Researcher Bios:

      Curious. Innovative. Independent. The researchers at the Kingsbury Center have a common goal: to investigate strategies for advancing academic student growth and improving our schools. By partnering with diverse educational leaders, our team is helping to revolutionize education research with high quality data that is designed to inform, empower and make a difference.

      John Cronin
      Mike Dahlin
      Don Draper
      Sarah Durant
      G. Gage Kingsbury
      Rebecca Moore
      Yeow Meng Thum
      Yun Xiang
      Sarah Durant
      Title: Senior Research Associate
      Additional Biographical Information:

      As a Senior Research Associate for The Kingsbury Center at NWEA, Sarah continues in her professional mission of supporting the educational community by providing the data it needs to function successfully, efficiently and equitably. Prior to joining NWEA in 2009, Sarah worked as a Principal Performance Analyst for Multnomah County and as a Research Analyst for the Oregon Department of Education. In addition to policy research and data analysis, her skills include performance measurement, program evaluation, project management, and organizational design. Sarah holds a Masters of Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley, and a B.A. in Linguistics from Boston University.

      What do you feel is your greatest professional accomplishment?
      I am proud of the work I did at the Oregon Department of Education turning data into information. We have a lot of data in the educational sector, but there’s sometimes a lack of resources to analyze data and distribute good information to the people who need it.
      If you could live anywhere, where would that be?
      I live exactly where I want to live right now, in a wonderful house in Portland close to all of nature’s beauties. In an alternate universe, however, I’d like to live for three months at a time in as many different countries as possible.
      What intrigues you most about the work you do?
      Everything! Although, admittedly, I’m easily intrigued. I love the process of sorting through huge piles of numbers until I come up with an answer to an interesting question.
      What are three of your favorite things to do when you're not working?
      I like to create, build, and improve in my life as well as in my job. This translates to various leisure activities like planting a garden, refurbishing a house, and designing anything from meals to paper crafts to community action strategies.
      What do you feel is the role of education in our society?
      I feel the role of education is to prepare people — children and adults — to be able to achieve the best versions of themselves. Education gives people exposure to new ideas and tools to help them turn those ideas into valuable life contributions. The process of education is a lifetime activity; if we’re lucky, we’ll always be learning, growing and improving.