Christina Weiland

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

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

In the Media

Weiland explains the benefits of kindergarten

Feb 26, 2026 EdSurge

"Any time a group of kids are being underserved, it's not good for the kid or family," Christina Weiland, a professor of education and public policy at the University of Michigan, says.

Kindergarten explains the benefits 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...

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

Publication

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

Jan 30, 2026

Across the U.S., policies that require children to repeat a grade in elementary school—known as retention policies—have become a popular approach to improve reading proficiency. As of 2025, 18 states have enacted or are set to implement third-grade r...

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

In the Media

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

Jan 26, 2026 Crain's Detroit Business

Child care programs in Michigan, such as Tri-Share, are getting national recognition for their impact in lowering the cost of child care for American families. Programs such as Tri-Share reduce the costs of child care by splitting the bill between fa...

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

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

State & Hill

How do you ensure every child gets a strong start?

Dec 8, 2025

Weiland's policy-driven research brings proven results to classrooms across the U.S.In the rural West Virginia holler where Professor Christina Weiland grew up, the nearest child care center was at least 45 minutes away. So, until she was old enough ...

How do you ensure every child gets a strong start?

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

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...

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

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

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 ...

Greater than its sum: an update on the Kohn Collaborative

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

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...

Transitional kindergarten programs expand early education access, boost academic gain

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

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

News

Stange and Weiland promoted to full professors

May 16, 2024

On May 16, the Regents of the University of Michigan approved promotions for Kevin Stange and Christina Weiland. Stange was promoted to professor of public policy, with tenure, and professor of education. Weiland was promoted to professor of educatio...

Stange and Weiland promoted to full professors

Publication

U-M researchers partner with District of Columbia Public Schools for Pre-K curriculum implementation study

Apr 24, 2024

University of Michigan researchers from the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Marsal Family School of Education have partnered with MDRC, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), and the Urban ...

Publication

NASEM committee including EPI’s Christina Weiland urges changes to preschool curricula to improve equity and support high-quality early education in the U.S.

Apr 18, 2024

A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) lays out a new vision for high-quality preschool curricula that support equitable early education for all children. The report recommends that in the next five year...

News

Education research in service of others

Apr 11, 2024

2022 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Fellow and Education Policy Initiative (EPI) Research Assistant Katie Hyland (MPP ‘24) is set to graduate this spring following the completion of her Master’s in Public Policy. She takes with her two years of hands-on...

News

Hamp contributes her unique perspective on Pre-K for All

Jan 30, 2024

Nikki Hamp (MPA ‘23) had several professional lives before arriving at the Ford School. An MD, she is a board-certified developmental behavioral pediatrician, and until recently has been the medical director of the Arbor Autism Clinic in Ypsilanti w...

Hamp contributes her unique perspective on Pre-K for All

News

Ford school faculty available to weigh in on 2024 elections

Jan 28, 2024

The University of Michigan has published an experts guide to the 2024 elections. Ford School faculty are available to offer insights on relevant issues impacting the elections, including the following: Economics Betsey Stevenson, professor of pu...

Ford school faculty available to weigh in on 2024 elections