Align R&D is a mission-driven collective of experienced leaders dedicated to improving the education research & development ecosystem. Our founding team has navigated the challenges and opportunities from many critical vantage points: federal and state government, philanthropy, academia, research firms, and technology development. We have lived the priorities and pain points of funders, researchers, developers, and practitioners, giving us a comprehensive perspective on what it takes to succeed.
Our mission is to architect an aligned education research and development ecosystem that builds effective, equitable, and widely adopted solutions to meet the priority needs of today and the emerging challenges of tomorrow.
Our Vision
We envision an education ecosystem where innovation is a coherent, effective, and responsive system.
Our work is dedicated to making this a reality by focusing on five core pillars:
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We believe that research and development must be focused on solving the most urgent, real-world problems. We work to establish a dynamic, field-wide understanding of what practitioners need, so that every research and development effort is guided by a clear "North Star."
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The science of how people learn is the essential foundation for educational improvement. We ensure that our work is rooted in this fundamental understanding to create tools and systems that genuinely accelerate learning and growth.
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Innovation flourishes through partnership. We champion a culture where collaboration between practitioners and researchers is the standard, not the exception. By establishing district and school-based "testbeds," we foster practical, rapid, and improvement-oriented R&D.
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The current system's failures are not due to a lack of effort, but a lack of infrastructure. We are building the critical infrastructure, alignment, and enabling tools needed to unlock the system's inherent potential. Our goal is to create a seamless system where funding and policy support the most promising solutions from initial idea to widespread, equitable impact.
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Every teacher is equipped with the right information at the right time to know what works—or what might work—for their students.
We aspire to a world where contextual, actionable insights are available on demand. AI-powered tools could enable any stakeholder—from a teacher to a policymaker—to ask questions in natural language and receive clear, evidence-based recommendations.
MEET THE TEAM
Transforming the deeply entrenched education R&D ecosystem is a complex and difficult undertaking, but our team is uniquely suited to take this on.
We are education R&D leaders and doers who have worked on and advised a wide range of education R&D initiatives within federal and state government, academia, philanthropy, and curriculum and ed tech companies.
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has dedicated her career to fostering innovation through research and development (R&D) to improve education for all learners. During her 12 years at the Institute of Education Sciences, Erin managed approximately $240 million in grant funding which supported a wide range of education R&D, including exploratory research on how people learn, AI/ed tech evidence-based product development, innovations in measurement, and evaluation of promising products and programs. She established multiple networks and national R&D centers which provide leadership and outreach on topics such as scaling evidence-based products, using digital learning platforms for research, and AI and education. Most recently, she led the Accelerate, Transform, Scale (ATS) Initiative, a new initiative designed to challenge the status quo in education R&D and push towards breakthrough solutions to education’s most persistent challenges.
Prior to joining IES, Erin had a brief stint as a human factors engineer focused on developing and deploying advanced technologies in aviation.
She received her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from University of Illinois and her BA in Psychology/Cognitive Science from the University of Richmond.
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is working to change how education R&D is done so that it solves real problems for people. In her 20-year career, she developed expertise in rapid cycle learning and program development, conducting research and advising schools, nonprofits, and foundations designing evidence-based programs and policies. Most recently, Alex was an Impact Fellow with the Federation of American Scientists, placed at the Institute of Education Sciences to support advanced R&D through the Accelerate, Transform, Scale Initiative.
Previously she served as a Principal Researcher at Mathematica and a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a focus on iterative learning and incorporating the strongest evidence possible in developing and implementing education initiatives.
She has a PhD in Public Policy and Economics from the University of Michigan and a BA/MS in Applied Economics and Finance from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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is an education R&D strategist advancing the impact of learning science through scalable, evidence-based innovation. She specializes in strengthening the research-to-practice pipeline, fostering multi-sector collaboration, and building the infrastructure needed to accelerate measurable gains in education outcomes. As Senior Fellow for Learning Innovation with the Federation of American Scientists, Katherine was placed at the Institute of Education Sciences to help shape and expand the Accelerate, Transform, Scale (ATS) Initiative — a national program funding high-reward, rapid-cycle R&D.
At Pearson, she served as lead learning scientist and led the development of Pearson’s Learning Design Principles — a scalable, research-informed toolkit used to design and evaluate digital learning products across global markets. Her background spans academic research, state education agencies, and edtech startups, bringing a systems-level perspective to the design and execution of high-impact initiatives.
She holds a BA in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester and an MS and PhD in Psychology & Human Development from Vanderbilt University.
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champions education R&D that is grounded in how people learn and think. Career highlights include designing a research-based math instruction that was later integrated into a leading curriculum; co-writing a book for public audiences called The ABCs of How We Learn which was named one of NPR’s Books We Love of 2016; and co-founding the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s learning sciences/education R&D portfolio. She has additional experience in nonprofit leadership and edtech.
Most recently, before a brief stint with the Institute of Education Sciences, she was an AERDF AdvancED Fellow making the case for students to learn to be adaptive in a changing world while staying anchored in their values and sense of self.
She received a B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Stanford University. She is a product of the Oakland public schools.
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Our team’s core expertise was refined while leading the Accelerate, Transform, Scale (ATS) initiative at the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. The ATS initiative was a pioneering set of grant programs designed to source and support breakthrough ideas through novel R&D processes and funding structures. As the pilot for the proposed National Center for Advanced Development in Education (NCADE), this work placed us at the forefront of national efforts to reimagine how education R&D is funded and executed.
Our diverse experience across all aspects of this ecosystem allow us to see gaps and opportunities that others miss, and build towards an aligned system that works. Our team is ready to develop the strategy and process to pilot new R&D approaches that will achieve the positive impacts on the education system that those of us in the education R&D space have been striving for for decades.
work with us / WHAT WE DO
We bridge the critical gaps between research, policy, and practice, serving as expert navigators for a system that does not naturally incentivize collaboration. By strategically reorienting incentives, building field capacity, and fostering a connected field, we are raising the bar for an education system that empowers every learner.
Our unique value proposition is our ability to see the entire system and navigate its complexity. We don't just advocate for change; we design the mechanisms, align the incentives, build the relationships, and coach the teams required to make it happen.
Our work is organized across three integrated functions:
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We see grant funding and strategic initiatives as powerful levers for shifting behavior in the ecosystem. We design and manage R&D programs for foundations and government agencies that strategically reorient incentives, call attention to critical needs, and support new, collaborative ways of working that the market would not otherwise support on its own.
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Promising ideas often fail due to a mismatch between methods and goals. We provide hands-on coaching and advisory to R&D teams, ensuring they use the right methods at the right time. We help teams blend the rigor of academic research with the discipline of user-centered product design, enabling them to learn more, faster, and build solutions that work and are actually used.
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The ecosystem's greatest challenges are rooted in its fragmentation. We break down silos by convening diverse stakeholders and fostering deep connections between research, industry, and education. We create processes to surface emerging needs, facilitate the formation of interdisciplinary teams, and build the connective tissue and policy conditions required for a healthy, collaborative field.