Sarah A Cordes

Dr. Sarah A Cordes is an Associate Professor in the Policy, Organizational and Leadership Studies department at Temple University's College of Education and Human Development. Her research integrates education policy, urban policy, and economics to address educational inequities tied to geography, housing, and school choice. She uses large administrative datasets to analyze issues such as charter school expansion, transportation equity, and racial homeownership gaps.

Research Focus: Her work emphasizes connections between residential location and school attendance, with current projects exploring transportation barriers in school choice, teacher turnover in traditional public schools due to charter competition, and racial disparities in homeownership and academic outcomes. She has secured funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, Russell Sage Foundation, and others.

Teaching: She teaches graduate courses such as Current Issues and Policies and Education Policy Analysis, emphasizing applied quantitative methods and policy frameworks.

Grants & Funding: Her research has been supported by grants from the Institute for Education Sciences, William T. Grant Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, and Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Key Themes in Publications: Recent work highlights the intersection of housing policy and education equity, with articles on school bus transportation inequities, charter schools' effects on segregation, and cyber vs. brick-and-mortar charter school outcomes. She consistently advocates for policies that mitigate systemic inequities in urban education systems.