Education, Learning, Child and Family Well-Being
Join a Working Group
Contact IGPA Director
Robin Fretwell Wilson
- +1 (217) 244-1227
- wils@uillinois.edu
IGPA engages a wide range of policy-oriented faculty across the University System who collaborate within focused working groups. Each of these groups is comprised of dozens of faculty researchers representing each of the three System universities. As questions arise in both the public sphere and academia, IGPA scholars use the latest research methods and work together to evaluate current affairs, ask tough questions, and identify possible solutions.
Members of this working group engage in research in all areas of education, learning, resilience, and child and family well-being to promote justice, equity, and inclusion in all educational, service, and community settings.
Recent Reports
GROUP LEADS


David DuBois
Professor and Associate Dean for Research, School of Public Health | University of Illinois Chicago

Meghan Kessler
Assistant Professor, College of Education and Human Services | University of Illinois Springfield
Betsy Goulet
Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Public Management and Policy | University of Illinois Springfield
Featured
To stave off a severe shortage of high-quality teachers in Illinois, policymakers and school leaders must take steps now and make plans for the long term to ensure sufficient, stable funding, robust teacher preparation and continuing education, and holistic supports for all involved in schooling: adults and students.
Working group members

Stephen Brown
Affiliation Director of Preventive Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine | University of Illinois Chicago
Email sbbrown9@uic.edu

Nathan Castillo
Affiliation Assistant Professor, College of Education | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email nathanc@illinois.edu

Shelby Cosner
Affiliation Professor and Director of UIC's Center for Urban Education Leadership, College of Education | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email sacosner@uic.edu

Nicole Gastala
Affiliation Director of Behavioural Health and Addiction, Mile Square Health Center, Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Health Affairs | University of Illinois Chicago
Email reizinee@uic.edu

Susan Goldman
Affiliation Distinguished Professor and Founding Co-Director, Learning Sciences Research Institute, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | University of Illinois Chicago
Email sgoldman@uic.edu

Catherine Main
Affiliation Senior Lecturer, Coordinator of MEd Early Childhood Education, College of Education | University of Illinois Chicago
Email cmain@uic.edu

Brent McBride
Affiliation Director of the Child Development Lab and Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Family Resiliency Center | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email brentmcb@illinois.edu

Hedda Meadan-Kaplansky
Affiliation Professor and Head, Department of Special Education, College of Education | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email meadan@illinois.edu

Chris Napolitano
Affiliation Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | University of illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email cmn@illinois.edu

Michelle Perry
Affiliation Professor, Developmental Sciences Division, College of Education | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email mperry@illinois.edu

William Phillips
Affiliation Associate Professor, School of Education | University of Illinois Springfield
Email wphil1@uis.edu

Eva Marie Pomerantz
Affiliation Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | University of Illinois Chicago
Email pomerntz@illinois.edu

Josh Radinsky
Affiliation Associate Professor, College of Education | University of Illinois Chicago
Email joshuar@uic.edu

Steven Rivkin
Affiliation Professor and Head, Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | University of Illinois Chicago
Email sgrivkin@uic.edu

James Shriner
Affiliation Associate Professor, Department of Special Education, College of Education | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email jshriner@illinois.edu

Elizabeth A. L. Stine-Morrow
Affiliation Professor, Department of Psychology and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email eals@illinois.edu

Benjamin M. Superfine
Affiliation Professor and Chair, Department of Educational Policy Studies, College of Education | University of illinois Chicago
Email bsuperfi@uic.edu

Rebecca Lynn Thornton
Affiliation Associate Professor, Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email rebeccat@illinois.edu

Michael Tissenbaum
Affiliation Assistant Professor, College of Education | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email miketiss@illinois.edu

Maria Varelas
Affiliation Professor and Chair, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education | University of Illinois Chicago
Email mvarelas@uic.edu

Min Zhan
Affiliation Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor, School of Social Work | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email mzhan@illinois.edu
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IGPA is the People’s Policy Think Tank.
The University of Illinois System is a trusted source for top-quality research and expertise drawn from all three universities. IGPA ensures that the work scholars do matters and has real-world impact.
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