Alumni

Ilana is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education at the University of Oregon. She is in the Department of Educational Methodology, Policy and Leadership where she studies the educational opportunities and outcomes of students classified as English Language Learners. In her work she collaborates with school districts as they work to improve educational opportunities for their immigrant and ELL-classified students. She is the recipient of a Spencer/National Academy of Education Dissertation Fellowship and her dissertation won the 2015 annual selection for outstanding dissertation for the American Educational Research Association Bilingual Education Research group. Prior to her Ph.D. Ilana worked with international organizations such as the World Bank and the Organization of American States on research and promotion of educational equity in Central America. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology of Education (2014) and M.A. in Sociology (2013) from Stanford, and holds an M.Ed. in International Education Policy (2003) from Harvard and a B.A. in Sociology (1998) from Wesleyan University.

Eric Taylor is an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Eric studies the economics of education, with a particular interest in employer-employee interactions between schools and teachers—hiring and firing decisions, job design, training, performance evaluation. His work has been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Human Resources, and Journal of Public Economics; and featured in Slate, Time, The Washington Post, and Education Week. Eric was a Spencer Dissertation Fellow in 2014, and was recognized for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring by the Stanford GSE in 2013.

Jim was a doctoral student in Developmental and Psychological Sciences. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Haverford College and Master’s degree in Education from Stanford. Between 2008 and 2011, Jim served as a Senior Fiscal and Policy Analyst at the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) in Sacramento, where he evaluated state and federal projects related to K-12 assessment, standards (including Common Core implementation), and district improvement.

Ximena is a Research Associate in the Family Well-Being and Child Development policy area at MDRC. She is currently involved in the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE), a large-scale national evaluation of home visiting programs which intend to prevent child maltreatment and improve maternal and child health, parenting skills, and child development outcomes. Ximena was a recipient of the Institute of Education Sciences fellowship. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental and Psychological Sciences from Stanford in 2015 and her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from New York University in 2003.

Maria (Cuky) Perez is an Assistant Professor of Policy Analysis at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Cuky completed her PhD in the Economics of Education program at Stanford University in 2012. She received her professional degree in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, and a Master's degree in Economics at Stanford University. She is the recipient of the Stanford Interdisciplinary Fellowship (SIGF) and the Spencer Dissertation Fellowship.

Mana was a doctoral student in the International Comparative Education program at Stanford University. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007 with a B.A. in Sociology and East Asian Studies. After graduation, Mana received a Fulbright Fellowship to study alternative education programs in Japan. She also spent a second year in Japan at the United Nations Institute of Advanced Studies where she worked on gender equity issues for UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development initiative.

Ben Master completed his PhD in Education Policy and Organization Studies at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, and recently joined the RAND Corporation as an Associate Policy Researcher. His research addresses issues of school leadership, teacher preparation, teacher evaluation, and instructional equity for disadvantaged students. Previously, Ben worked alongside K-12 educators in schools, providing both professional development and analytical support related to the effective use of data to enhance instructional practice and support school improvement. Ben graduated from Brown University in 2001 with a B.A. in Economics.

Bernardo was a student in the Economics of Education PhD program. He has a bachelor degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master degree in Applied Economics, both obtained at the University of Chile. His research interests include voucher systems and higher education, with a special focus on the interaction of private and public schools in educational markets.

Matt Kasman was a doctoral candidate in Administration and Policy Analysis at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. His primary interests are school choice and student assignment. Specifically, he is interested in the potential for large-scale school choice policies to increase the diversity of students in schools and districts. He is interested in exploring complex and dynamic processes such as school choice and college enrollment using agent-based model simulations. Prior to his graduate studies in educational policy, he worked in software development.