Established in 2006, the Center for Applied Policy in Education (CAP-Ed) at UC Davis works with district and school leaders to meaningfully connect research, policy, and practice with a commitment to eliminating inequities in schooling, providing learning opportunities for diverse students. Over the past eighteen years CAP-Ed has been connecting education leaders and practitioners with nonpartisan, research-supported information and expertise from scholars and policymakers. Our services and publications foster and support a thoughtful, well-informed education system in California in collaboration with policy makers and educators implementing policy in schools and districts. 

CAP-Ed’s Moral Imperative: To directly support district and school leaders to create and sustain an education system grounded in educational equity and social justice which creates the conditions that all students can learn, thrive, and grow.

We bring networks of educators together to explore leadership challenges and opportunities and to harness the power of collective inquiry. We developed our case study model for collective inquiry and network design in 2014 with generous support from the Stuart Foundation. We launched a second superintendents’ network in partnership with the University of California, San Diego in 2019. The California Superintendents’ Collaborative Network at UC Davis is now in its 10th year.

CSBA Fellowship

The UC Davis Center for Applied Policy in Education is pleased to announce the launch of the CSBA Education Policy Fellowship program for the 2025-2026 Academic year. The Education Policy Fellowship is a limited-term research and policy field experience for PhD students in partnership with CAP-Ed at UC Davis and the California School Boards Association (CSBA). CSBA is the nonprofit education association for school board members with a membership of nearly 1,000 educational agencies statewide. CSBA brings together school governing boards, and administrators from districts and county offices of education to advocate for effective policies that advance the education and well-being of the state’s more than 6 million school-age children.

We would like to welcome our new CSBA Fellow, Mariana Carrola, who will work wiith a CSBA Policy and Programs mentor to prepare and publish on an issue of interest and value to CSBA’s members. Mariana Carrola is a Ph.D. candidate in Education at UC Davis specializing in School Organization and Educational Policy, with extensive experience in qualitative research focused on first-generation Latina students and feminist pedagogy. She has served in multiple student support and teaching roles, led retention initiatives for BIPOC graduate students, and presented her work at local, state, and national conferences. Her scholarly contributions include publications on equity in STEM and Hispanic-Serving Institutions.

Please contact CAP-Ed Executive Director Christina Murdoch at tmurdoch@ucdavis.edu with any questions, and share the CSBA Fellowship application for the CAP-Ed program with interested students.

CAP-Ed Services & Practices

• Publishing and distributing syntheses of current research and policy to inform policymaking and policy implementation throughout the education system.
• Hosting annual seminars for policymakers and education stakeholders with experts in key education topics focused on equity and school improvement.
• Assembling collaborative systems and instructional rounds to mobilize intersectional, reform-oriented networks that are research-informed and actionable.
• Conducting new education policy research on key topics such as district and school leadership, school finance, accountability, and curriculum and instruction with an equity lens.

Current Programs & Services

21CSLA Principals’ Collaborative Network

California Superintendents’ Collaborative Networks

California Principals’ Collaborative Networks

California Institute for School Improvement (CISI)