headshot of David Kirp

Research Expertise and Interest

public policy, law, social policy, higher education policy, politics and policy, primary and secondary education policy, race and ethnicity, early childhood policy

Research Description

David L. Kirp is a policy consultant and former newspaper editor as well as an academic. Throughout his career, his main focus has been on education and children’s policy, from cradle to college and career, and he was a member of the 2008 Presidential Transition Team, where he drafted a policy framework for early education. In his seventeen books and scores of articles, in both the popular press and scholarly journals, he has also tackled some of America’s biggest social problems, including affordable housing, access to health, gender discrimination and AIDS. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education. 

Featured in the Media

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of UC Berkeley.
February 16, 2021

The COVID-19 Stress Test in Two School Districts

The Washington Post
Valerie Strauss
How have school districts dealt with the coronavirus pandemic? David Kirp, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, has completed a new book, "Greater Expectations," about three school districts and how they have responded to the coronavirus pandemic. Kirp writes, "Man plans, God laughs, as the adage goes. COVID-19 affected every aspect of education, even as it affected every aspect of our lives. In an attempt to halt the spread of the virus, principals, superintendents and then governors closed the schools. The wave of closures began in late February 2020, and by the first week of May all but two states had ordered that schools be shut for the rest of the school year."
FullStory (*requires registration)


Loading Class list ...