His research and teaching center on policy implementation, bureaucracy, federalism, and applied research methods. Manna has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on topics including No Child Left Behind, charter schools, school vouchers, and federal education policy more broadly. He is the author of School’s In: Federalism and the National Education Agenda (2006), which examines the evolving relationship between federal and state education agendas since the 1960s. After graduating with his B.A. in political science from Northwestern University, Manna taught high school social studies for three years before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin.