• ABOUT US
• R&D DIVISIONS
• CAREERS
• NEWSROOM
• CONTACT US
• HOME

Katherine Nagle

Research Social Scientist

Katherine Nagle, Ph.D., is a key participant in all aspects of the National Study on Alternate Assessments, which focuses on the use and impact of states’ alternate assessments, as measured against alternate achievement standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Dr. Nagle has been involved in education policy and practice for almost 20 years, including 13 years of instructional experience in general and special education classrooms. She has taught teacher education courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

As a research associate in the Department of Special Education at the University of Maryland, Dr. Nagle designed and conducted both quantitative and qualitative research with policymakers, principals, teachers, and parents, and she was program director of the Educational Policy Reform Research Institute and of the Laboratory for Student Success. She designed and conducted embedded case studies in more than 35 schools in six states to identify the characteristics of effective schools and school systems and to assist school systems in collecting and interpreting program data to support comprehensive school improvement.

As an independent consultant, Dr. Nagle has worked to evaluate and improve the quality of special education services and academic outcomes in the District of Columbia, to reform special education in the state of Qatar, and to develop teacher education standards for teacher certification in preK-12 special education.

Dr. Nagle has published her research in peer-reviewed journals, including The Journal of Special Education and Exceptional Children. She has made numerous presentations and held workshops at the local, state, national, and international levels on topics including students with disabilities, performance-based accountability, effective schools, and teacher collective responsibility.