Systems, Policies and Evaluation – UCLA EdIS Research Hub

We study how educational systems function, how policies influence access and equity, and how thoughtful evaluation can fuel continuous improvement. By combining rigorous research with real-world insight, this area illuminates the structures and decisions that shape learning experiences and outcomes, generating evidence that supports stronger systems, more informed policy, and more effective, equitable educational opportunities for all.

Highlights of Our Work

The Freshman Survey: Understanding the Incoming College Students of 2024

A partnership between UCLA Ed&IS and the American Council on Education releases this year’s report on the experiences, backgrounds, and other key factors of those entering college.

Student experiences stress sitting on floor at school

The Costs of Conflict

Report by UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access evaluates fiscal impact of culturally divisive conflict on public schools in the United States.

New Book Highlights the Relationship Between Organizational Culture and Leadership

Edited by UCLA Professor of Education, Robert Cooper, “Equity-Minded Systems Thinking Leadership” introduces readers to a new emergent theory of leadership and describes how this theory in practice can help them better understand and act on issues related to educational equity.

Research Fuels New Motion by LA County Board of Supervisors

The UCLA Pritzker Center’s report on the shortfalls of blind removal propels countywide recognition of the importance of considering race in removal decisions impacting Black families.

Student and faculty from new policy initiative pose

Students and Policy: New Education Policy Initiative Connects Undergraduates to Education Policy

Education Policy Initiative engages undergraduate students in an internship examining the complexities of education policymaking in the United States.

ACE and UCLA Ed&IS Partnership: Strengthening Higher Education Research

The American Council on Education (ACE) and the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies (UCLA Ed&IS) today announced a new partnership to strengthen and lead the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), the nationally recognized interdisciplinary research center for assessment, evaluation, information, and policy studies, housed at UCLA since its inception.

Our Children Can’t Wait: The Urgency of Reinventing Education Policy in America

A book by Joseph Bishop, Executive Director, UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools to help us begin to reimagine the purpose and power of education policy in America.

Affiliated Research Centers

Higher Education Research Institute

HERI is an interdisciplinary research center for assessment, evaluation, information, and policy studies and hosts the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), a national longitudinal study of the American higher education system. HERI is co-led in a partnership with ACE and UCLA Ed&IS.

Institute for Democracy, Education and Access

IDEA seeks to challenge pervasive inequalities in education by conducting research, analyzing policy, and working alongside communities to increase access to high-quality public schools and college.

UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools

Dedicated to partnering with the education ecosystem to bring about systems change through humanizing research, validating practices, and transforming policies with key stakeholders to support equitable educational outcomes for historically underserved students.

The UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families

The Center unites a multidisciplinary network across campus and throughout LA County to identify prevention strategies that safely reduce the need for foster care, while supporting equitable reform to our child welfare system.