Professional Biography
Dr. Adrianne Flack is a researcher and owner of Empirical Solutions LLC, a consulting agency providing research and evaluation services to public and private organizations, as well as program development support to educational entities. Dr. Flack was formerly a qualitative research specialist for the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) at the University of Pennsylvania. Aside from her researcher role, Dr. Flack is an experienced higher education practitioner who was deeply engaged in the college access movement, academic support programs, and the retention of under-represented students. An outgrowth of her professional roles in higher education was an interest in adult literacy learning, which served as the focus of her doctoral studies in the Reading/Writing/Literacy (RWL) program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. Dr. Flack has over ten years work experience in the field of adult literacy education with an emphasis on adult basic education tutoring; GED instruction; undergraduate reading, writing, and study skills tutoring; developmental reading and writing instruction; and academic writing and coaching for graduate-level students. Dr. Flack's research interests include literacy learning in adulthood, and adult education broadly, focusing on post-secondary education completion, workforce development, and social mobility.
Dr. Flack teaches several courses at the University of Pennsylvania that draw upon her expertise in adult literacy education and qualitative research methods, including Adult Literacy (EDUC 671), Practitioner Research (EDUC 507), and Inquiry Seminar (EDMC 805), as well as various workshops on qualitative research topics and academic writing. Dr. Flack earned a doctorate in Reading/Writing/Literacy from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in Reading from Widener University, and a master’s degree in Counselor Education from Penn State University.
