Senior Principal Researcher, SRI Education
Miya Warner, PhD, researches the educational pathways that support youth in realizing their career and life goals. She studies programs and initiatives that are designed to help youth make informed choices about their college and career paths and that prepare them to be successful in their chosen paths. Warner has expertise in mixed-methods evaluation design, causal inference, and qualitative data collection and analysis, and she is skilled at supporting school districts, state departments of education, and practitioners to implement evidence-based practices for improving student outcomes.
At SRI, Warner integrates quantitative and qualitative data to provide clients with actionable, formative feedback and distills complex evaluation findings into user-friendly products for diverse audiences. She currently leads a study of career development opportunities in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) that is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Career & Technical Education Research Network 2.0. Warner also co-leads SRI’s evaluation of the Barr Foundation’s Engage New England initiative, a multiyear undertaking to create innovative school models designed to meet the needs of students who are off track to graduate. SRI is providing formative feedback for continuous improvement and will ultimately assess whether these innovative strategies are helping students graduate with the competencies needed for a changing workforce.
Previously, Warner served as the co-principal investigator of a multiyear evaluation of the California Linked Learning District Initiative, a major systemic effort in nine districts to transform high schools through industry-themed programs of study that integrate rigorous academic instruction with a demanding technical curriculum and work-based learning. She also co-led a related study, the evaluation of Oakland Health Pathways Project, an effort by Oakland Unified School District and health industry partners to improve students’ educational and employment outcomes and to expose them to careers in health care.
Additionally, in 2017 and 2018 Warner served as deputy director of the Regional Educational Laboratory Appalachia and led its West Virginia Workforce Readiness Partnership. This partnership supported West Virginia Department of Education leaders in their efforts to improve the state’s career and technical education program and better prepare high school graduates for college and careers.
Warner earned her PhD and MA in sociology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Warner also holds a BA in history and French from Amherst College.
Key projects
- Career Development Opportunities in Los Angeles Unified School District
- Evaluation of the Barr Foundation’s Engage New England Initiative
- Evaluation of the California Linked Learning District Initiative
- Evaluation of Oakland Health Pathways Project
Selected publications
- Designing Schools with and for Students
- How Education and Industry Partner on Work-Based Learning. Lessons Learned from an Evaluation of Oakland Health Pathways
- Scaling Deeper Learning for Equity. Lessons Learned from the Deeper Learning + Diffusion and Scaled Impact Initiative
Recent publications
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Deeper Learning and Diffusion of Scaled Impact Evaluation Report and Executive Summary
This report summarizes the findings from SRI’s retrospective evaluation of the Hewlett Foundation’s Deeper Learning + Diffusion of Innovation and Scaled Impact Initiative, an ambitious effort to learn how fundamental…
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Transforming High Schools to Serve Students Who Are Off Track to Graduate: Lessons Learned from the Engage New England Initiative
This brief presents lessons learned about school transformation from the Barr Foundation’s Engage New England initiative, an effort to catalyze high school innovation by developing exemplary schools that support the…
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Scaling Deeper Learning for Equity Lessons Learned from the Deeper Learning + Diffusion and Scaled Impact Initiative
This research brief summarizes six lessons from the Hewlett Foundation’s Deeper Learning + Diffusion of Innovation and Scaled Impact Initiative.
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Designing Schools with and for Students: Lessons Learned from the Engage New England Initiative
This research brief identifies promising strategies for embracing student voice in school design based on the experience of Engage New England (ENE) grantees.
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Study of the Engage New England Initiative Cross-Site Learning Brief 3: Improving Instructional Systems
This brief examines the efforts of schools participating in the Barr Foundation’s Engage New England Initiative to improve the instructional systems for students who are off track to graduate high…
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Implementing Health Pathways in Continuation High Schools: Findings from an Evaluation of Oakland Health Pathways
The initiative is designed to improve educational and long-term employment outcomes for youth of color in Oakland (Alameda County), California, while expanding and diversifying the local health care workforce.