Bryan Mann

Bryan Mann
  • Associate Professor

Contact Info

Office Phone:
785-864-2097
Department Phone:
785-864-4458
Joseph R. Pearson Hall, room #404
1122 W. Campus Rd.
Lawrence, KS 66045-3101

Biography —

Bryan Mann is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. He received his PhD in Educational Theory and Policy from the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Mann’s research centers on issues of geography and educational policy. This work revolves around a few simple questions that have complex answers with profound implications: Where do children enroll in school and what drives these trends? What policy mechanisms help shape enrollment patterns so they enhance educational and social equity? These motivating questions have led Dr. Mann to conduct research across several areas of education policy, including enrollment patterns as they relate to segregation and diversity, school choice, and alternative models of education. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Kansas, Dr. Mann was an assistant professor at the University of Alabama. He started his career as a high school English teacher in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Research —

Research interests:

  • Educational policy & leadership
  • school enrollment patterns
  • geography and education
  • segregation
  • diversity
  • school choice
  • charter schools
  • alternative models of schooling

Selected Publications —

Mann, B., & Dudek, J. (2023). Education policy is spatial policy: Using spatial imaginaries to enhance education policy research[Journal Articles]. Policy Futures in Education, Published online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103231186296
Mann, B., & Rogers, A. (2023). The inequality of the long game in a city with school choice and changing racial demographics [Journal Articles]. Urban Education, Published online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859231153415
Mann, B., & Bruno, P. (2022). Charter school enrollment losses and tuition reimbursements on school districts: Lifting boats or sinking them [Journal Articles]? Educational Policy 36(5), 1078-1107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904820951124
Mann, B., & Rogers, A. (2021). Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever? Racial and economic isolation and dissimilarity in rural Black Belt schools in Alabama [Journal Articles]. Rural Sociology 86(3), 523-558. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12384
Courtney, S., & Mann, B. (2020). Thinking with “lexical” features to reconceptualize the “grammar” of schooling: Shifting the focus from school to society [Journal Articles]. Journal of Educational Change, Published online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-020-09400-4
Mann, B., Bennett, H., & Rogers, A. (2020). Gentrification, charter schools, and enrollment patterns in Washington, DC: Shared growth or new forms of educational inequality? [Journal Articles]. Peabody Journal of Education, 95(3), 211–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2020.1776070
Mann, B., Marshall, D. T., Pendola, A., & Bryant, J. C. (2019). Using charter schools to alleviate racial exclusion in rural America: An innovative idea or a Trojan horse? [Journal Articles]. Journal of School Choice, 13(4), 555–575. https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2019.1684799
Mann, B., & Saultz, A. (2019). The role of place, geography, and geographic information systems in educational research [Journal Articles]. AERA Open, 5(3), 233285841986934. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419869340
Mann, B. (2019). Compete, conform, or both? School district responses to statewide cyber charter schools [Journal Articles]. Journal of School Choice, 14(1), 49–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2019.1566996
Mann, B., & Kotok, S. (2019). Stratified choices: How market assumptions and performance outcomes relate to cyber charter school enrollments [Journal Articles]. Teachers College Record , 121(3), 1–11.
Mann, B., & Baker, D. (2019). Which districts lose the most to statewide schools of choice? A decade of exacerbated resource inequality after implementation of cyber charter schools [Journal Articles]. American Journal of Education, 125(2), 147–171.
Mann, B. (2019). Whiteness and economic advantage in digital schooling: Diversity patterns and equity considerations for K-12 online charter schools [Journal Articles]. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27(105), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.27.4532
Kotok, S., Frankenberg, E., Schafft, K. A., Mann, B. A., & Fuller, E. J. (2017). School choice, racial segregation, and poverty concentration: Evidence from Pennsylvania charter school transfers [Journal Articles]. Educational Policy, 31(4), 415–447. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904815604112
Mann, B., Kotok, S., Frankenberg, E., Fuller, E., & Schafft, K. (2016). Choice, cyber charter schools, and the educational marketplace for rural school districts [Journal Articles]. The Rural Educator, 37(3). https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v37i3.248
Mitra, D., Mann, B., & Hlavacik, M. (2016). Opting out: Parents creating contested spaces to challenge standardized tests [Journal Articles]. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(31). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2142

Grants & Other Funded Activity —

Measuring and mapping child care access in Alabama. 19-0707. Alabama Department of Human Resources. $156587.00. (1/1/2019 - 12/31/2021). Other States. Status: Funded
Segregation unbound: School enrollment processes at the intersection of gentrification and charter schooling in Washington DC. 201900236. Spencer Foundation​​​​. $48944.00. (1/1/2019 - 12/31/2021). Foundation. Status: Funded