Aziza Alford, a Brown Urban Education Policy student and NYC native, is leveraging her background in Health & Human Biology and Africana Studies to analyze the systemic structures behind educational inequity. Currently interning at the Annenberg Institute, she is dedicated to mastering policy analysis tools before fulfilling a three-year commitment to serve the Rhode Island education community.

Unique professional development series designed to bring university research to middle and high school students.

In this podcast, Associate Professor of Education Policy John Papay discusses Rhode Island’s education funding formula, which determines how much money the state sends to each school district.

“Based on a broad body of rigorous research, time in school is a fundamental resource for educational success,” said Matthew Kraft, a professor of education and economics at Brown University. “The findings [are] overwhelmingly clear that on average, more instructional time improves student learning outcomes, including student performance on state standardized tests.”

Professors Matthew Kraft, John Papay, and Lindsay Page were named to the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings.

These rankings recognize the 200 university-based scholars in the United States who had the biggest impact on educational practice and policy last year.

The Education Department is introducing several new courses this spring: E pluribus unum: English and Engaged Citizenship in the United States; Developmental and Educational Journeys of Students in Immigrant Families; Education as Freedom?: Educational Access and Immigration Activism in the US South; Education for the Future: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Scale.

Urban Education Policy student expands his mission of joyful representation with new alphabet book.

Happy is an MAT student in the English cohort who views the classroom as a site of liberation. She is leveraging her experiences as a Brown undergraduate and in the MAT program to create meaningful learning opportunities for students and finding her greatest joy in the supportive, thoughtful community of her cohort.

EDUC 1015: Reimagining Power: Community-Driven Evaluation and Education examines trust-based philanthropy practices.

A growing body of research shows that students benefit when they demographically match their teachers. However, little is known about how matching affects social-emotional development. Professor Christopher Cleveland and his co-authors use student-fixed effects to exploit changes over time in the proportion of teachers within a school grade who demographically match a student to estimate the effect on social-emotional measures, test scores, and behavioral outcomes

Conor sees teaching as an act of love and hope, drawing inspiration from thinkers like bell hooks and the concept of "freedom-dreaming for the future." He was drawn to Brown's one-year Master of Arts in Teaching program for its small cohort model and commitment to culturally responsive pedagogy, which he is currently applying in practice while student teaching at Blackstone Academy Charter School.

Phoebe brings a passion for community and the role of administration in advancing educational change.

Lizzy graduated from the UEP program in 2025 and is currently an Education Specialist at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

According to Brown University professor Matthew Kraft, high-impact tutoring is “among the most effective education interventions ever to be subjected to rigorous evaluation.” When the basic tenets of high-impact tutoring are followed—same tutor with the same student; student-to-tutor ratio of no more than 4:1; at least 90 minutes of tutoring per week—gains in student achievement reliably follow.

Urban Education Policy student Natalie Villacres is focused on gaining the policy and data skills necessary to advocate for systemic change, especially for multilingual learners and students from historically marginalized communities. She is currently applying this commitment by designing English Learner Education compliance systems for Boston Public Schools and plans to pursue a law degree after graduation.

Providence engagement inspires fundraising and community impact.

The Rhode Island Department of Education recently released its "Blueprint & Strategic Plan for Differently-Abled Students’ Success." Professor Christopher Cleveland spoke with The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. about some of his 'kudos' and 'questions' regarding the plan.

Celebrating Professor Emeritus Wong's career of scholarship, visionary leadership, and dedication to equity in urban education.

This fall, Providence’s Classical High School began offering its entrance exam in Spanish for the first time in the public school’s 182-year history. Professors Tricia Kelly and Christopher Cleveland provided commentary.

Providence-area teachers gathered on campus to strengthen teaching practices while MAT students gained independent classroom experience.

Justin is a current senior in Brown's Combined Baccalaureate/Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. After completing his undergraduate degree in 2026, he will enroll in the MAT program as a member of the social studies cohort.

“One of the central concerns with gifted education, in particular with the younger ages, are considerations for which students are going to be able to be identified as gifted. This is a clear concern when the system has an opt-in policy, where it might require families to sign up for some like outside assessment to be identified as gifted, and not all families might have the resources or the knowledge to do that,” said Christopher Cleveland, assistant professor of education and education policy at Brown University.