Assistant Professors Michael Little and Lam Pham Selected to Join 2022 Emerging Education Policy Scholars Cohort

NC State College of Education Assistant Professors Michael Little and Lam Pham have been selected by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and American Enterprise Institute as Emerging Education Policy Scholars.

To bridge the divide between research and policy and education, the Emerging Education Policy Scholars (EEPS) program brings recent Ph.D. graduates or doctoral candidates with fresh ideas and enthusiasm for education policy to Washington, D.C., to meet with education policy experts and share and brainstorm new directions for Pre-K-12 education research. 

“It is an honor to be selected for this program, as the EEPS is a diverse set of emerging education policy scholars from across the United States,” Little said. “Having started my career amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, I have struggled to build community. This program will help me to develop lasting relationships that hopefully will be sustained throughout my career.”

“Joining the 2022 EEPS cohort is a great opportunity to learn from other researchers focused on education policy,” Pham said. “For me, this program is an opportunity to learn from top-notch researchers as I continue developing and expanding my research agenda.”

The EEPS is a seminar-based program that aims to cultivate talent within education research and policy fields by fostering opportunities for promising scholars to connect with each other as well as key players in education policy. The program also aims to expand the pool of talent from which education policy draws and increase understanding of how policy and practice intersect with education research.

Little said that although his research focuses largely on early childhood education, he recognizes that his area of study intersects with many different facets of education policy, including issues related to school segregation and teacher training. For this reason, he is eager to build connections and learn from fellow researchers in the program. 

Pham, meanwhile, said he is excited to learn more about the wide range of research that EEPS members are engaged in, to help inform his own research on school reform.

“Exposure to new and diverse theoretical frameworks and methodologies has always strengthened my work, and I am excited to further broaden my horizons as part of EEPS,” he said.