Under the leadership of Associate Director Wayne Urban, a past Paul W. Bryant Professor in the College of Education, the Education Policy Center applies historical analysis to produce issue briefs on key topics facing K-12 education in Alabama, the Deep South and the nation.
Education Policy Center Associate Director Wayne J. Urban is an internationally respected historian of education. He has taught at universities in Poland, England, Canada, and Australia, has held two Fulbright fellowships, and has given invited speeches to education associations in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. He has been president of the History of Education Society and the American Educational Studies Association, and more recently has served as chair/president of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education. He gave the invited address at the 150th anniversary celebration of the National Education Association. He is a Fellow of the American Education Research Association. He has authored/co-authored ten books in his career, including four in the past decade at The University of Alabama.
April 2025
Issue Brief No. 63: Empowering Futures: Expanding Educational Opportunities in Alabama’s Black Belt
Stephen G. Katsinas, Nathaniel J. Bray, Garrett A. Till, Mark Fincher, Noel E. Keeney, Trinity P. Lohrmeyer, Henry N. Vlacovsky
Through analysis of Alabama State Department of Education data on Inexperienced Teacher Rates and Economically Disadvantaged students, among other demographic indicators, this research documents the specific educational barriers facing Black Belt communities.
March 2022
Issue Brief No. 56: K-12 STEM Education in Alabama’s Black Belt
Sean O’Brien, Emily Grace Corley, Garrett Till, Eric Courchesne
This brief looks at data accessing educational quality, specifically for STEM, throughout Alabama’s Black Belt, using Alabama State Department of Education Report Card, as well as the National Math and Science Initiative’s Stem Opportunity Index.
October 2020
Hunter Whann, Noel E. Keeney, Emily Jacobs, Stephen Katsinas
This issue brief, part of the Black Belt 2020 series produced by the Education Policy Center in the College of Education at the University of Alabama, explores pre-k access across Alabama with special attention paid to the Black Belt region.
August 2020
Issue Brief No. 44: School Enrollment in Alabama’s Black Belt Continues to Decline
Stephen G. Katsinas, Noel E. Keeney, Emily Jacobs, Hunter Whann
In this issue brief, published by the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center, public K-12 enrollment data for the state and the Black Belt is examined.
July 2012
Charter Schools: An Analysis of the Issues
Wayne J. Urban
At the end of January, 2012, the Alabama legislature appears poised to enact legislation permitting charter schools in the state. This paper seeks to inform the discussion that will ensue over that proposal by briefly looking at the political climate surrounding the issue, and then by elaborating on the concept of charter schools, analyzing the experience with charter schools nationally as well as in two neighboring states, and pointing out some issues and concerns especially relevant to Alabama and charter schools.
March 2007
A Cloudy Future for No Child Left Behind
Wayne J. Urban
This policy perspective looks first at the development and passage of NCLB, highlighting aspects of the law that have proved controversial. Next, in light of possibilities for reauthorization, it considers the views of NCLB stated on the campaign websites of newly elected congresspersons accessed in December of 2006.