fabiana Silva, Alton Worthington, and Dean Yang.

News

Weiland fears for communities in WV facing school consolidations

Nov 30, 2025

After the ruling to consolidate Roane County public schools in West Virginia, the Ford School's Christina Weiland steps in to advocate against these changes.

News

Ford School team receives Accelerate grant from U-M Bold Challenges Initiative to advance early intervention for children with disabilities

Sep 4, 2025

A team led by Christina Weiland, Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative, and Catherine Asher, assistant research scientist at the Youth Policy Lab, has been selected for the University of Mi...

Group of toddlers playing with toys sitting on floor at kindergarten

Publication

Making the grade: Targeted help, not being held back, offers leg up to students struggling with reading

Jun 26, 2025

Policies calling for holding children back a grade in elementary school to improve their reading skills are widespread—if unpopular—across the United States. However, the benefits to students appear to come from the support services put in place once...

Photo of a young child, held in the lap of an a guardian or teacher, reading a book

News

What is the secret to better reading outcomes?

May 26, 2025 Education Week

Education Week recently highlighted Christina Weiland and Brian Jacob's evaluation of Michigan’s “Read by Third Grade” Law.

News

New gift to support early childhood education policy research

May 14, 2025

The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan will establish the Martha Darling and Gilbert Omenn Research Fund for Early Childhood Education with a generous $500,000 commitment from Martha A. Darling and Gilbert S. Omenn.

State & Hill

Faculty news, spring 2025

May 7, 2025

Read about the latest faculty accomplishments and news.

Headshots of faculty featured within this article.

News

"We can do better than this" – Weiland Kohn lecture on closing early education gaps

Apr 20, 2025

Christina Weiland, co-director of the Education Policy Initiative and professor at the Ford School, delivered her inaugural lecture as the Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy. Weiland, who is also a professor at the Marsal Family School o...

News

Weiland and Jacob: Lessons from Michigan for Washington’s early childhood programs

Mar 21, 2025

Research shows that high-quality preschool education has the power to positively impact a child’s growth and development, even far into adulthood. However, as costs increase and high demand creates long wait times, many children across the country ar...

News

Federal funding supports critical education research at the University of Michigan

Mar 21, 2025

A new brief from the Ford School's Education Policy Initiative and Youth Policy Lab shows the impact of federally funded education research. The policy-relevant research is developed in partnership with local and state agencies, practitioners, and po...

Photo of young children and their teachers in a classroom. By Yan Krukov

News

Weiland: COVID-19, 5 years on: Lingering impacts and pandemic preparedness

Mar 11, 2025

March 11 marked five years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The Ford School's Christina Weiland discusses continued effects in education, business and society. Weiland is co-director of the Education Policy In...

News

US Department of Education's role in K-12 education, funding local schools: U-M experts can discuss

Feb 14, 2025

As federal policymakers consider the future of the U.S. Department of Education, a new interactive data tool from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan shows the allocation of federal education funds to local school districts – making the d...

Photo of kids running outside a school bus

News

Cohodes, Jacob, and Weiland make Education Week’s 2025 public influence rankings

Jan 9, 2025

Education Week has announced the annual 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, which highlights scholars who made significant contributions to educational practice and policy in the past year. Three Ford School faculty members have been ran...

News

U-M’s Education Policy Initiative launches project to boost early learning success with new curriculum readiness measure

Jan 6, 2025

To improve early learning programs nationwide, policymakers and funders are investing in curriculum, professional development, and assessments. However, ensuring educational partners are well-prepared to deliver them remains a crucial step.

State & Hill

Faculty news, fall 2024

Dec 17, 2024

William G. Axinn is the interim director of the Ford School’s International Policy Center. He recently published “Early-life risk factors for depression among young adults in the United States general population: Attributable risks and gender differe...

Top row (from left to right): Sarah Cohodes, Yusuf Neggers, Morela Hernandez, Paula Lantz. Bottom row (from left to right): Katherine Michelmore, Yousif Hassan, Barry Rabe, Kevin Stange.

State & Hill

Greater than its sum: an update on the Kohn Collaborative

Dec 17, 2024

Six years ago, Harold and Carol Kohn approached the Ford School with a vision. Their goal was to help build a vibrant research community dedicated to promoting social equity and inclusion. Today, the Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy is poised to ...

News

Weiland named to new EdReports' pre-K curriculum review board

Aug 27, 2024

Christina Weiland, Ford School and Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy, and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative, was named to EdReports’ New Advisory Board for Pre-K Curriculum Reviews to support "educators by providing compreh...

News

U-M Ford School welcomes renowned scholars and former city leaders

Aug 22, 2024

The Ford School successfully grew our faculty in 2024, bringing in experts to deepen our focus on early childhood education, health and aging, better government, and criminal justice policy. Additionally, we welcomed distinguished policymakers in res...

Publication

Transitional kindergarten programs expand early education access, boost academic gain

Aug 16, 2024

Children enrolled in transitional kindergarten programs in Michigan did better in math and English by the time they reached 3rd grade, with higher test scores than other kids who didn't go through the program, according to a new policy brief from the...

Kindergarten teacher with students at a table

News

Weiland named inaugural Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy

Jul 18, 2024

Today the Regents of the University of Michigan approved Christina Weiland’s appointment as the inaugural Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. With a gift from Hal and Carol Kohn and the Kohn ...