Sarah Winchell Lenhoff (fj6428)
University information
Contact information
College of Education
Ph.D., Educational Policy, Michigan State University, 2013
M.S., Teaching, Adolescent Education, Pace University, 2006
B.A., English and Women’s Studies, University of Georgia, 2004
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Administrative & Organizational Studies
Office Hours: By appointment.
Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Ph.D., is an associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies and the Leonard Kaplan Endowed Profesor in Wayne State University’s College of Education. Lenhoff began her career as a New York City public school teacher, and she led the research and policy division of the non-profit The Education Trust-Midwest for four years. Her research focuses on education policy implementation and access to equitable educational opportunities, with a focus on how collaborative research with practitioners and community members can facilitate systemic improvement. Her recent research has examined district and school infrastructure to support school improvement; the effects of school choice policy on equitable opportunities for students; and the causes and consequences of student absenteeism. She is the faculty director of the Detroit Partnership for Education Equity & Research (Detroit PEER), a research-practice partnership with Detroit schools and community-based organizations working to equitably improve student attendance and engagement in Detroit.
More on Detroit PEER can be found here.
You can view Dr. Lenhoff's CV here.
Education policy implementation and equity; continuous improvement; school choice and charter schools; school accountability
*Denotes graduate student co-author.
Edwards, E. B., Singer, J.*, & Lenhoff, S. W. (2023). Antiblackness and attendance policy implementation: Evidence from a midwestern school district. Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221079853
Lenhoff, S. W., Singer, J.*, Stokes, K.*, Mahowald, J. B.*, & Khawaja, S.* (2022). Beyond the bus: Reconceptualizing school transportation for mobility justice. Harvard Educational Review, 92(3), 336–360. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-92.3.336
Lenhoff, S. W., & Singer, J.* (2022). Promoting ecological approaches to educational issues: Evidence from a partnership around chronic absenteeism in Detroit. Peabody Journal of Education, 97(1), 87–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2022.2026723
Singer, J.*, & Lenhoff, S. W. (2022). Race, geography, and school choice policy: A critical analysis of Detroit students’ suburban school choices. AERA Open, 8(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211067202
Pogodzinski, B., Lenhoff, S. W., Cook, W., & Singer, J.* (2022). School transit and accessing public school in Detroit. Education and Urban Society, 54(6), 695–713. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131245211027369
Pogodzinski, B., Cook, W., Lenhoff, S. W., & Singer, J.* (2022). School climate and student mobility. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 21(4), 984–1004. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2021.1901121
Singer, J.*, Pogodzinski, B., Lenhoff, S. W., & Cook, W. (2021). Advancing an ecological approach to chronic absenteeism: Evidence from Detroit. Teachers College Record, 123(4), 1-36. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146812112300406
Lenhoff, S. W., Singer, J.*, Pogodzinski, B., & Cook, W. (2022). Exiting Detroit for school: Inequitable choice sets and school quality. Journal of Education Policy, 37(4), 590–612. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2020.1856932
Lenhoff, S. W., Edwards, E. B., Claiborne, J., Singer, J., & French, K. R. (2022). A collaborative problem-solving approach to improving district attendance policy. Educational Policy, 36(6), 1464–1506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904820974402
Lenhoff, S. W. (2020). Unregulated open enrollment and inequitable access to schools of choice. Peabody Journal of Education, 95(3), 248-271. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2020.1776072
Lenhoff, S. W., Somers, C., Tenelshof, B.*, & Bender, T.* (2020). The potential for multi-site literacy interventions to reduce summer slide among low-performing students. Children and Youth Services Review, 110, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104806
Lenhoff, S. W., Lewis, J. M., Pogodzinski, B., & Jones, R. D.* (2019). ‘Triage, transition, and transformation’: Advocacy discourse in urban school reform. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27(32), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.27.4230
Pogodzinski, B., Lenhoff, S. W., & Addonizio, M. F. (2019). The relationship between open enrollment and school bond voting. Education Administration Quarterly, 23(1–2), 153–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X18809343
Lenhoff, S. W., & Pogodzinski, B. (2018). School organizational effectiveness and chronic absenteeism: Implications for accountability. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 23(1-2), 153-169. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2018.1434656
Superfine, B. M., Umpstead, R. R., Mayrowetz, D., Lenhoff, S. W., & Pogodzinski, B. (2018). Science and politics in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Educational Policy, 32(2), 211-233. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904817741545
Lenhoff, S. W., & Pogodzinski, B., Mayorwetz, D., Superfine, B., Umpstead, R. R. (2018). District stressors and teacher evaluation ratings. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(2). https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-06-2017-0065
Pogodzinski, B., Lenhoff, S. W., & Addonizio, M. F. (2017). The push and pull of open enrollment policy in Metro Detroit. Educational Review, 70(5), 622–642. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2017.1359148.
Lenhoff, S. W., & Ulmer, J. B. (2016). Reforming for “all” or for “some”: Misalignment in the discourses of education reformers and implementers. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(108), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2273
Peurach, D. J., Lenhoff, S. W., & Glazer, J. L. (2016). Large-scale high school reform through school improvement networks: Exploring possibilities for “developmental evaluation.” Teachers College Record, 118(13), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811611801306
Peurach, D. J., Glazer, J. L., & Lenhoff, S. W. (2016). The developmental evaluation of school improvement networks. Educational Policy, 30(4), 606–648. http://doi.org/10.1177/0895904814557592
Jacobsen, R., Frankenberg, E., & Lenhoff, S. W. (2012). Diverse schools in a democratic society: New ways of understanding how school demographics affect civic and political learning. American Educational Research Journal, 49(5), 812–843. http://doi.org/10.3102/0002831211430352
Courses taught by Sarah Winchell Lenhoff
Spring-Summer Term 2024 (future)
Winter Term 2024 (current)
Fall Term 2023
Spring-Summer Term 2022
Winter Term 2022
Recent university news spotlights
- Sarah Lenhoff, associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies and director of the Detroit PEER, featured on Wisconsin Public Radio, “Wisconsin truancy bill”
- Sarah Lenhoff, associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies and director of the Detroit PEER, featured on KSCW (Wichita,KS), “Addressing chronic absenteeism”
- Sarah Lenhoff, associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies and director of the Detroit PEER, featured on Indiana Public Radio, “Indiana lawmakers want early intervention for student truancy, shift away from courts”
- Sarah Lenhoff, associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies and director of the Detroit PEER, quoted in The Manchester Mirror, “How school of choice affects Manchester and other small district”
- In Michigan, 1 in 4 kids go to school outside district, as choice expands
- School choice here to stay in Michigan: See how it impacts your district
- Sarah Lenhoff, associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies and director of the Detroit PEER, quoted in Chalkbeat Detroit, “How Detroit community groups are helping schools chip away at chronic absenteeism”
- Why ADHD is under diagnosed in adult women -- and what you can do about it
- How Michigan schools are trying to attract 1,000 or more new bus drivers
- Chronic housing instability poses educational risk for Detroit students