Lolita A. Tabron
Associate Professor; Department Chair - ELPS
Professional Biography
Dr. Lolita A. Tabron is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the Morgridge College of Education and a faculty affiliate with the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy.
Her scholarship examines data cultures in PK–12 educational systems, with particular attention to how leaders and governing bodies transform data into evidence in ways that shape decision-making, legitimacy, and equity across policy and practice. Rather than treating data as neutral or objective, she conceptualizes data use and evidence-making as inherently political practices, illuminating how power operates through decisions about what counts as evidence, whose knowledge is recognized, and how problems and solutions are defined. Drawing on critical policy analysis, qualitative methods, and QuantCrit, her research advances conceptual and practical understandings of how data cultures structure leadership action and accountability in educational systems.
Dr. Tabron is the author of a forthcoming book with Harvard Education Press, Critical Policy Analysis for Educational Systems: A Practical Guide, which translates critical policy analysis for practitioners working across educational systems and leadership contexts.
Her work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Review of Educational Research, Educational Policy, Educational Policy Analysis Archives, and Leadership and Policy in Schools. Her scholarship has been recognized with the Review of Research Award from the American Educational Research Association and the Jack A. Culbertson Early Career Award from the University Council for Educational Administration, along with multiple university-wide awards for excellence in teaching and research. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for the American Educational Research Journal.
Her scholarship examines data cultures in PK–12 educational systems, with particular attention to how leaders and governing bodies transform data into evidence in ways that shape decision-making, legitimacy, and equity across policy and practice. Rather than treating data as neutral or objective, she conceptualizes data use and evidence-making as inherently political practices, illuminating how power operates through decisions about what counts as evidence, whose knowledge is recognized, and how problems and solutions are defined. Drawing on critical policy analysis, qualitative methods, and QuantCrit, her research advances conceptual and practical understandings of how data cultures structure leadership action and accountability in educational systems.
Dr. Tabron is the author of a forthcoming book with Harvard Education Press, Critical Policy Analysis for Educational Systems: A Practical Guide, which translates critical policy analysis for practitioners working across educational systems and leadership contexts.
Her work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Review of Educational Research, Educational Policy, Educational Policy Analysis Archives, and Leadership and Policy in Schools. Her scholarship has been recognized with the Review of Research Award from the American Educational Research Association and the Jack A. Culbertson Early Career Award from the University Council for Educational Administration, along with multiple university-wide awards for excellence in teaching and research. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for the American Educational Research Journal.
