News | Education Policy Initiative

News

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

May 27, 2026

EXPERT Q&A West Virginia has been hit with a wave of school closures and consolidations. For Christina Weiland, an education and public policy professor at the University of Michigan who also co-directs the Education Policy Initiative, the matter is ...

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

News

Hausman, Michelmore, and Pilkauskas promoted to full professors

May 22, 2026

On May 21, the Regents of the University of Michigan approved promotions for Catherine Hausman, Katherine Michelmore, and Natasha Pilkauskas. All three were promoted to professor of public policy, with tenure, at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public P...

Hausman, Michelmore, and Pilkauskas promoted to full professors

News

EPI Predoctoral Fellow Jordy Berne wins Jean Flanigan Outstanding Dissertation Award

Mar 20, 2026

Education Policy Initiative (EPI) Predoctoral Fellow alum, Jordy Berne (PhD ‘25), was recognized by the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) with the 2026 Jean Flanigan Outstanding Dissertation Award for his research on Michigan's thir...

EPI Predoctoral Fellow Jordy Berne wins Jean Flanigan Outstanding Dissertation Award

News

Ford School marks 45 years as a PPIA host site, welcomes 2026 Junior Summer Institute cohort

Mar 20, 2026

This summer, the Ford School welcomes 18 undergraduate students from 10 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute (JSI). Chosen through a highly competitive n...

Ford School marks 45 years as a PPIA host site, welcomes 2026 Junior Summer Institute cohort

News

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

Mar 10, 2026

EXPERT Q&A The best plans for improving early education do little good if they never find their way into classrooms. It might seem obvious, but high-quality early learning curricula are rarely used in public preschools. This is partially because ther...

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

News

First-of-its-kind national educator survey reveals both promise and peril in school cell phone policies

Feb 27, 2026

Teachers report more face-to-face interaction as bell-to-bell bans spread, but laptops emerge as next challenge. Over 68,000 teachers surveyed to date; data collection to continue through end of school year. New findings from the first national study...

First-of-its-kind national educator survey reveals both promise and peril in school cell phone policies

News

Michigan governor signs classroom cell phone ban: U-M experts available to comment

Feb 11, 2026

EXPERT ADVISORY University of Michigan experts are available to discuss a new policy that will ban cell phone use in Michigan's K-12 classrooms. Brian Jacob is a professor of education policy and economics at the Ford School of Public Policy, as well...

Jacob comments on competing screen policies for students

News

Ford School faculty among the nation's top education scholars

Jan 8, 2026

Professors Sarah Cohodes, Brian Jacob, and Christina Weiland are ranked among the top 200 university-based scholars in the U.S. who had the biggest impact on educational practice and policy last year. This is according to Education Week's 2026 RHSU E...

Ford School faculty among the nation's top education scholars

News

Weiland fears for communities in WV facing school consolidations

Nov 30, 2025

For the Ford School's Christina Weiland, an announcement about school consolidation in West Virginia was personal. The Roane County Board of Education voted 4-1 in favor of consolidating schools that Weiland attended, Geary Elementary and Middle Scho...

Weiland fears for communities in WV facing school consolidations

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...

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

News

Brian Jacob: Michigan's education system needs structural reform now

Aug 4, 2025

After a year of studying Michigan’s K-12 education system — reviewing the academic literature, analyzing data, interviewing and surveying stakeholders, and examining state practices nationwide — one thing is clear: The current system of state-level e...

Brian Jacob: Michigan's education system needs structural reform now

News

U-M and Wayne State University collaborate to study assisting Michigan college students to achieve graduation

Jul 14, 2025

In Michigan, 18% of all community college students have completed some college but are still enrolled well beyond the expected time to a degree. Despite their substantial progress, about 36% of all “long-term persisting” students do not complete any ...

U-M and Wayne State University collaborate to study assisting Michigan college students to achieve graduation

News

State data initiatives inform education policy amid federal withdrawal

May 30, 2025

As the federal government appears poised to pull back on collecting and disseminating educational data, it’s increasingly critical that information collected and maintained by states and local districts is available to inform policy, according to a p...

State data initiatives inform education policy amid federal withdrawal

News

What is the secret to better reading outcomes?

May 26, 2025 Education Week

As states have struggled for decades to improve 3rd grade literacy on a large scale, many have enacted policies to hold struggling readers back a year. Education Week recently highlighted Christina Weiland and Brian Jacob's evaluation of Michigan’s “...

What is the secret to better reading outcomes?

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. ...

New gift to support early childhood education policy research

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...

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

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...

Federal funding supports critical education research at the University of Michigan

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...

Smart from the Start: Closing Early Opportunity Gaps with Strategic Early Learning Investments

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...

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

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. With a ne...

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

News

Cohodes' research "helped define" education in 2024

Dec 22, 2024

Research conducted by the Ford School's Sarah Cohodes has been cited for "defining education in 2024." The 74 network, a non-profit education news service, highlighted Cohodes' research among 11 other studies as some of the "biggest discoveries from ...

Cohodes' research "helped define" education in 2024

News

Sarah Cohodes testifies before New Jersey Senate

Dec 17, 2024

On December 16, 2024, Ford School Associate Professor Sarah Cohodes testified before the New Jersey Senate Higher Education Committee. She was called on to speak at a public hearing to assist lawmakers in evaluating the status of charter schools with...

News

Cohodes receives funding to dig deeper into charter school impact

Oct 10, 2024

With a $275,000 grant from MIT Blueprint Labs, two University of Michigan professors will tease out why some schools better prepare students for college than others. The project is led by Sarah Cohodes, associate professor at the Ford School of Publi...

News

Stange receives federal grant to classify college courses at scale

Oct 4, 2024

Research on college course taking, and what students learn while attending college have historically been hampered by inconsistent course titles and numbers across multiple institutions. Education economist Kevin Stange and a research team from the F...

Stange receives federal grant to classify college courses at scale

News

Katherine Michelmore wins the 24th David N. Kershaw Award and Prize

Sep 25, 2024

Katherine Michelmore, associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy has been awarded the 2024 David N. Kershaw Award and Prize for her contributions as a leading scholar and educator on th...

Katherine Michelmore wins the 24th David N. Kershaw Award and Prize

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...

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

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...

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

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 ...

Weiland named inaugural Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy

News

Micah Baum wins the 2024 Peter Eckstein Prize

Jul 10, 2024

Ford School PhD candidate Micah Baum is the 2024 winner of the Peter Eckstein Prize for Interdisciplinary Research, a competitive student award that celebrates the value of interdisciplinary research in public policy. Baums’s research paper, "Distrib...

Micah Baum wins the 2024 Peter Eckstein Prize

News

Most preschool curricula under-deliver, but it doesn’t have to be that way

Jul 1, 2024

Ford School professor Christina Weiland coauthored an opinion piece with Deborah Phillips for The Hechinger Report about how the preschool curriculum has been underdeveloped and overlooked. Weiland wrote that there is a long overdue movement in state...

Most preschool curricula under-deliver, but it doesn’t have to be that way