Steven M. Carlo, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of educational leadership at Monmouth University’s School of Education. His scholarship bridges education law and policy, school leadership, and equity, with particular attention to how legal mandates and policy reforms are interpreted and enacted across diverse educational contexts. His doctoral work examined civics education in the United States through a multimethod analysis of NAEP outcomes, legislation, and policy adoption. Across projects, he also studies leaders’ use of evidence (e.g., systems-level data dashboards), the consequences of leadership turnover for student outcomes, and the implications of generative AI for legal literacy and educational decision-making. Before transitioning to academia, he worked for 15 years in K–12 public education in Broward County Public Schools (2006–2020).

Education

Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, University of Florida

M.S. in Education Law, Nova Southeastern University

B.A. in History, Florida International University

Scholarly Articles

• Thomas, C. D., Hatch, A.*, & Carlo, S. M. (2026). The Bionic Educator: The Potential of Generative AI to Enhance the Legal Literacy of Teachers and School Leaders. Journal of Education Finance and Law. 50(3).
• Balser, W. F., Carlo, S. M., & Van Hart, P*. (2025). Mapping Policy Influence in a Contemporary Education Ecosystem: A Conceptual Study Utilizing Social Network Analysis to Visualize Relationships between the Florida Empowerment Scholarship Program (FESP) and Sources of Capital. Policy Futures in Education. 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103251412003
• Bobbitt, S. R., Carlo, S. M., & Knowles, R.* (2025). Beyond Status: Institutional Access and Therapy Use among First-Generation College Students – Evidence from the Healthy Minds Study. The Journal of First-generation Student Success. 6(12), 88-99. https://doi.org/10.56734/ijahss.v6n12a9
• Kundu, A., Carlo, S. M., & Huntting, B. (2025). Leveraging Intersectionality for Equitable Change: Insights from Nontraditional Education Leaders. Educational Studies. 61(5), 545-566. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2025.2570217
• Redding, C., & Carlo, S. M. (2025). Superintendent Turnover and Student Achievement: A Two-State Analysis. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737241310837     
• Curran, F. C., Carlo, S. M., & Harris-Walls, K.* (2024). Making the Data Visible: A Systematic Review of Systems-Level Data Dashboards for Leadership and Policy in Education. Review of Educational. 96(1), 3-52. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543241288249 
• Redding, C., & Carlo, S. M. (2023). The Adoption of Test-Based Grade Retention Policies: An Event History Analysis. Educational Policy, 38(4), 970-1004. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048231174886 
• Thomas, C. D., McElhattan, L., & Carlo, S. M. (October 26, 2023). Legal Literacy and Generative Artificial Intelligence: Comparing the Education Law Knowledge of Practicing Educators and Large Language Models Like ChatGPT. Education Law Reporter, Volume 414, Pp. 783-798. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4967373 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4967373 

Book Chapter

Carlo, S. M., & Thomas, C. (2026). Countering Anti-DEI and Anti-CRT Laws in Academic Environments In Shuster, M. T. (Ed.) Democracy in Higher Education, Routledge. 259-278. https://www.routledge.com/Democracy-in-Higher-Education-Advancing-Civic-Minded-Student-Learning/Schuster/p/book/9781041148388