Daniel Aladjem
Daniel Aladjem, Ph.D., is a senior researcher in the Center for Education Policy. He specializes in research, evaluation, and policy analysis, particularly on questions of implementing innovative education improvement strategies. For more than 10 years, Aladjem has been directing multiple large-scale mixed-methods studies of complex educational interventions.
His most recent work has been on the evaluation of teachers in the context of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and students’ transition to postsecondary work and education. Aladjem just completed a literature review of the research basis for the kinds of 21st century learning skills embodied in the CCSS. On the basis of that work, he is examining the alignment of teacher evaluation systems (in particular teacher observations) with the CCSS and how to improve that alignment. This project entails both policy and empirical analyses of current state policy (in all 50 states and the District of Columbia). For the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Aladjem is describing and documenting the development and evolution of state teacher evaluation systems in response to technical assistance. Finally, Aladjem leads an outcomes evaluation of the University of California Office of the President’s premier college readiness and access partnership program, the Early Academic Outreach Program.
From 2006 to 2011, Aladjem directed two Department of Education-funded studies of school turnaround. These studies were among of the first federal investigations of school turnaround, and they were the first to address the major issues in research on school turnaround, including identifying and classifying school performance based on state assessment data and isolating potential explanatory factors. Aladjem was principal investigator for the evaluation of the General Electric Foundation's Developing Futures™ in Education program from 2005 to 2009, working closely with grantee districts to evaluate change efforts to support schools and students to increase college readiness, improve math and science achievement, and provide effective teacher professional development.
Aladjem directed the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform, a U.S. Department of Education-funded large-scale study of the implementation and outcomes of comprehensive school reform. Before the current emphasis on school turnaround, federal law considered school reform a key lever for school improvement and support. Findings from the study were published in the Journal for Education of Students Placed-at-Risk.
Aladjem earned his Ph.D. in public policy/public administration from the University of Southern California and holds an A.B. in history, with departmental honors, and A.M. in education/secondary teaching from Stanford University. He began his career in education as a high school teacher.
