Carol Barnes

Barnes's research interests include the macro and micro influences on school renewal in high-poverty settings, especially the relationship between policy or programs and professional practice--instructional, leadership, and the collective practices of members in organizations. Her research has focused on the role of learning as a lever for complex change. She has over 20 years of experience in public policy--as a policy advisor at state and federal levels of government, and for the past several years as a university-based researcher. Barnes has served as a University of Michigan principal investigator or co-investigator on five studies related to improving schooling for children in failing schools, ranging from close examination of attempts to improve instruction and school leadership to evaluations of federal or state policies aimed at school improvement.