As a sociologist of education, David Rangel studies the relationship between education and social inequality, with emphasis on the Latinx experience in the United States. In particular, his research examines family-school relations, focusing on how social class, race, ethnicity, and the broader social context structure relations within families, between families, and between families and schools. His work documents Latinx parents’ experiences in school settings to understand if, how, and to what extent Latinx parents pass on educational advantages to their children. His most recent work has appeared in various outlets, including the American Educational Research Journal, Sociological Perspectives, Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, and Social Science and Medicine – Population Health. 

Building upon theoretical insights from the stratification tradition in sociology, his work makes substantive contributions to scholarship on Latinx parenting, family-school relations, social class, race and racism, and population health.

Daphna Bassok is professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia and associate director of EdPolicyWorks, a collaboration between the School of Education and Human Development and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Her research focuses on early childhood education policy and efforts to improve early childhood education at scale. She is particularly interested in policies aimed at supporting the early childhood education workforce. 

Bassok directs the Study of Early Education through Partnerships (SEE-Partnerships), which works closely with early childhood policymakers at the Virginia and Louisiana departments of education to evaluate policies aimed at improving early childhood systems. 

Currently, she is leading a multi-year evaluation of Virginia’s Federal Preschool Development Grant Birth to Five initiative, which aims to expand access to stable, affordable and quality early education for all Virginia children. As part of that evaluation, her team is leading the first-ever randomized controlled trial measuring how financial support for early childhood educators impacts turnover and attrition. 

Through a long-standing research-policy partnership in Louisiana, Bassok and colleagues are studying state efforts to reduce early childhood teacher turnover including Louisiana’s novel approach to credentialing child care teachers, and the impacts of policies to increase teacher compensation. 

Bassok’s work has been generously funded by the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Spencer Foundation, the Smith-Richardson Foundation and the Foundation for Child Development.

She holds a Ph.D. in the economics of education, an M.A. in economics and an M.A. in policy analysis and evaluation, all from Stanford University.

Danielle Edwards was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. Her research is concerned with the problem that where students live can determine what educational opportunities they have and the potential for policy to alleviate these geographic inequities in access to effective schools and teachers. To date, her work has centered on two areas of K-12 education policy: teacher labor markets and school choice. She primarily uses individual-level panel data and econometric methods to describe relationships and estimate causal effects. Danielle holds a Ph.D. in education policy with a specialization in economics of education from Michigan State University. She received a B.S. in economics and a B.A. in history from Stetson University. Prior to her doctoral studies, Danielle taught high school in New Orleans.

Curran is a research project manager for the Annenberg Exchange, with a focus on developing EdInstruments and EdWorking Papers. She works to strengthen existing processes and explore opportunities for improvement, especially in audience expansion and user experience. Prior to joining Annenberg, Curran worked as a research assistant at Teachers College, Columbia University, partnering with faculty to scale up an early literacy-focused professional development program. Curran’s experience as a high school English and French teacher through The New Teacher Project has inspired her research interests in language development, evidence-based instructional practices for equitable outcomes, and teacher preparation and professional development. Curran holds an M.A. in Cognitive Science in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and B.A.s in Linguistics and French from the University of Southern California.

Lindsay earned a doctorate in human development and social policy from Northwestern University, where she was an Institute of Education Sciences’ predoctoral fellow. Since leaving Northwestern, Lindsay has worked in education policy in various contexts, applying her research training in traditional studies and in creating and evaluating new systems and policies regarding teachers. Lindsay’s areas of expertise include teacher quality and diversity, analyzing and closing racial achievement gaps, and adolescent development. Her work has been published in such journals as Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and Social Science Research. Lindsay received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Duke University and master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. Before doctoral study at Northwestern, she was a Presidential Management Fellow at the US Department of Education.

Claire Allen-Platt (she/her) is a Research Scientist at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University where she designs and conducts research with the Research Partnership for Professional Learning (RPPL). Claire is a research methodologist whose work bridges measurement and policy. Her expertise is in partnering with schools, districts, states, and federal program officials to design studies and develop instruments and measures that address questions of immediate importance for the field. Prior to joining Annenberg, Claire served as a Project Officer at the Institute of Education Sciences, where she designed and managed large-scale evaluation studies of federal education programs, policies, and funds to generate the knowledge needed by Congress to reauthorize legislation. 

Claire holds a PhD in Quantitative Methods from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where her dissertation investigated the psychometric properties of state standardized achievement tests and implications for policies based on test scores. She holds master’s degrees in statistics and education policy from The Wharton School and Harvard University, respectively, and a bachelor's degree in Anthropology and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously, Claire held director-level roles at the nonprofit TNTP, where she conducted research in partnership with local and state education agencies, and she has worked in numerous schools and education organizations. She began her career teaching documentary photography and youth organizing in Washington, DC public schools as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

Dr. Christopher Cleveland is an Assistant Professor of Education and Education Policy, holding a joint appointment in the Education Department and Annenberg Institute. His research and teaching focus on quantitative policy analysis in school finance, gifted and special education, and human capital.

Christina is a Research Project Director, where she leads the EdResearch for Action brief creation process. In her work, she leads a board of practitioners and a team of researchers to create research synthesis briefs that distill key findings across various educational topics, specifically tailored for school and district leaders. These briefs are designed to provide clear, actionable insights that help inform decision-making processes, ensuring that leaders are equipped with a comprehensive understanding of the research to guide their strategies and interventions.

Prior to joining Annenberg, Christina was the Assistant Director of Academics in the Education Department at Brown University, where she taught classes on quantitative skills and the internship course for the Masters in Urban Education Policy program. Christina also taught high school math to honors, ESL, special education, and mainstream students in Central Falls, Rhode Island. Christina teaches two courses on Evidence in Education as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was previously an Adjunct Lecturer at Brown University. Christina holds a master’s degree in Urban Education Policy from Brown University, and a bachelor’s in Economics and minor in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Chiara Affatigato is a Research Associate at the Annenberg Institute working with Dr. Lindsay Page and Dr. Christopher Cleveland. She is excited to join the Annenberg community and contribute to research that benefits students and teachers. Her research interests include economics of education and inequality within and between schools. Prior to joining Annenberg, Chiara worked as a Junior Professional Researcher in the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics at the University of Michigan. She holds a BA in economics and educational studies from Macalester College.

Catherine Mata is a Senior Research Associate at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. Her primary field of work is applied microeconomics, including economic development, economics of education, and labor markets. Her research includes the evaluation of public policies that aim to address economic inequalities, with special emphasis on those that improve the educational and work conditions of historically disadvantaged populations. 

Catherine holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy with a specialization in Economics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She received a M.A. in Economic Policy Analysis from UMBC, and a Licenciatura degree and B.S. in Economics from the University of Costa Rica. Prior to her graduate studies, she was a researcher at the Economics Research Institute of the University of Costa Rica. She has served as an advisor for the Costa Rican government and as a research consultant to international organizations and think tanks. https://www.catherinemata.com/