Mindy Adnot - mka9kt@virginia.edu
Melinda (Mindy) Adnot is a second year student in the dual degree Ph.D./M.P.P. Education Policy program in the Curry School of Education and Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at U.Va. Before joining the graduate program at U.Va., she served as a Project Director on the Policy team at The New Teacher Project. Most recently her work has focused on teacher evaluation in NYC, but she has also worked in teacher support and development, and new teacher selection. Prior to joining TNTP, Mindy taught 6th grade Math and Science to the wonderful students at the Secondary School for Research in Brooklyn, NY.
Andrew Barr - acb3u@virginia.edu
Andrew Barr is currently a fourth year PhD candidate in the Department of Economics. He has a B.A. from the University of Virginia. Andrew has collaborated with Professor Thomas Dee on a project related to school budget responsiveness to voter rejection in New Jersey as well as worked extensively with Professor Sarah Turner on projects related to college awareness, attainment, and related labor market outcomes. He is currently working with Professor Turner on a series of papers examining the effect of the Great Recession on higher education and the educational choices of displaced workers. Andrew's primary interests are in post-secondary education. He is working on several projects related to the impact of the recently increased veterans' education benefits (Post-9/11 GI Bill) on the educational choices of veterans and their transition back into the labor force.
Kelli Bird - kb7ud@virginia.edu
Kelli Bird is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Economics. She received a B.S. in Economics from the University of Kansas in 2008 and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia in 2010. Kelli is currently working with Professor Sarah Turner on projects related to access to higher education and financial aid. She is a two-year VEST Fellow and a participant in the Education Policy Seminar Series at the Center on Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness. Her research interests include student incentives and higher education.
Kelly Dietz - kd4xh@virginia.edu
Kelly Dietz is starting in the dual degree PhD/MPP Education Policy program with the Curry and Batten Schools at UVA. She is a recent graduate of New York University where she studied History with a minor in Global and Urban Education Studies. There, she started a chapter of Students for Education Reform, a national student organization that aims to mobilize undergraduates to advocate for reforms in both their own state and the nation. Last summer, she worked with KIPP Philadelphia in their Strategic Initiatives department to help with their KIPP OpenBook project and track charter legislation in Pennsylvania. She went to high school in Northern Virginia (Alexandria) and her brother attended UVA for undergrad, so she am happy to be returning to the area.
Eva Galdo - etg4p@virginia.edu
Eva is currently a predoctoral student in the Education Policy Ph.D. program in the Curry School of Education. She earned a B.A. in Mathematics and a Master in Teaching both from the University of Virginia. Prior to beginning the Ph.D. program, Eva taught high school mathematics for three years in Fairfax County and coached girls softball and basketball. Eva’s interests include teacher quality and effectiveness, early childhood education, and the ways in which policy initiatives may be implemented to help promote changes in schools that lead to improvement in student outcomes. She is working with Dr. Daphna Bassok and Dr. Luke Miller on a project examining the impact of a state preschool program on size and quality of various sectors of the childcare market.
Scott Latham - sal3ff@virginia.edu
Scott Latham is a second year predoctoral student in the Education Policy program. He is also working towards a Masters in Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Originally from Hazlet, New Jersey, Scott received his bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College, majoring in psychology. Scott’s research interests include early childhood education and school choice, and how both of these can be used to address racial and economic achievement gaps. Scott is currently working with Professor Daphna Bassok on a number of projects that use the ECLS datasets.
Patten Mahler - lpp5d@virginia.edu
Patten Priestley Mahler is a two-year VEST Fellow pursuing her Ph.D. in economics. She graduated from Davidson College in 2003 with a B.S. in physics and taught high school physics for three years in Charlotte, North Carolina. She received a M.A. in economics at Duke University in 2006. While at Duke she worked as a research assistant for Sunny Ladd and Charlie Clotfelter in the Sanford School of Public Policy on projects related to teacher attrition and working conditions in North Carolina schools. Patten has been working with Jim Wyckoff in the Curry School of Education since beginning her Ph.D. at UVa in 2008. Her projects with Jim include studying teacher attrition in Virginia schools and alternative pathways to teaching in New York City. Her research interests include teacher retirement patterns and incentives, teacher preparation and attrition, and math and science education.
Annie Rorem - akr9af@virginia.edu
Anna (Annie) Rorem is dually enrolled in the Batten School and Curry's PhD in Education Policy Program. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University with a double major in French studies and mathematics, and also holds an MA in mathematics from the same school. The title of her Master's thesis was Quasiconformally Homogeneous Domains in the Plane. She has spent the last 3 years teaching middle school math and science in Princeton, New Jersey, and is interested in studying both math curriculum development and evaluation techniques. In addition to her teaching job, she has developed a summer math program for middle school girls, with supplementary school-year workshops, in which she introduces them to non-curricular math concepts such as finance, cryptography and number theory.
Veronica Katz - vt4bd@virginia.edu
Veronica Katz is a second-year fellow in Education Policy. Originally from the West Coast, Veronica received her undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis. Upon graduation, Veronica headed back west to join Teach for America in Los Angeles. She taught sixth grade for two years and also received her Master’s Degree in Education from Loyola Marymount University. Prior to moving to Charlottesville, Veronica was teaching second grade at a private school in Santa Monica, California. Having sampled public and private education, Veronica felt compelled to pursue a Ph.D. in Educational Policy in order to improve the state of public schools. Her primary research interests dwell in the area of teacher quality and teacher retention, specifically in urban schools. Veronica is an avid yogi and loves to spend her spare time traveling with her husband, Dan.
Alex Smith - aas6sf@virginia.edu
Alex Smith is two-year VEST fellow pursuing his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Virginia. He received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Williams College and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia. For the last two years, Alex has worked as a Research Assistant for Jim Wyckoff in the Curry School of Education on projects related to evaluating the Teacher Incentive Fund federal grant program. His research interests include student peer effects, teacher union bargaining, and the effects of local labor markets on high school student's schooling investment decisions.
Disha Venkatesan - dsv4sb@virginia.edu
Disha Sindhwad Venkatesan has studied Engineering in India and has a MBA from University of Connecticut. She has spent over 10 years working in marketing and corporate finance at companies like The Hartford, Circuit City and SNL Financial. She wants to use her skills and experience to make a difference focusing specifically on K-12 Education. She is pursuing a dual degree in MPP/ PhD Education Policy. A Charlottesville local and foodie she enjoys exploring the area restaurants and wineries.
