About

F. Chris Curran is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy, Section Head and Coordinator of the Educational Leadership and Policy Program Area, and Director of the Education Policy Research Center 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 masters in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Mississippi. He also holds a Specialization Certificate in Data Science. Dr. Curran’s research applies quantitative causal inference techniques, mixed methodologies, and data science approaches to the study of education policy, with a goal of improving outcomes for all students. In particular, his recent work has focused on the ways that school discipline and safety contribute to educational outcomes and how such policies can differentially impact subgroups of students. He also has an active body of research that examines early childhood education, particularly in science. His work has been supported by over $3 million in external grants from the National Institute of Justice, National Science Foundation, the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, the American Educational Research Association, the National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation, among others. His work 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 is an active public scholar and regular contributor to The Conversation. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Curran was a middle school science teacher and department chair.

Research Interests

Children and Poverty, Early Childhood, Mixed Methods, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, Research Design, Social/Behavioral Interventions

Education

• Ph.D. in Leadership and Policy Studies, 2015 Doctoral minor in quantitative methods- Vanderbilt University's Peabody College
• M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction, 2011 University of Mississippi
• B.A. in Philosophy, 2009 University of Florida
• B.S. in Biochemistry, 2009 University of Florida

Professional Appointments

• Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County School of Public Policy, 2015 - 2019

Activities and Honors

• 2019 National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
• Emerging Education Policy Scholar, Thomas B. Fordham and the American Enterprise Institute

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Articles

• Curran, F.C. (2022). Ban the discipline box? How university applications that assess prior school discipline experiences relate to admissions of students suspended in high school. Research in Higher Education. Online First.
• Gerlinger, J., Viano, S., Gardella, J., Fisher, B., Curran, F.C., & Higgins, E. (2021). Exclusionary School Discipline and Delinquent Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50, 1493-1509. (Authors 2-5 listed in reverse alphabetical order to reflect equal contribution).
• Kent, J. (g) & Curran, F.C. (2021). Pulling the Trigger: The Decision of Arming School Staff in a Large, Diverse School District. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 24(3), 87-104.

Other Publications

• Viano, S., Curran, F.C., & Fisher, B. (2021). Kindergarten cop: A case study of how a coalition between school districts and law enforcement led to school resource officers in elementary schools. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 43(2), 253-279.
• Curran, F.C., Viano, S., Kupchik, A, & Fisher, B. (2021). Do interactions with school resource officers predict students' likelihood of being disciplined and feelings of safety? Mixed-methods evidence from two school districts. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 43(2), 200-232.
• Curran, F.C. & Finch, M. (2021). Reforming school discipline: Responses by school district leadership to revised state guidelines for student codes of conduct. Educational Administration Quarterly, 57(2), 179-220.
• Cohen-Vogel, L., Sadler, J. (g), Little, M., Merrill, B., Curran, F.C. (2020). The adoption of public pre-kindergarten among the American states: An event history analysis. Educational Policy. Online First.
• Fisher, B., Higgins, E., Kupchik, A., Viano, S., Curran, F.C., Overstreet, S. (g), Plumlee, B. (g), & Coffey, B. (g) (2020). Protecting the flock or policing the sheep? Differences in school resource officers' perceptions of threats by school racial composition. Social Problems. Online First.
• Curran, F.C. (2020). A matter of measurement: How different ways of measuring racial gaps in school discipline can yield drastically different conclusions about racial disparities in discipline. Educational Researcher, 49(5), 382-387.
• Curran, F.C., Fisher, B., Viano, S. (2020). Mass school shootings and the short-run impacts on use of school security measures and practices: National evidence from the Columbine tragedy. Journal of School Violence, 19(1), 6-19.
• Curran, F.C., Little, M. (g), Cohen-Vogel, L., & Domina, T. (2020). School readiness assessments for class placements and academic sorting in kindergarten. Educational Policy, 34(3), 518-547.
• Curran, F.C., Fisher, B.W., Viano, S., Kupchik, A. (2019). Why and when do school resource officers engage in school discipline? The role of context in shaping disciplinary involvement. American Journal of Education, 126(1), 33-63.

Selected Links

• Google Scholar
• Personal Website
• Research Spotlight for F. Chris Curran