STANFORD, CA – The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Carnegie) today announced that Dr. Norma C. Ming has joined the organization as managing director of the Carnegie Evidence & Improvement Lab (the Lab). This new position will advance Carnegie’s mission to catalyze transformational change in education so that every student has the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life.

“Confronting the systemic inequities in our education system is a task that requires ambition, expertise, passion, and data-driven action,” said Timothy F.C. Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation. “Norma embodies each of these traits and we are thrilled to welcome her to Carnegie. I am confident her leadership and commitment to exemplary practice will strengthen our work enormously in the years ahead.”

With start-up support from the XQ Institute, the Carnegie Lab is charged with building evidence to support the use of new designs, tools, and educational models nationwide, in both the K-12 and postsecondary sectors. The Lab will inform the creation of post-Carnegie Unit educational ecosystems, promote meaningful change in teaching, learning and assessment, and work in partnership with researchers, practitioners, and policymakers across the country. As managing director, Ming will provide strategic and operational leadership to advance the Lab’s work.

“As we grapple with absenteeism, educator shortages, and a shift in our social contract about the meaning of schooling, this is a critical time to redefine how we assess learning and deliver instruction,” Ming said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with the Carnegie Foundation to continue my ongoing mission to develop and use evidence to improve education systems at scale.”

Ming joins Carnegie with more than 25 years of cross-sectoral experience in PK-16+ education research and practice. She most recently served as Manager of Research and Evaluation in San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) Research, Planning, and Assessment division. In this role, she oversaw SFUSD’s research portfolio with a focus on generating and using evidence to support continuous improvement in education. Additionally, Ming was a co-principal investigator on an institutional challenge grant awarded by the W.T. Grant Foundation to address inequities in school attendance and engagement through youth-led inquiry.

Ming earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University and B.A. in Chemistry from Harvard University. Her recent publications include a framework for assessing research worth using, recommendations for the future of education of research at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) as part of a National Academies committee, and a call to the field to strengthen support for education agency research staff.