Kenneth A. Shores

Dr. Kenneth A. Shores is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, affiliated with the Center for Research in Education and Social Policy. His research focuses on educational inequality, including racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in test scores, school disciplinary policies, and school finance systems. He examines how school finance reforms can reduce inequality and how systemic vulnerabilities exacerbate disparities.

Shores holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy Analysis from Stanford University (2016) and a B.S. in Economics from the University of Rhode Island (2003). Before academia, he taught middle school on the Navajo Nation and in Ecuador. His professional experience includes roles as an Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware and Pennsylvania State University, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

His research interests span educational equity, causal inference, and policy analysis. Recent work addresses school disciplinary practices, career and technical education (CTE) disparities, and the impacts of school finance reforms. He has published extensively on topics like racial disproportionality in special education, contamination biases in child maltreatment studies, and pandemic-driven changes in kindergarten enrollment patterns.

Shores has received prestigious awards, including the National Council on Measurement in Education’s Annual Award (2018, co-recipient) and fellowships from the National Academy of Education, Stanford Graduate School, and the Institute of Education Sciences. His work bridges empirical research with actionable policy recommendations to promote equitable education systems.