About Us

The Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC) conducts and disseminates rigorous, policy-relevant research in partnership with local, state, and federal policymakers and stakeholders to improve educational opportunities and holistic outcomes for traditionally marginalized students.

Wheelock Building

Our Core Beliefs

Rigor

Rigorous, empirical research should inform policy decisions at all levels of the system, whether those decisions are made in communities, local district and municipality offices, state departments of education, governors’ mansions, or state and federal capital buildings.

Equity

Educational opportunities and experiences have historically been, and continue to be, unequal for certain student populations. Therefore, equitable educational policies focus attention on student populations who have experienced injustices in the system.

Whole Child

An education that best serves students addresses their academic, social-emotional, and physical and mental health needs. Therefore, educational policy research must account for the complex set of relationships between schools and other related systems.

Relevance

Education policy research should be grounded in the issues that policymakers and practitioners identify as an important and timely need and help to set a course for what could lay ahead.

Our Work

Research

Conduct exceptionally rigorous policy-relevant research that meaningfully contributes to public policy decision-making and academic literature.

Training

Prepare future researchers for successful careers in educational policy and educational policy research.

Impact

Drive and engage in local and national conversations on the impacts of educational policies and practices on the life outcomes of historically marginalized students.

Our Partnerships

WEPC researchers are partnering with education agencies around the country to conduct rigorous research that informs and advances effective policies and practices.