Policy Center Associates
Casey D. Cobb is an Associate Professor of education policy and Director of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the Neag School of Education. He received a PhD from Arizona State University and an AB from Harvard University. Dr. Cobb has extensive experience in educational research and evaluation. He is currently the Principal Investigator of a NEA-sponsored research grant to study a new comprehensive school reform model in Connecticut. He served as PI of a 3-year Connecticut State Department of Education grant to evaluate school choice programs. He served as co-PI on a CSDE grant to study state interventions provided to school districts designed to improve the inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities. Dr. Cobb has been program evaluator for several other projects, including three prior Teaching American History grants and a Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration grant. His current research interests include policies on school choice, accountability, and school reform, where he examines the implications for equity and educational opportunity. He is serving as guest editor of a forthcoming special issue on school choice in the Peabody Journal of Education. Dr. Cobb is co-author of Fundamentals of statistical reasoning in education (Wiley/Jossey Bass) and Leading dynamic schools: How to create and implement ethical policies (Corwin Press). Dr. Cobb is a past President of the New England Educational Research Organization. He served as a part time research analyst for the Phoenix Union High School District Magnet Programs in the mid 1990s. Currently he teaches courses in policy studies, research methods and evaluation design.
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Morgaen L. Donaldson is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Connecticut and a Research Affiliate of the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers at Harvard University. She received an EdD and EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an AB from Princeton University. Dr. Donaldson began her career as a high school teacher in urban and semi-urban schools and was a founding faculty member of the Boston Arts Academy, Boston’s public high school for the arts. She also served as a Project Director in a Gates Foundation-funded effort to replicate the best practices of small schools successfully serving low-income and minority populations. As a researcher, Dr. Donaldson has completed quantitative and qualitative studies on teacher quality, teacher retention, school leadership, and teachers’ unions. Her research has been recognized and funded by the Spencer Foundation, the American Association for University Women, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Donaldson’s recent publications include “Teachers Union Presidents Chart their Own Course,” in Peabody Journal of Education (2008); “Angling for access, bartering for change: How second-stage teachers experience differentiated roles in schools” in Teachers College Record (2008); and “Building a human resource system in the Boston Public Schools,” in Paul Reville (Ed.), A Decade of Boston School Reform (2007).
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Jason G. Irizarry is an Assistant Professor of Multicultural Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Neag School of Education of Education at the University of Connecticut. A former middle school teacher in New York City, he has most recently worked as a Postdoctoral fellow with the Teachers for a New Era (TNE) Project- a grant funded program designed to enhance teacher preparation, particularly as a means to improving pupil achievement in K-12 settings. Prior to his arrival at UConn, he was the Director of Project SPIRIT (Springfield Partnership to Improve the Recruitment of Inspiring Minority Teachers), a college-community collaboration aimed at increasing the number of teachers of color in urban schools. He received his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2005 and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in multicultural education, philosophy of education, culturally responsive curriculum development, and urban education. His research focuses on urban teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention with an emphasis on increasing the number of teachers of color, culturally responsive pedagogy, youth participatory action research, and Latino students in U.S. schools. A central focus of his work involves promoting the academic achievement of Latino and African American youth in urban schools by addressing issues associated with teacher education. His work has been published or accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals in the field including Education and Urban Society, Multicultural Perspectives, Teacher Education Quarterly, Race, Ethnicity and Education, and the Centro Journal of Puerto Rican Studies and others appearing as chapters in various books including the Handbook of Latinos and Education: Research, Theory & Practice and Race, Ethnicity and Education: The Influences of Racial and Ethnic Identity in Education.
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Tammy Kolbe is an Assistant Research Professor with the Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA). She received her Ed.D. in Education Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Vermont, and holds a M.S. in Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation from the Pennsylvania State University and a B.A. from Kalamazoo College.
Dr. Kolbe has considerable experience and expertise in education policy analysis and program evaluation, with an emphasis on analyzing education policy reforms and resource allocation at the state, district and school levels. Front and center in all her work is an interest in the extent to which education policies, practices and resources succeed or fail in achieving the goals of promoting an equitable, efficient, and adequate educational system for all students. Most recently, her research has focused on three areas: 1) teacher staffing policies and the distribution of teacher quality among and within school districts; 2) time and learning in schools, particularly the relative cost-effectiveness of policies directed at expanding the school day and year; and 3) funding public education, particularly for students with disabilities. She has consulted with a variety of government, non-profit, and education agencies, and her research has been supported by organizations such as the American Educational Research Association (AERA), U.S. Department of Education, The Education Law Center, and the National Center on Time and Learning.
Prior to joining CEPA, Dr. Kolbe was an Assistant Professor with Florida State University’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, an AERA-IES Post-Doctoral (Department of Education Policy Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park), and a professional evaluator with Abt Associates, Inc.
