Dr. Kara Finnigan

Biography

Kara Finnigan, Ph.D., has studied educational policies at local, state, and federal levels for more than 30 years. She has written extensively on high-stakes accountability and school choice, focusing on issues of racial justice, equity, policy design, implementation, and outcomes. Her research blends perspectives from education, sociology, and political science, employing qualitative and quantitative methods, social network analysis, and GIS mapping. Currently, Finnigan is investigating the connections between education and housing policies, social movements for integration in metropolitan areas, and the social networks of educational leaders in relation to research evidence. She teaches courses on education policy, sociology of education, politics of education, and research methods, including mixed methods and advanced qualitative approaches. Finnigan joined the Educational Studies faculty at the University of Michigan in 2022 and is serving a two-year term as Senior Vice President of the Spencer Foundation from 2022 to 2024. Previously, she was a professor at the University of Rochester for 19 years, where she held various positions including Distinguished Equity, Inclusion, and Social Transformation Fellow, and Chair of the Research Policy Committee of the Faculty Senate. Finnigan has also worked with organizations such as SRI International and the George Lucas Educational Foundation, and began her career in K-12 education as a substitute teacher in Anchorage, Alaska.

Research Interests