Chris Torres

Chris Torres is an Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership in the University of Michigan’s Marsal Family School of Education. His research is focused on educator recruitment/retention and how school systems that incorporate school choice and accountability reform logics organize to improve student outcomes. He uses qualitative and mixed methods to uncover mechanisms that help explain outcomes of educational policy and practice. For example, his early work used survey and interview methods to understand urban “no-excuses” Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) and how the organizational climate in these schools influenced high teacher turnover. Although supporters often claim that the climate of these CMOs help them improve opportunities and outcomes for minoritized children of color, Torres complicates this narrative by drawing attention to some of the costs and consequences of their practices such as high teacher turnover and harsh disciplinary methods.

Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Dr. Torres was a professor of Educational Leadership at Michigan State University and Montclair State University, and he worked in New York City as a K-2 teacher, grade chair, teacher mentor, mentor teacher trainer, teacher educator, school board chair, and in the central office designing teacher hiring and leadership development systems. Dr. Torres has served in various leadership roles for professional associations. He is a former Associate Director for the University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA). He was associate editor for Educational Administration Quarterly (EAQ) and is an editorial board member for various journals. He served as Program Chair for AERA Division A (Section 1) and the Charter and School Choice SIG and was elected secretary for the Politics of Education Association (PEA) SIG from 2019-2021. He received the Outstanding Reviewer Award in 2019 and 2020 from Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (EEPA) and is a recipient of AERA Division L’s Outstanding Policy Report (2021). He holds a BA in Psychology from Yale University, an MA in Early Childhood Education from Mercy College, and a PhD in Teaching and Learning from New York University (NYU).