Emily Morton’s research focuses on estimating the effects of K–12 education policies and programs related to instructional time and learning environments on student outcomes. She uses applied econometrics and causal inference as well as qualitative methodologies to investigate these topics. She conducts much of her research in partnership with schools and districts, with the intention of producing actionable findings that will directly inform policy and practice and serve to reduce inequality. Most notably, her recent work focuses on examining impacts of the four-day school week and academic COVID recovery interventions on student outcomes. Dr. Morton’s research has been published in leading peer-reviewed economic and education journals such as American Economic Review: Insights, Educational Researcher, Economics of Education Review, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.  

Before rejoining NWEA in 2025, Dr. Morton was a researcher at the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research at the American Institutes of Research. Prior to that, she was a research scientist at the Center for School and Student Progress at NWEA. She holds a PhD in education and a master of public policy from Stanford University, where she was an Institute for Educational Sciences fellow.