Christopher Cleveland is an Assistant Professor of Education and Education Policy at Brown University, holding a joint appointment in the Department of Education and the Annenberg Institute since 2024. He earned his Ph.D. in Education Policy and Program Evaluation from Harvard University in 2023, an A.M. in Education in 2021, an Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2019, and an A.B. in Sociology with a secondary in Mind, Brain, and Behavior from Harvard College in 2014. Prior to his current role, Cleveland served as Research Assistant Professor of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development from 2023 to 2024 and as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education during the same period. He was also a Predoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Education Sciences and Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research from 2017 to 2023. In industry, he worked as Consulting Manager at Education Resource Strategies from 2020 to 2023 and in various consulting capacities at District Management Group from 2013 to 2020.

His scholarship utilizes quantitative methods to investigate education policy issues including school finance, gifted and special education, human capital, student cognitive and behavioral skills, and racial-economic school segregation. Notable publications are “Are Students on Track? Comparing the Predictive Validity of Administrative and Survey Measures of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills for Long-Term Outcomes” (Educational Researcher, 2025), “The Effects of Teacher-Student Demographic Matching on Social-Emotional Learning” (Educational Policy, 2025), “IncreasED: How Court Rulings Impact Special Education Identification” (2024), and “The Lingering Legacy of Redlining on School Funding, Diversity, and Performance” (EdWorkingPaper, 2021). Cleveland has earned the Institute of Education Sciences Outstanding Predoctoral Award (2024), Fordham Institute Emerging Education Policy Scholar designation (2021), and IES PIER Fellowship (2018–2021). His funded projects include collaborations with the California Department of Education, MIT Blueprint Labs, and the Gates Foundation. As a Census Special Sworn Status researcher and affiliate of multiple centers, he contributes to policy-relevant analyses linking education data with economic and demographic records.

Professional Email: christopher_cleveland1@brown.edu