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Sean F. Reardon

Biography

My research investigates the causes, patterns, trends, and consequences of social and educational inequality. In particular, I study issues of residential and school segregation and of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in academic achievement and educational success. In addition, my work develops methods of measuring social and educational inequality (including the measurement of segregation and achievement gaps) and methods of causal inference in educational and social science research.

Other Titles

Professor, Graduate School of Education
Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
Professor (By courtesy), Sociology

Program Affiliations

Race, Inequality, and Language in Education (RILE)
SHIPS (PhD): Economics of Education
SHIPS (PhD): Education Data Science
SHIPS (PhD): Educational Policy
SHIPS (PhD): Higher Education
SHIPS (PhD): Sociology of Education
(MS) EDS
Stanford Accelerator for Learning

Research Interests

Achievement | Data Sciences | Diversity and Identity | Economics and Education | Educational Policy | Poverty and Inequality | Sociology

See a full list of GSE Faculty research interests >

Recent Publications

Leung-Gagne, J., & Reardon, S. F. (2023). It Is Surprisingly Difficult to Measure Income Segregation. Demography.

Matheny, K. T., Thompson, M. E., Townley-Flores, C., & Reardon, S. F. (2023). Uneven Progress: Recent Trends in Academic Performance Among US School Districts. AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL.

Reardon, S. F., Fahle, E., Jang, H., & Weathers, E. (2023). Why School Desegregation Still Matters (a Lot). EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, 80(4), 38–44.

sean reardon in the News & Media

An analysis led by Professor Sean Reardon provides the clearest picture yet of pandemic learning loss in individual school districts across the country.
May 12, 2023
An analysis led by Professor Sean Reardon includes data from 42 states to provide the clearest picture yet of pandemic learning loss in individual school districts across the country.
May 11, 2023
Photo of Dan Schwartz speaking at ASU+GSV
April 21, 2023
Research Stories
Research led by Professor Sean Reardon, director of the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford, shows that racial segregation is associated with larger gaps in student performance because students of color are concentrated in high-poverty schools.
November 27, 2021
ProPublica
New data from Sean Reardon and the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford reveals an achievement gap that even the BIE’s highest-achieving schools cannot close.
June 9, 2021
Photo of a Black woman's face in a prism-like mirror
February 17, 2021
Research Stories
The Globe and Mail
Extended school closings, which shift the responsibility onto parents to manage their children’s education, are only likely to widen the achievement gap, Professor Sean Reardon says.
July 27, 2020
Professor Sean Reardon's research on achievement gaps between poorer and wealthier children is cited in this article about online schooling during COVID-19.
May 13, 2020
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