Emma Taylor is a Robert Curvin Postdoctoral Associate at the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers University-Newark. She received her Ph.D. in K-12 Educational Administration from Michigan State University.
Her research uses qualitative methods to explore how local, state, and federal education policy shapes the experiences of school leaders, educators, families, and students. She is particularly interested in understanding how education policy decisions are made, communicated, and taken up in schools and districts. She is also interested in examining how school leaders’ and educators’ preparation programs and mid-career professional development can help them serve diverse communities, while centering equity and care.
Emma’s dissertation, Waiving Good-bye to Bilingual Education, examines how state and local decision-making about New Jersey’s bilingual waiver reshapes language instruction for multilingual learners.
Before completing her graduate studies, Emma worked as an elementary and middle school teacher in Michigan and New Jersey’s public schools. Emma grew up in Cumberland County, New Jersey and is a proud graduate of Bridgeton Public Schools.