I am on the job market

State education policies are designed in statehouses, but their success is decided in the classroom. I use causal methods and administrative data to study how states impact learning by regulating inputs through curriculum mandates and designing performance incentives through multidomain accountability. Built on partnerships with state agencies, my research evaluates how these policies function on the ground to help leaders identify the most promising supports and where to channel them.

Click here for my CV

Click here for my job market paper

Curriculum Reform at Scale: Causal Impacts of Adopting State-Approved Materials on Student Achievement

My job market paper studies the impact of adopting state approved curriculum on student learning outcomes in Rhode Island. I find small impacts early-on which grow rapidly as students and teachers gain familiarity with their new curricula. Learning impacts are largest in the lowest achieving classrooms. My results suggest high-touch interventions like coaching targeted at teachers unfamiliar with traditional curriculum are more promising than one-size fits all, traditional approaches to professional development.

About me

My research agenda is grounded in my experience as a 7th-grade English teacher in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My first-year teaching team was composed of only novices, and we were told we would need to develop our curriculum. Beyond the enormous time burden, our classrooms quickly siloed as we each made modifications we thought would be helpful to our classes. The experience was isolating and undermined my confidence. It also showed me how inputs like curriculum have ripple effects that go beyond just dictating lesson plans. Effective ones are at the right level for students, free up teacher's time, reduce their cognitive load, and facilitate collaboration across peers.

At the same time, my contract renewal depended on meeting state value-added benchmarks based on standardized test scores. This policy definition of "effectiveness" pushed my daily instruction toward test-prep worksheets and was a major stressor as testing season came around. Navigating these stakes made me want to understand how these rules are designed and dig into the unintended consequences they bring.

Today, these two experiences drive my research. I study how we can better support teachers through the provision of instructional resources, and how accountability policies shape the incentives teachers face with implications for their pedagogy and performance.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse