F. Chris Curran, Ph.D.

Co-Director – Educational Leadership

Research Interests:
Educational Equity, School Safety, Early Childhood Education, Policy Analysis, Racial Disparities in Educational Outcomes

F. Chris Curran is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Florida’s College of Education. Prior to joining the University of Florida, he was an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) School of Public Policy. He received his Ph.D. in Leadership and Policy Studies with a doctoral minor in quantitative methods from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College in 2015 and holds a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Mississippi.

Dr. Curran’s research focuses on issues of equity in education with a particular focus on the ways that school discipline and safety contribute to racial disparities in educational outcomes. He also has an active body of research that examines early childhood education, particularly in science. His work has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Justice as well as the American Educational Research Association and has been published in outlets including Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Researcher, AERA Open, the American Educational Research Journal, and Education Finance and Policy. His work has also been featured in a number of media outlets including NPR, Politico, Education Week, and The Atlantic. He blogs actively on topics of school discipline and safety and is a regular contributor to The Conversation. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Curran was a middle school science teacher and department chair.