A first-generation student solves problems

When I was a teacher, the end results of education research were handed to me and my colleagues with few explanations for why we were again changing curriculum or practice. I went to Penn GSE because I wanted to understand the education research that drove policy changes, and I wanted to make that research applicable to teachers.

Once I took classes on program evaluation, I knew I had found my niche. I could help education leaders make data-informed decisions while working on projects that would directly affect teachers and educators working in the field.

I was able to try out program evaluation during my research apprenticeship at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, which is based at Penn. I helped evaluate a kindergarten reading and science curriculum, to see if it would motivate students to want to read more. I dove into the weeds and saw every part of an evaluation from beginning to end. That prepared me for the work I’m still doing.

Issues in education don’t stop at the schoolhouse door. While I was at Penn GSE, I also took classes at the Wharton School, and in sociology and criminology. I collaborated with students and faculty in programs across Penn GSE. Because of those experiences, I have a broad perspective on many of the problems policymakers are trying to solve.

Education has been transformational in my life. I was a first-generation college student from an underprivileged, low-income, Latinx community. Education has transformed my life and opportunities, and I want to make sure others can have the opportunity that I did.

I get do to that at the Overdeck Foundation, where I am working as a Harvard Strategic Data Project Fellow to help lead the research agenda for our grants and thinking of ways to evaluate the impact of our research grants. I’m also teaching research methods at Princeton, so more scholars can find the best method to answer pressing questions.