Emily Hatch is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Leadership program at Vanderbilt University, where her research focuses on state-level school finance policy and its effects on equitable resource distribution in K–12 education. She is currently engaged in multiple projects through the NashvillePeer research practice partnership between Vanderbilt University and Metro Nashville Public Schools, including an investigation into how economic disadvantage is measured—and potentially undercounted—in Tennessee schools.  

That work resulted in a policy brief co-authored with Dr. Sean Corcoran, titled Left Out of the Count: How Including TennCare in Tennessee’s Definition of “Economic Disadvantage” Would Affect Nashville’s Schools. She is also examining the effects of a Michigan policy change surrounding the foundation allowance calculation for students receiving special education services, research she presented at the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) 2026 Annual Conference. That research is informed by years of experience working at the intersection of education finance, policy, and practice.  

 Before entering the doctoral program, Emily served as a senior data and policy analyst at The Education Trust–Midwest, where she contributed to advocacy-focused research and helped secure the Opportunity Index in Michigan’s School Aid budget. Prior to that, she worked as a fiscal analyst at the Michigan House Fiscal Agency, deepening her expertise in education finance and the state budgeting process. She also served as a research assistant at the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University, where she contributed to the evaluation of the Partnership model of school turnaround in Michigan. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Public Policy from Michigan State University.