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Kimberly LeChasseur is an Assistant Research Professor with the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Connecticut. She received a PhD and MEd in the Urban Education Program of the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at Temple University; she also holds an AB from the College of the Holy Cross. Her current research centers around issues of equity and access in education, with particular attention to the school contexts provided through school choice policies and small scale schooling reforms in urban settings. She is also deeply interested in data-driven decision-making, both in schools and in other learning communities. Prior to joining UConn, Kimberly worked as a Research Associate for a group of 120 grassroots organizations at the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition. Her main project with the Coalition involved designing and implementing customized performance management systems with 39 local programs, including a book bank for public school teachers, an alternative diploma program, and a chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options. She has also worked with the School District of Philadelphia’s Multiple Pathways Office to redesign options for youth who have dropped out of school and would like to reconnect to degree-granting programs and as a teacher and tutor/counselor with the Upward Bound Program at the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth.
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Richard W. Lemons is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Director of the Institute for Urban School Improvement, and the Director of the EdD program at the University of Connecticut. He has an EdD and EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA from North Carolina State University. A former high school teacher, literacy coach, and school improvement coach, Dr. Lemons has worked with school and district leaders in Grand Rapids, Providence, Houston, Chattanooga, Boston, and numerous districts across the United States. His research and practice include leadership development and the large-scale improvement of learning and teaching. Currently, he is the principal investigator and lead instructor in the Urban School Leaders Fellowship, a groundbreaking collaboration among urban districts, philanthropy, technical service organizations, and higher education in the service of developing the next cadre of principals for urban Fairfield County (CT) districts. He has served on the Consortium for Policy Research investigation (CPRE) of high stakes accountability policies upon urban high schools. He was also Associate Director of the Change Leadership Group, a research and professional development organization housed at Harvard University and focused on generating and disseminating best practices for large-scale improvement of learning and teaching. He is co-author of Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools.
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Anysia Mayer is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. She received a BA, MA, and PhD from the University of California, Davis. She is also a member of the UConn Center for Education Policy Analysis. Her work examines education policy with a specific focus on understanding how we can advance low income, minority, and immigrant students to high achievement, with the goal of participation in a four-year college. As a researcher for Policy Analysis for California Education she participated in a statewide survey project assessing teachers’ attitudes toward English language learners and a district assessment of services for English language learners. She also served on a number of program evaluation projects while working for the University of California system-wide School University Partnership Program. Dr. Mayer has also worked as a classroom teacher and a college counselor.
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Betsy McCoach is an associate professor in the Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment program, where she teaches coursework in educational statistics, measurement, and research design. Dr. McCoach has extensive experience in hierarchical linear modeling, and has used multilevel modeling techniques to analyze large national datasets. Dr. McCoach has co-teaches a weeklong workshop (with Ann O’Connell) on hierarchical linear modeling at the University of Connecticut as part of DATIC. This course is attended by researchers, professors, and graduate students who wish to learn to use multilevel techniques in their own research. She and Ann O'Connell have co-edited a book on Multilevel Modeling of Educational Data, available from Information Age Publishing. In addition, Dr. McCoach also has extensive experience in the areas of instrument design, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. Dr. McCoach serves as the research methodologist for the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. Dr. McCoach is currently serving as the methodologist on a Federal Reading Comprehension Grant, Project IVI (PI: Michael Coyne). IVI focuses on increasing the vocabulary skills of at-risk kindergarten students. Dr. McCoach is also serves as the quantitative methodologist for a federal Javitz grant, examining the efficacy of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model- Reading Intervention to increase the reading achievement of elementary school students (PI: Dr. Sally Reis). Finally, Dr. McCoach serves as the methodologist for Content Based Vocabulary Instruction: Using Cognates to Promote the Vocabulary Development and Reading Comprehension of Native Spanish Speaking Adolescents (PI: Liz Howard). Dr. McCoach has published over 30 peer review journal articles in the areas of reading, gifted education, and research methodology. Dr. McCoach is the current co-editor of the Journal of Advanced Academics. She is also on the editorial review boards for the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ), the Journal of Educational Psychology (JEP), the Journal of Educational Research (JER), Gifted Child Quarterly (GCQ), and the Journal of Primary Prevention (JPP). Finally, Dr. McCoach co-founded the Closing the Achievement Gap conference, an annual event for Connecticut teachers and administrators hosted by the Neag School of Education.
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Marlon C. James was educated in the urban communities and schools of Chicago, and has dedicated his life to transforming urban teachers, leaders, and schools to meet the academic, social and emotional needs of urban learners. His research includes: structural causes and solutions to the Urban-Suburban Achievement Gap; classroom management, curriculum, and pedagogical best practices for engaging African American male learners; preparation of White teachers for diverse classrooms; preparation of culturally proficient and competent school leaders; and building community and school partnerships.
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Shuana K. Tucker is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Research Assistant for the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Connecticut. She has a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Public Administration from Louisiana State University, and B.S. in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana. Dr. Tucker is currently researching issues related to urban schooling, namely school climate and culture, achievement of African-American students, and leadership. She has conducted additional research on African American philanthropy and education, Private Black Colleges and the United Negro College Fund, Black women’s organizations and their philanthropic impact on education, and Black women leaders. Dr. Tucker has published work in the Journal of African American History and other venues. She holds membership in: AERA, the Association for African American Life & History, Phi Delta Kappa, and History of Education. Prior to joining UCONN, Dr. Tucker worked at the US Department of Education, The McKenzie Group, Texas Instruments and Hartford Public Schools.
