Partners Board Member Elected to National Academy of Education

In 2022, Partners board member Jennifer O’Day, Ph.D., was elected to the National Academy of Education, an honorific society of researchers and educators who have made outstanding contributions to improving education. Dr. O’Day was one of 17 people elected to membership this year. As a member of the Academy, O’Day will have the opportunity to serve on expert study panels that address pressing issues in education and engage in the Academy’s professional development fellowship programs.

Jennifer is an Institute Fellow at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). In that role, she has carried out research, advised national and state policymakers, and written extensively about systemic standards-based reform, educational equity, accountability, capacity-building, and continuous improvement strategies. In recent years, much of her work has focused on school districts' role in systemic improvement and transformation.

As part of that effort, she is the founder of the California Collaborative on District Reform, which brings together researchers, district practitioners, state policymakers, advocates, and funders to improve instruction, increase opportunity and access for traditionally underserved students, and eliminate outcome gaps.

O’Day’s most recent major publication was the 2019 book, Opportunity for All: A Framework for Quality and Equality in Education, co-authored by Marshall S. Smith.