The state of state ed policy

Alyssa Schwenk is the director of external relations at the Fordham Institute, where she leads Fordham’s outreach and messaging to outside audiences, including the media, policymakers, others in the education-policy sphere, and the funding community. Alyssa started her education career at a Ward 5 D.C. charter school via Teach For America, where she learned that everything important in life can be learned in…

Brandon Wright is the Editorial Director of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. He is the coauthor or coeditor of three books: Failing our Brightest Kids: The Global Challenge of Educating High-Ability Students (with Chester E. Finn, Jr.), Charter Schools at the…

Amber Northern is senior vice president for research at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where she supervises the Institute’s studies and research staff.  She has published in the areas of educational accountability, principal leadership, teacher quality, and academic standards, among others. Prior to joining Fordham, she served as senior study director at Westat. In that role, she provided evaluation services…