Jo R. King

Hello! I am a PhD candidate at New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service studying public policy analysis. I am also a 2024 NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellow and an IES-PIRT Fellow. 

I will be joining the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development at Boston University in Fall 2025 as an Assistant Professor of Education Policy.

I study K-12 education policy in the U.S., with an emphasis on how exclusionary school discipline policies may impact equitable outcomes for marginalized groups and how schools discipline and control student behavior, whether through suspension, special education classification, or police in schools. I am framed by economics of education and sociology literatures and use rigorous quantitative methods to understand causal relationships between policy and student outcomes. 

Currently, my research focuses on inequities in school discipline practices and reforms, how broader environmental contexts impact exclusionary discipline, and the role of police in schools.

I hold an MA in Economics from Miami University of Ohio and  BAs in Economics and Spanish from Western Washington University.