About Us – Center for Education Policy
Vision & Mission
The Center for Education Policy (CEP) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst seeks to strengthen PK-12 schooling and higher education through democratic decision-making and the use of evidence. The Center advances this aim through three strands of work:
- Deliberative events that connect leaders, practitioners, scholars, and citizens
- Research and evaluation led by CEP staff and affiliates
- Dissemination of free and open-source resources
The Center is staffed by UMass faculty and graduate students who work closely with legislators, policymakers, school leaders, educators, and communities. CEP staff and affiliates maintain particular policy expertise in four areas:
- Governance and accountability
- Program evaluation and the assessment of school quality
- Civic education and the public mission of schools
- Civil rights and educational equity
Faculty
Jack Schneider
Dwight W. Allen Distinguished Professor
Director, Center for Education Policy
Jack Schneider is a historian and policy analyst who studies the influence of politics, rhetoric, culture, and information in shaping attitudes and behaviors.
Rebecca Woodland
Professor
Associate Director, Center for Education Policy
Rebecca Woodland is professor of educational leadership and evaluation in EPRA and leads the Program Evaluation Practice graduate certificate program.
Kathryn McDermott
Professor
Associate Director, Center for Education Policy
Kathryn A. McDermott is on the faculty of the UMass School of Public Policy and the College of Education’s concentration in Educational Leadership. She is a political scientist who researches civil rights and equity in PK-12 education policy.
Peter Piazza
Research Assistant Professor
Director of School Quality Measures, MCIEA and ECP
Peter Piazza is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy, Research, and Administration. His research examines how public education can best prepare citizens for thoughtful participation in a multicultural democracy
Students & Staff
Vafa Alakbarova
Research Assistant
Vafa Alakbarova is a doctoral student working on the Embrace Race project.
Babatunde Alford
Babatunde Alford is a doctoral student at Boston College working on the UMass Teacher Time project.
Ayana Bass
Ayana Bass is a doctoral student at Boston University working on the UMass Teacher Time project.
Joshua Clark
Joshua Clark is a doctoral student whose research interests include career and technical education, selective admissions policies, and educational equity.
Abeer Hakouz
Research Assistant
Abeer Hakouz is a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and an RA for MCIEA and ECP.
Nikki Holland
Nikki Holland is a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Education Policy.
Becky Kelley
Research Fellow and Performance Assessment Coach
Breanne Lucy
Teaching Assistant
Breanne Lucy is a doctoral student working on the UMass Teacher Time project. Her research interests are teacher working conditions and decision making.
Sarah Mabry
Executive Assistant to the Dean
Sarah Mabry is a doctoral student working on the Civic Thinking Project.
Juan David Cervantes Pico
Teaching Assistant
Juan David Cervantes Pico is a doctoral student working with MCIEA and ECP.
Brendan Sheran
Teaching Assistant
Brendan Sheran is doctoral student and an independent consultant in Western Massachusetts.
Julie Spencer-Robinson, Ph.D.
Julie Spencer-Robinson helps lead the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment and the Education Commonwealth Project.
