Arianna is a UEP student who is interning at RIDE, where she applies data-analytic methods to evaluate career and technical education programs. Her time at Brown has been defined by community-informed policy work, ranging from the Central Falls mayoral office to developing culturally responsive evaluation strategies for a local RI organization.

Matthew Kraft, a professor of education and economics, was named a recipient of the 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship. This year’s fellows were selected from nearly 5,000 applicants. Applications in the Creative Arts and Humanities and the Sciences increased by 50% and 86%, respectively. The fellowship is offered to scholars in any field and is determined based on past accomplishments and future potential, according to the foundation’s website. Kraft is among 223 fellows who will receive a monetary stipend through the fellowship to pursue independent work. The value of the stipend is decided based on each researcher’s project.

Julia reflects on how community-based learning shaped her path from Brown to a legal career serving K-12 schools.

Naomi’s capstone centered on Black youth voices to reimagine algorithmic literacy as a tool for digital resistance and liberation.

Article cites Professor Matthew Kraft's research on how decreasing instructional time lowers student achievement.

Henry 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.

Brown MAT graduate Cody Pietro has transformed their passion for student-driven engagement into a career as the founder of CreatED Consulting, where they design award-winning educational games and curricula. By bridging their classroom experience with innovative civics tools, Cody continues to apply the lessons in mentorship and student-centered pedagogy they first honed in the MAT program.

Healthcare services outside of school can impact the likelihood of receiving school-based special education identification and services. Using Massachusetts administrative data on public school students, this paper employs the difference-in-differences method to examine the impacts of expanded Medicaid coverage for mental and behavioral healthcare resulting from the Rosie D. lawsuit of 2009. Rosie D. caused a 0.3 percentage point (15%) increase in emotional disorder (ED) identification among low-income grade 9–12 students. After Rosie D., students with ED were more likely to be Black or multiracial. Students were also more likely to have experienced suspension or chronic absenteeism before ED identification. Finally, students with ED in grades K–8 were educated in less inclusive settings.

Ash is a UEP student who is helping Providence Promise refine its evaluation frameworks through a national comparative analysis of Children’s Savings Accounts. After finding a supportive community in Providence, she is eager to apply her sharpened quantitative and qualitative toolkit to create more equitable, student-centered education policy.

As part of Brown Climate Week, practitioners from across Rhode Island explored how education policy, school leadership, and environmental partnerships shape climate learning in schools.

Anne, an MAT student, was drawn to Brown’s program for its action-oriented commitment to Providence schools and has since found a deep sense of community and joy within her cohort and inspiring professors. Driven by a passion for education as a tool for liberation, she is particularly excited to lead student-centered Socratic Seminars that foster analytical thinking and critical dialogue.

A Brown UEP student and veteran leader reflects on resilience and community.

Professor of Education Matthew Kraft provided commentary on an analysis he co-led on time in school across the U.S.

A study led by researchers at Brown’s Annenberg Institute found that millions of American PreK-12 students attend classes within a quarter mile of an environmental hazard site, and nearly half of public and private schools are within a mile of such a site. “[The] findings really shocked us,” Professor of Education Matthew Kraft said. “This data shows this should be a topic that is a central part of our discussion of how we support teaching and learning in our public and private schools.”

A winter session course blended Spanish immersion and arts literacy to connect global experience with local classrooms.

Keidy’s capstone created culturally affirming college-access workshops for border youth in El Paso from community knowledge and lived experience.

Professor of Education Matthew Kraft, founding director of the Sustainable Education Research Initiative at Brown’s Annenberg Institute, was interviewed on “Possibly,” a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative and Ocean State Media.

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.

“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.”

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.

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.