People

Livia Lam

Livia Lam served as Senior Policy Advisor for the Learning Policy Institute, and is now a Legislative Director for U.S. Senator Patty Murray.
Stephanie Levin

Research Manager

Stephanie Levin is a member of LPI’s Equitable Resources and Access team where she is working to translate research on school finance and resource allocation to inform practice and policy. Read more >
Anna Maier

Research Analyst and Policy Advisor

Anna Maier is a member of LPI’s Equitable Resources and Access and Deeper Learning teams, with a focus on community schools and performance assessment. Read more >

Topics Early Childhood Learning, Deeper Learning
Barbara McKenna

Director of Media Relations

Barbara McKenna is the Director of Media Relations. She oversees outreach relations for LPI, communicating LPI’s news to media and the public and serving as a resource for members of the press looking for research to inform education news of the day. Read more >
Hanna Melnick

Research Analyst and Policy Advisor

Hanna Melnick co-leads the Early Childhood Learning team. She is the lead author of Understanding California’s Early Care and Education System and Building an Early Learning System That Works: Next Steps for California. Read more >

Topics Early Childhood Learning, Deeper Learning, The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Beth Meloy

Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst

Beth Meloy co-leads the Early Childhood Learning team. She is the co-author of Building an Early Learning System That Works: Next Steps for California, and her work focuses on policy and practice to improve early care and education opportunities for all children in California and nationwide. Read more >

Topic Early Childhood Learning
Charmaine Mercer

Charmaine Mercer served as a Senior Researcher for the Learning Policy Institute, and is now a Program Officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Naomi Ondrasek

Senior Researcher and Policy Advisor

Naomi Ondrasek serves as a Sacramento-based policy advisor and senior researcher for the Learning Policy Institute. She previously worked on the California Assembly Education Committee, where she served as a California Council on Science and Technology science fellow. Read more >
Anne Podolsky

Researcher and Policy Analyst

Anne Podolsky is a member of LPI’s Educator Quality Team. Her work includes having served as the co-author of the report, Does Teaching Experience Increase Teacher Effectiveness? A Review of the Research? and lead author on LPI’s report, Solving the Teacher Shortage: How to Attract and Retain Excellent Educators. Read more >

Topic Educator Quality
Raymond Quintela

Administrative Assistant

Raymond Quintela is an Administrative Assistant in the Finance and Operations department in LPI’s Palo Alto office. Read more >

Pages

Report

The Tapestry of American Public Education: How Can We Create a System of Schools Worth Choosing for All?

Oct 25 2018

Often forgotten in the policy debates on school choice are fundamental questions of whether and how choice influences access to high-quality schools, and whether, in our diverse democracy that requires common ground, choices promote or undermine integration. This report reviews research on a variety of school choice strategies and examines how public school choices can be managed to ensure all students have excellent schools to choose from and are chosen by excellent schools.

Report

Educating the Whole Child: Improving School Climate to Support Student Success

Sep 07 2018

Each year in the United States, 46 million children are exposed to violence, crime, abuse, homelessness, or food insecurity—experiences that can affect attention, learning, and behavior. This report looks at neuroscience, science of learning, and child development research on whole child approaches to education that improve learning for all students, especially those living with trauma.

Report

Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap

Sep 05 2018

Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), in addition to the required indicators of schools performance, states can select indicators to measure schools’ efforts to support students and provide equitable opportunities or to identify places where additional investments need to be made to improve education and support underserved students. This report documents how states are taking advantage of this opportunity to address disparities, make schools more inclusive, and help all students succeed.

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