The Department of Education offers a twelve-month program to prepare students for a variety of professional careers and/or advanced study involving policy analysis, planning, and development in urban public education. The program integrates research, theory, and practice to provide students with foundational concepts and core skills in such areas as data analysis and data-based decision making, economic theory and its application in the realm of urban education policy analysis, urban politics and education, human development in an urban education context, and urban demographics. The academic coursework is grounded in practice and is complemented by a concurrent nine-month internship in a local urban education policy setting. The program draws heavily on the urban education policy expertise of the Brown-based Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Collaborations with the Education Alliance, the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions, and other academic departments at Brown augment the practical and interdisciplinary aspects of the program.

Completion requirements: A.M.: The program will be one year (twelve months) long and will consist of ten courses: eight required core courses, including a nine-month policy practicum that counts as one course and serves as a key feature of the program, and two elective courses. Required courses are in the areas of quantitative research methods and data analysis; education policy analysis; urban politics and urban education policy; economics of education; teaching, learning, and human development; education systems and structures; qualitative research methods; and the nine-month internship. The elective component of the curriculum will allow students either to gain a greater depth of training in a core area or to broaden their graduate experience by seeking coursework in areas that are related to, but not directly covered by, core courses in the program.

ADMISSION INFORMATION

Admission requirements: A personal statement that connects to one's perspective and/or experience on urban educational and social issues. Interviews may be necessary when additional information is needed. Prior professional experience or coursework in education is not required.

GRE General: Required

GRE Subject: Not required

Application deadline: February 1 for Financial Aid and March 15 for all other applications