Katrina Laguarda directs evaluations of programs and policies designed to improve outcomes for at-risk and underserved students in K–12 schools. For nearly 2 decades, she has been specializing in the design and management of mixed-method evaluations of teacher development, standards-based reform, school and district accountability systems, and technical assistance. Across these studies, Laguarda has directed the development of study designs using both quantitative and qualitative methods, instrument design (including surveys), multisite data collection, data analysis, and reporting.

Laguarda is currently the co-principal investigator of three multiyear studies of instructional coaching, including evaluations of the New Teacher Center Instructional Coaching SEED grant New Leader’s Emerging Leaders SEED grant, and the New Teacher Centers’ i3 Scale-Up grant. All three studies employ cluster-randomized controlled trials to assess the impact of instructional coaching on teacher outcomes, including instructional practices, beliefs and attitudes, and retention in district, as well as impacts on student achievement. The studies also include measures of implementation fidelity and formative evaluation, drawing on qualitative case studies to support program implementation.

For the Regional Educational Laboratory–Appalachia at SRI, Laguarda leads a partnership of state agency personnel from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia to develop local stakeholders’ capacity to use data from state longitudinal cross-sector datasets to inform strategic planning, program development, and formative evaluation.

Other current or recent projects include an evaluation of an International Baccalaureate pilot program that aims to increase low-income students’ participation in the IB Diploma Programme and an evaluation of online teacher professional development for core subjects teachers who serve large numbers of English learners.

Before joining SRI, Laguarda was a senior research associate and managing director at Policy Studies Associates, where her work addressed implementation of the school and district improvement provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, state-sponsored technical assistance to low-performing schools, dissemination of innovative curriculum materials, federal technical assistance programs, and interventions to improve literacy outcomes.

Laguarda earned her EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her BA from Harvard University.

Key projects

1. New Leader’s Emerging Leaders SEED Grant
2. Regional Educational Laboratory–Appalachia
3. International Baccalaureate Pilot Program
4. Online Teacher Professional Development for Core Subjects Teachers Serving English Learners