Michal Kurlaender

Michal Kurlaender is the Chancellor’s Leadership Professor of Education Policy at the School of Education, University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of educational inequality across a diverse set of educational pathways. Kurlaender investigates critical areas of education policy including, school reform and accountability, career and technical education, college admissions, access to and success in college, college quality, and labor market returns to education. Professor Kurlaender works closely with all of California’s public K-12 and higher education sectors–the University of California, the California State University and the California Community College systems. In 2016 she launched an IES-funded partnership with the California Department of Education to explore college and career readiness and students’ transition to post-secondary schooling and work. Kurlaender serves as a faculty director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) and Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research. She is a member of the UC Provost’s Advisory Council on Educational Equity, and the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research. Professor Kurlaender is a California Gubernatorial Appointee to the Education Commission of the States. Kurlaender received her doctorate in education from Harvard University in 2005. Her work has been published in various academic and policy outlets.