People Type: Graduate Researchers

Meaghan Sill is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in the Learning Analytics program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests focus on leveraging educational data analysis to inform evidence-based education policy and promote equity and leadership in K–12 schools. Specifically, she is intrigued by the potential of learning analytics to provide innovative insights into …

Kathy Van Pay is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison working with the CALL – OTL Project. Her research centers on the practices of school leaders as they support teachers in implementing culturally responsive teaching and learning.   Kathy brings over 30 years of experience as a teacher, school principal, and director of curriculum and …

Sarah Volk is a first-year doctoral student in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, concentrating in policy analysis & evaluation. She is interested in examining the effects of school finance and state education funding on public schools and students. Volk was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and is a graduate of …

Mark White is a third-year doctoral student in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis program, concentrating on Policy Analysis and Evaluation. He is interested in school choice and its effects on the school district, specifically, focusing on how regional and national politics and several forms of school choice (homeschooling, charters, private schools, and …

Jonathan Williams is a Ph.D. student in the Social-Organizational Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research interests include network analysis of digital communications, the role of demography in networks, the influence of network heterogeneity on goal pursuit and well-being, and investigating the role of AI in decision-making dynamics. Jonathan is particularly focused on how …

Yue (Summer) Wu is currently pursuing an M.A. in Learning Analytics at Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a B.A. from NYU, with double majors in Education Studies and Applied Psychology. After completing her undergraduate studies, she took a gap year to work as an assistant research scientist on the NYU CLAVES Research Team, where she gained …

Guoliang Xu (he/him/his) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics program at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research focuses on machine learning, statistical analysis, and psychometrics, with a particular emphasis on the development and application of Large Language Models (LLMs). Guoliang’s work spans two key areas: algorithm development to enhance LLM performance …