About the Authors

Alexandra Beatty is a senior program officer with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board on Testing and Assessment. Since 1996 she has contributed to many projects: among them are an evaluation of the District of Columbia Public Schools; studies of teacher preparation, National Board certification for teachers, and state-level science assessment; and the Committee on Education Excellence and Testing Equity. She has also worked as an independent education writer and researcher. Prior to joining the National Academies staff, she worked on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and College Board programs at the Educational Testing Service. She has a B.A. in philosophy from Williams College and an M.A. in history from Bryn Mawr College.

Heidi Schweingruber is the director of the Board on Science Education (BOSE) at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In this role, she oversees the BOSE portfolio and collaborates with the board to develop new projects. She has worked on multiple National Academies’ projects on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, including co-directing the study that resulted in the report A Framework for K–12 Science Education. She co-authored two award-winning books for practitioners that translate findings of National Academies reports for a broader audience: Ready, Set, Science!: Putting Research to Work in K–8 Science Classrooms (2008) and Surrounded by Science (2010). Prior to joining the National Academies, she was a senior research associate at the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education and the director of research for the Rice University School Mathematics Project, an outreach program in K–12 mathematics education. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology (developmental) and anthropology, and a certificate in culture and cognition from the University of Michigan.

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