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Viki Young

Education Policy Analyst

Viki M. Young, Ph.D., has worked on a variety of national, state, and local research and evaluation projects in K–12 reform, specializing in organizational supports for teachers' use of data, high school reform, district reform, standards-based reform, and teacher development. She has experience with case study and survey methods, as well as other quantitative methods using secondary data.

Dr. Young directs the 4-year longitudinal evaluation of the Texas High School Project (THSP). Using qualitative and quantitative methods, the evaluation follows high schools implementing reforms following various models, including Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (T-STEM), Early College High School, High Schools That Work, and other high school redesign. The study also uses quasi-experimental design to examine the outcomes of THSP schools compared to matched comparison schools.

Recently, Dr. Young led the study of Renaissance Schools Fund-supported Renaissance 2010 schools in Chicago. In collaboration with the Consortium on Chicago School Research, the study examined the organizational strategies to establish and develop effective new—primarily charter—schools to replace failing ones. The study combined qualitative case study to look at school start-up and early implementation and quasi-experimental design to investigate student achievement. Dr. Young also co-led two studies for the U.S. Department of Education. The first, a Study on Teacher Content Knowledge, used secondary data such as the Schools and Staffing Survey and state-specific Praxis II results to investigate changes in teacher content knowledge. The second project, Bridging the Divide, examined the influence of state and local K-12 and postsecondary policies on the implementation of local dual enrollment programs for high school students. In addition, Dr. Young pursues research on teachers' use of data for instructional improvement, including conducting a literature review with the Consortium for Policy Research in Education.

Previous work includes analyzing teacher supply and demand and conducting case studies that focused on teacher recruiting, induction, and professional development for the Teaching and California's Future initiative; studying the development of standards-based reform in three urban school districts around the country for the Pew Network for Standards-Based Reform; and managing the Evaluation of Global Lab Curriculum, a middle school inquiry-based earth science curriculum developed by TERC.

Dr. Young holds a Ph.D. in education administration and policy analysis from Stanford University. Prior to education policy research, she worked in strategy consulting with The Monitor Company.