Mary Burkhauser

Mary studies how teachers experience and participate with literacy reform efforts. She is particularly interested in the relationship between teachers' implementation experiences with literacy reform efforts and the scalability of these reforms. Before coming to Harvard, Mary was a middle-school English teacher in New York City and a research analyst at Child Trends. Mary earned her B.A. from Cornell University and her M.S.T. from Pace University.

Mary was a Radcliffe/Rappaport Doctoral Policy Fellow in the Office of Educator Policy, Preparation, and Leadership (EPPL) at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE). Mary worked closely with Associate Commissioner Heather Peske and her team on 3 exciting projects:

1. The EPPL team is responsible for implementing the Massachusetts Framework for Educator Evaluation. Mary helped draft model contract language that districts can use as they work to meet the state's educator evaluation regulations;

2. In addition to Educator Evaluation, ESE is focused on implementing frameworks aligned to the Common Core. Mary worked on a proposal for an online tool for educators that would house a variety of resources linking the Common Core with ESE’s indicators of educator effectiveness;

3. EPPL is also responsible for teacher licensure. Mary wrote a memo to the Commissioner outlining recommendations for how to address concerns in the Deaf community that prelingually deaf individuals are struggling to become licensed to teach in Massachusetts.