Jose Eos Trinidad

Jose Eos Trinidad is an Assistant Professor of Education and Organizational Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a sociologist focused on the study of organizations outside schools and the study of schools as organizations. He received his Joint Ph.D. in Sociology and Comparative Human Development from the University of Chicago.

Research
He is author of Subtle Webs: How Local Organizations Shape US Education (Oxford, 2025) and of more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in journals like the American Sociological Review; Sociology of Education; Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis; Educational Researcher; and Social Science & Medicine

His research primarily investigates the interaction between schools and "outside" research, philanthropic, and nonprofit organizations—with consequences for our understanding of public policy implementation, school improvement, and civil society. His new work looks at these cross-sector partnerships (1) in large urban school districts like Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New York City, (2) with quantitative datasets assembled from US nonprofit tax records, and (3) in new civic organizations in developing countries. To understand policies and politics holistically, he is a multi-method researcher using quantitative causal inference strategies, qualitative interviews, and network analysis. 

View Trinidad's curriculum vitae.

View Trinidad's Google Scholar. 

View Trinidad's journal PDFs. 

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Teaching
He teaches courses on causal inference (advanced quantitative methods), organizational theory, and education inequality/policy. 

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Media and Talks

Jose Eos Trinidad is frequently interviewed on education policy, organizational development, and the civic sector in the United States and internationally. He is also regularly invited to speak on causal inference, research methods, organizational analysis & development, and the role of civic organizations in education. For media inquiries or speaking engagements, please contact him at eostrinidad@berkeley.edu.

Key Ideas

Jose Eos Trinidad brings together rich theoretical insights with new empirical cases and sophisticated methods to deepen our understanding of organizations and education. His research discusses what organizations influence schools, how they emerge, and how they influence policy and politics, implementation and improvement, systems and governance, and student outcomes. Below are other research discoveries he has done:

1. Organizational theory can be synthesized into seven perspectives with the acronym SCRIPTS: structure, culture, relations, institutions, professions, transformation, and social conflict. In his attempt to support leaders and researchers in utilizing different theories, he wrote this article "Mapping Organizational Theory through SCRIPTS" and uses it in his course on Organizational Theory. 

2. In a decentralized education system, changes can happen as "outside" organizations are connected across local areas creating an invisible infrastructure of support. His book, Subtle Webs: How Local Organizations Shape US Education, details the many ways and strategies this happens. He also teaches a course on the Ecology of School Improvement. 

3. In a highly centralized education system, like in developing countries, changes can happen through the use of strategic networks to bring about bureaucratic effectiveness. In an article with Sociology of Education titled "Educational Change through Bureaucratic Effectiveness: The Role of Mid-Level Networks," he describes the way a Philippine nonprofit helped education policies by introducing and connecting mid-level staff. 

4. Education nonprofits have become important actors in education policy and politics, and can be categorized in various ways. In his Educational Researcher article on "Rethinking School Improvement Organizations," he groups school improvement organizations into direct school support, research/ advocacy, and funding. In his Journal of Education article on "The Ecology of US Education Nonprofits," he also used nonprofit tax data to categorize the broader landscape inclusive of Parent-Teacher Associations, K-12 institutions, scholarship organizations, and professional education service nonprofits. 

5. The intersection sociological and psychological perspectives can provide new insights on student achievement. His Social Psychology of Education paper on "Growth mindset predicts achievement only among rich students" notes the interplay of growth mindset and socioeconomic status as GM was predictive of achievement only for rich students. His Socius paper on "The Irony of Accountability" highlights how school accountability policies can have detrimental effects on students' motivation to learn. His Studies in Ed Evaluation paper on "Understanding when parental aspirations negatively affect student outcomes" notes how the disjuncture between parental aspirations and student expectations can negatively impact student outcomes. He integrates these sociological and psychological insights into his course on Education Inequalities in and beyond Schools.

6. The impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are context-dependent and new methods can more accurately show these mechanisms. His Social Science & Medicine paper on "Social contexts and consequences of adverse childhood experiences" illustrates how the effects of ACEs differ according to one's context of disadvantage. He teaches this method in his course on Causal Inference for Policy and Education Research.

7. During crises like COVID-19 and organizational change processes, leaders need both organizational actions and an acknowledgement of the competing values/ priorities. A number of papers he wrote about COVID-19 like "Equity, engagement, and health: school organisational issues and priorities during COVID-19" discussed that no single decision is correct and that it helps for school leaders to be clear about the competing priorities during times of crisis.

Note for PhD and MA Applicants

Application season is usually from September to December, with deadline in early December. I am open to advising students focused on (1) cross-sector partnerships, (2) education policy, (3) organizational/ sociological theory, and/or (4) causal inference. Feel free to email me about what you plan to research. One of the most important considerations with graduate school application is finding a fit between you and your potential advisor. If you feel that you need to equip yourself with more research skills, I encourage you to consider a master's application.