Nicole Arshan is a Principal Researcher at the Learning Policy Institute. She leads research and policy analysis focused on advancing educational equity and improving outcomes for historically underserved students. Her work explores strategies to strengthen the educator workforce, expand access to high-quality literacy instruction, support whole child approaches to learning, and redesign secondary education to better prepare students for college and careers.

Arshan previously held senior research roles at SRI International and Abt Global, where she led large-scale, mixed-methods studies on educator development, instructional improvement, and college- and career-ready pathways. She also provided technical assistance to federal grantees to strengthen evaluation design and support continuous improvement. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.

She holds a PhD in education policy analysis from Stanford University and a BA in history from the College of William and Mary.