Department of Educational Policy Studies | UW

Our Department

The Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison deepens and expands the understanding of educational policy and practice, past and present, at local, national, and international levels. We examine educational policies, movements, outcomes, dilemmas, and controversies — as well as the forces shaping them — through the lenses of history, sociology, anthropology, political economy, philosophy, policy analysis, and international comparative education.

Our efforts are guided by the conviction that as a diverse community of faculty, staff, and students committed to furthering socially just visions of education, we honor the intellectual and moral ideals of the School of Education and the university, and more effectively achieve our educational and scholarly aspirations.

Degrees and Certificates

Current Student Resources

International Visiting Scholars

Meet our students

Claudia M. Triana

Claudia M. Triana is a doctoral student in education policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A scholar of comparative and international education, her research focuses on the inequities of immigration and education policies, displacement, and resistance.

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Meet our faculty

Erica O. Turner

Erica O. Turner is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies. Her research examines race and inequity in school district policy and practice. She uses a sociocultural, critical race approach to understanding educational policymaking and practice, and the consequences of educational inequity for students, families, communities, schools, and policymakers. Her scholarship illuminates how diverse groups—from school district leaders to students to community members—make sense of and negotiate education problems, policies, equity and justice amidst shifting social, political, and economic contexts. Through her research and teaching she seeks to deepen how we conceptualize policy problems, racial equity, educational aims, and policy alternatives and ultimately to contribute to the knowledge necessary to make public schooling more equitable and just.

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