Alumni

Luke C. Miller applies his analytic, leadership and managerial skills to innovative research projects that explore educational phenomena, assess the impacts of policies, reforms and programs on student and teacher outcomes, and evaluate state and federal educational policies. His areas of expertise include economics of education, teacher labor markets, rural education, and education policy.

Dr. Katharine O. Strunk is an Associate Professor of Education and Policy at the University of Southern California, with a joint appointment in the Rossier School of Education and the Sol Price School of Public Policy. Dr. Strunk’s research is focused on three areas, all of which fall under the broad umbrella of K-12 education governance: teachers’ unions and the collective bargaining agreements they negotiate with school districts, teacher evaluation and compensation, and accountability policies. Rooted in the fields of economics and public policy, Dr.

Angela received her doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University (2012). Her research focuses on the evaluation of college access policies, particularly in the areas of postsecondary remediation and financial aid. Sample past projects include an examination of how the effects of postsecondary remedial and developmental courses vary by level of academic preparation, and a multi-cohort evaluation of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program.

Elizabeth (Liza) Dayton was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Stanford School of Education and Center for Education Policy Analysis. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Johns Hopkins University (2012), following a B.A. in psychology from Stanford (2003), M.A. in sociology from Stanford (2004), and M.A. in sociology from Johns Hopkins (2009). Her dissertation, supported by an American Educational Research Association grant, demonstrated that supportive family relationships statistically promote first-generation college-going, protect against downward educational mobility, and perpetuate educational success from one generation to the next. Dayton has also examined the potential for intergenerational educational mobility among the children of adults returning to community college, and how switching school and neighborhood contexts via housing and school voucher programs affects youth outcomes. She has performed extensive classroom observations with the Baltimore Education Research Consortium. Dayton’s research interests lie in three overlapping areas: intergenerational educational mobility; the value of noncognitive skills (such as attitudes and effort) for education and career; and the role of families in shaping children’s noncognitive skills and educational and occupational trajectories.

Ann (annowens@stanford.edu) received her PhD in Sociology & Social Policy from Harvard University in 2012. Her research focuses on inequality in education and neighborhoods. Past and present research projects include work on neighborhood and school effects on educational attainment, subsidized housing and urban poverty, neighborhood mobility and change, and residential and school segregation.

Ashlyn Aiko Nelson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) at Indiana University. Her research examines how financial institutions, credit markets, housing markets, and education finance policies influence (1) the distribution of credit and education quality across communities and children, and (2) children’s education outcomes. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation.

Jeannie Myung completed her PhD in Administration and Policy Analysis at Stanford University. She received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science at Yale University and a Master's degree in Social Sciences in Education at Stanford University. Her research interests include teacher labor markets, resource allocation, school leadership, and teacher development. Before coming to Stanford, Jeannie taught in a public elementary school in San Jose, California.

Alicia Grunow completed her PhD in the Administration and Policy Analysis program at Stanford University. She received her B.A. in psychology from Reed College in 1999. Before coming to Stanford, she taught for seven years in Transitional Bilingual and Dual Language elementary school programs in both Denver and New York City. Her research interests focus on policies and practices to improve the educational experiences of English Learners.

Tassia (tassia@stanford.edu) is a doctoral student in the Economics of Education program. Before coming to Stanford, Tassia worked for the World Bank in teacher incentives impact evaluations, early childhood programs and classroom observation methods in Latin America and Caribbean, working mainly with Brazil. She received a B.A. in Economics from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her current research interests focus on teachers labor market.