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Robert M. Villanova currently serves as Director of the Executive Leadership Program in the Neag School of Education. The program is designed to prepare school district leaders for the challenges of 21st Century superintendency. Bob has served on the faculty for this program for the past nine years teaching courses related to systemic leadership for district improvement, human resource development and school district operations, and the application of district leadership “best practice” through the superintendent internship. Bob’s research agenda and professional focus includes developing the educational leadership capacity of school and district leaders, leadership for systemic improvement and reform, and leadership transition.
From 1993 through January 2009 Bob served as superintendent of the Farmington, Connecticut Public Schools. Farmington is a Greater Hartford Area, suburban school district that serves approximately 4200 students with an annual operating budget of approximately $46,000,000. During Bob’s tenure as superintendent the district designed and implemented a k-12 standards-based curriculum and assessment program, the district consistently performed in the top 5 to 10% of CT school districts on state and national performance measures, and each of the seven district schools were recognized at exemplary schools through various state and national programs including Farmington High School’s 2008 recognition in both US News and World Reports and Newsweek.
Bob continues to be involved in a number of leadership development initiatives including participation in the Connecticut Center for School Change’s Superintendents’ Network, organizing and presenting Advanced Leadership Development Seminars for Superintendents in Connecticut and Rhode Island and developing a professional development partnership between the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents and the Neag School of Education.
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Larisa Warhol is a recent graduate of the Ph.D. program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University. She received her M.S.Ed. in Intercultural Communication from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. in Classical Civilization from Yale University. Her research has encompassed language education policy; standards-based education reform; non-formal and community-based education programs; culturally-relevant education for under-served student populations and American Indian education policy. At ASU, she was part of a larger-scale IES-funded study on the nature and impact of Native language loss and retention on American Indian students’ academic achievement. Her dissertation research, which was funded by the Spencer Foundation, ASU’s Graduate College and the division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, was the first policy analysis on the development and impacts of the landmark federal legislation, the Native American Languages Act of 1990/1992. Her work and research has been published in TESOL Quarterly and Journal of Language, Identity and Education.
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Anjalé (AJ) Welton is a first-generation college graduate and has a PhD in Educational Policy from the University of Texas at Austin. Based on her personal educational journey, Welton’s research focuses on the educational opportunity networks of low-income and students of color. Her research interests also include critical policy analysis (race, social class, and gender intersections), social justice leadership, postsecondary access, conducting community-engaged research, and preparing educators to teach and lead in an increasingly diverse and complex society. Welton’s professional experiences include coordinator of a leadership and empowerment program for urban youth, facilitator for an urban teacher preparation program, and a special education teacher in both Washington D.C. and Austin public schools.
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Other Affiliated Research Associates
Courtney A. Bell is a Senior Research Scientist with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and a former assistant professor at the University of Connecticut. A former high school teacher, she has worked with beginning teachers in Hartford, Detroit, and Lansing for the past seven years. Dr. Bell's work looks across actors in the system and focuses on the intersection of policy and practice. Toward that end, she recently completed a nine month longitudinal study of parents' selection of schools for their middle and high school children in Detroit. The study resulted in rich narratives as well as statistical analyses based on a database created from 148 parent interviews. Dr. Bell is currently managing a professional development study funded by the National Science Foundation which assesses teachers' mathematics learning in 10 sites across the country. This study, in its 3rd and final year, looks carefully at how one acclaimed professional development program gets shaped and used to meet the district's particular needs. Although Dr. Bell is new to Connecticut she has spent the last two years studying the state's teaching and learning policy. She is working with a team led by Linda Darling-Hammond to investigate how state policy shapes teacher education and the teaching profession in four states (CA, TX, NC, and CT). Dr. Bell is leading the investigation in Connecticut and is knowledgeable about the Connecticut context, having completed extensive document reviews and more than 25 interviews with deans, professors, and CSDE officials across the state. Among other publications, she has also co-authored an invited chapter entitled "Them that's got shall get": Understanding teacher recruitment, induction, and retention in the 103rd Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education.
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Robert Bifulco has a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Dr. Bifulco is currently
on faculty in the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy where he teaches classes in education policy, state and
local government finance, and program evaluation. Before coming to the University of Connecticut, Dr. Bifulco held a post-doc
position at Duke University's Sanford Institute of Public Policy. He has also worked as a program analyst in the New York State
Education Department, where he help formulated regulations governing the state's low-performing schools program. He has research
interests in the areas of school finance, performance-based accountability, school segregation, and school choice. He has published
research articles on the measurement of school performance, whole-school reform, and racial disparities in access to educational
resources in several peer reviewed journals including The Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Evaluation Review, and Economics
of Education Review. His most recent research is focused on charter schools and has examined their effects on student achievement,
black-white test score gaps, racial segregation, and parental involvement. Dr. Bifulco is an active member of the American Education
Finance Association and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
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