Core Faculty
These are the faculty members who will teach the required, core courses that provide the foundation for the focus and rigor of the Urban Education Policy program.
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Core Faculty from the Education Department
Professor of Education Kenneth K. Wong holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair for Education Policy and serves as the Program Director for the Urban Education Policy (UEP) program. Professor Wong, one of the nation’s experts on the politics of public education, also teaches Urban Politics and Urban Education Policy, a core course in the UEP program.
Rosa Cho
Newly hired Assistant Professor Rosa Cho comes to the Education Department from the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago where she has been researching the effect of maternal incarceration on children’s educational outcomes. Her research interests include program evaluation, education policy, child and family policy, and criminal justice policy as it relates to education. Professor Cho will teach will teach the new UEP course, Quantitative Research Methods and Data Analysis.
Cynthia Garcia Coll, Robinson and Barstow Professor of Education, Psychology, and Pediatrics, is a developmental psychologist whose most recent work focuses on the roles of race and ethnicity in children’s development. Professor Garcia Coll provides key expertise to the UEP program regarding the importance of policy questions and decisions as played out at the “micro” level of schools and classrooms where students, teachers, and parents interact. Professor Garcia Coll will teach the core UEP course, Schooling and Human Development.
John Tyler, Associate Professor of Education, Economics, and Public Policy, is a labor economist who focuses on economics of education related topics. Professor Tyler, an experienced researcher with large data sets, will teach Quantitative Research Methods and Data Analysis, a core course in the UEP program.
Marty West
Newly hired Assistant Professor Marty West is a Harvard-trained political scientist who was a Research Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution for this past year, as well as serving as the research editor and a regular contributor to Education Next, a journal of opinion and research on education policy. His research interests include state and federal education policy and politics, teacher unions and collective bargaining, school accountability and school choice, and school finance litigation. Professor West will teach will teach the new UEP Policy Analysis course.
Core Faculty from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR)
Michael Grady is the Annenberg Institute’s Deputy Director and Co-director of the Community-Centered Education Reform initiative; he is principal investigator for a major collaboration with the National League of Cities, working with municipal leaders to increase public participation in school improvement. Dr. Grady holds an Ed.D. from Harvard University. His research and policy interests include urban education reform, educational equity, community and parent engagement, and research and evaluation design, and will co-teach the course on Introduction to Education Research: Design and Methods.
Ellen Foley is a Principal Associate in the Annenberg Institute’s District Redesign, serving as research manager for the Institute’s efforts in that area. Dr. Foley’s primary research interest is urban education reform, with a focus on the connection between academic, social, and health supports for students and the central office’s role in leading reform efforts. She holds a doctorate in education policy from the University of Pennsylvania and will teach the course on Introduction to Education Research: Design and Methods.
Warren Simmons is Executive Director of the Annenberg Institute and co-directs its work in Community-Centered Education Reform. Dr. Simmons received his Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University. He serves on the boards and advisory groups of numerous education-reform initiatives, including the Public Education Network, the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform, and Cambridge College, and will co-teach the course on Education Systems and Structures.
Dennie Palmer Wolf (no picture available)
Dennie Palmer Wolf is Director of Opportunity and Accountability for the Annenberg Institute where she has conducted research on the role of the arts in creating equitable opportunities and outcomes, especially for low-performing students; facilitated ground-breaking interactions between urban school districts and their communities; and developed protocols for assessing the quality of classroom teaching and learning. Dr. Wolf holds an Ed.D. from Harvard University and is a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, and will co-teach the course on Education Systems and Structures.
Other Faculty Contributors to the UEP Program
In addition to the core faculty of the UEP program, other Brown University faculty members may be contributors to the program either through student advising, providing research and internship opportunities for UEP students, or as instructors of approved UEP elective courses. These additional faculty include but are not limited to the following::
- Carl Kaestle, Professor of Education, History, and Public Policy
- Jin Li, Associate Professor of Education
- Darrell West, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy
- Michael White, Professor of Sociology
- Marion Orr, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy
- John Modell, Emeritus Professor of Education and Sociology
- Adeline Becker, Executive Director of the Education Alliance and Adjunct Associate Professor
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