Rachel M. Perera, Ph.D.

I am a Fellow in Governance Studies in the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. 

My research examines the causes of racial and socioeconomic inequalities in K-12 education and the implementation and effectiveness of policies designed to reduce those inequalities. My current work focuses on civil rights and education, school discipline, student assignment and school choice policies, and the politics of education. 

I earned my Ph.D. in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School, where I was a National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellow. I also hold an M.P.A. from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and a B.A. in history and political science from Hofstra University.