By the time I started middle school in the US, I had already attended school in two other countries. Moving abroad, changing schools, and learning new languages were the most formative experiences of my youth. As a result, I know and appreciate the many challenges facing ethnic and linguistic minority students.
I study education policy because I want to help schools provide excellent opportunities for all students. My research focuses on identifying and reducing inequality. I use experimental, quasi-experimental, and mixed-methods designs to examine gaps in academic achievement and growth. Much of my work is done in partnership with schools and districts, with an aim to produce findings that immediately inform practice and policy. I have had the privilege of collaborating with the City College of San Francisco, Oakland Unity Schools, Sacred Heart Schools, San Francisco Unified School District, School District U-46, and Sequoia Union High School District.
Currently, I work as a Senior Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). Applying advanced statistical analyses to student- and school-level data, I identify the impacts of education policies across the nation.
Before embarking on a full-time research career. I was a teacher for many years. I taught English as a second language in the US and abroad and a variety of graduate-level classes at Stanford University, including Economics of Higher Education and Introduction to Data Analysis. Since 2021, I have been teaching research methods in the Counseling program at Oregon State University.
I received my PhD from the Stanford Graduate School of Education. I also hold master’s degrees in Economics and in Teaching English to speakers of Other Languages from the University of Southern California.
In my free time, I enjoy baking and cooking. My favorite recipes are castella (honey sponge cake) and walnut shrimp. My current goal is to make good japchae.
contact me:
anjohnson@air.org
angelasun@alumni.stanford.edu