About PEEP

Partnering for Equity in Education Policy (PEEP) is led by Dr. Megan Hopkins and Dr. Hayley Weddle. We support researchers and leaders with collaborating to improve education policies and systems.

Meet the Team

Together we bring over 20 years of experience in education research and policy. We are passionate about creating spaces for researchers and leaders to work collaboratively to promote equity in education.

Portrait of Hayley Weddle


  • Hayley Weddle is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research addresses how leaders across K-12 and higher education implement policies in ways that enable or constrain equity. Across her work, Dr. Weddle is committed to developing reciprocal partnerships between educational leaders, policymakers, and researchers. She is currently leading a national partnership of researchers and state education agency leaders focused on advancing equity for multilingual learners. As an instructor, she enjoys teaching courses on pressing equity issues in education policy as well as qualitative research methods.

    In addition to her research, Dr. Weddle currently serves as co-advisor for the national Council of Chief State School Officers English Learners Collaborative. She also previously served as the 2019-2020 Student Regent on the University of California Board of Regents, representing undergraduate and graduate students across the UC system. She holds an M.A. in Higher Education Leadership from San Diego State University and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, San Diego.

Portrait of Megan Hopkins


  • Megan Hopkins is a professor and chair of the Department of Education Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on policy and leadership with a specific emphasis on the education of multilingual learner students in the K-12 education system. Over the last decade, she has engaged in numerous applied research projects that examine the implementation of state policies related to bilingual education programming and the preparation of teachers of multilingual learners. She co-leads a research-practice partnership that leverages and conducts research to build state education agency leaders’ capacity to advance equity for multilingual learners in their unique contexts.

    Dr. Hopkins serves as co-advisor to the English Learner Collaborative of the Council of Chief State School Officers, the largest professional association for state education agency leaders in the country. Her work has been published widely in the form of academic journal articles, books, and policy reports and briefs.

 FAQs

  • Equity is defined in different ways across education initiatives and policies. PEEP works with project partners to define what equity means to them. For example, the State Leadership for Multilingual Learner (ML) Equity partnership defines equity as increasing ML students’ access to—and positive experiences within—rigorous learning opportunities that build upon their many assets.

  • A research-practice partnership is a “long-term collaboration [between researchers and practitioners] aimed at educational improvement or equitable transformation through engagement with research” (Farrell et al., 2021, p. 5).

  • Any state education agency leader focused on ML education is welcome to join the partnership! Being a member is free, and all meetings are on Zoom. Please reach out through our brief contact form if you are a state leader who is interested in joining the group. If you’re a researcher looking for support with developing partnerships, please see our consulting services.

  • In alignment with the states and districts we partner with, we use the term “multilingual learner” (ML) to refer to students who are currently or formerly classified as English learners. English learners (ELs) are defined in federal policy as students whose abilities to speak, read, write, or understand English, as demonstrated by their performance on a standardized English language proficiency assessment, may preclude them from successfully participating and achieving in classrooms where the language of instruction is English (ESSA, 2015). We believe the term “ML” better foregrounds students’ linguistic assets.

  • Check out our resources page!

  • We offer a range of supports for researchers and education leaders, which are listed on our consulting page.