Stephanie Wood-Garnett, Ed.D.

Stephanie Wood-Garnett became president of ISA on July 25, 2017, following the retirement of Gerry House. Formerly, Stephanie was the vice president of policy to practice (P2P) at the Alliance for Excellent Education. Her portfolio included deeper learning, college- and career-ready academic standards, assessment, science of learning, and diversity and equity initiatives. Stephanie is an accomplished educator with extensive experience in leading complex P–20 education reform initiatives at the local, state, and national levels. Her previous roles include serving as the assistant commissioner of teacher and leader effectiveness for the New York State Education Department where she led Race to the Top initiatives aimed at transforming teacher and leader preparation programs and strengthening P–20 collaboration, serving as a district central office leader in Washington state, and directing the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Fenot Aklog, Ed.D.

Fenot Aklog is ISA’s Director for Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER).  In this role, Dr. Aklog provides strategic and technical guidance for the internal monitoring and evaluation of and research on ISA initiatives. In collaboration with the ETS research liaison to ISA, she develops MER processes and tools, conducts data collection, analysis, and reporting on the implementation and outcomes of ISA initiatives, facilitates ISA data use for organizational learning and decision-making, and disseminates ISA learnings and accomplishments.

Dr. Aklog brings two decades of experience in the monitoring, evaluation, and research of school reform initiatives both in the US and internationally. Prior to joining ISA, she was the Director of Research and Development at the National Center for Restructuring Education Schools and Teaching (NCREST), at Teachers College Columbia University–a long-term strategic partner of ISA’s. In this role she provided technical support to clients in implementation research, monitoring and evaluation design, data collection and data use. Dr. Aklog also expanded NCREST’s portfolio internationally, co-founding its international division (ICREST), securing funding for and serving as PI/co-PI on several international projects, including multi-year, national school reform projects that provided operational and research assistance to the ministries of education of Mongolia and the Kyrgyz Republic. Dr. Aklog also served as an adjunct associate professor in the International and Transcultural Studies Department at Teacher College Columbia University, where she taught graduate-level courses in education research and evaluation methods. She holds an Ed.D. from Teacher College, Columbia University, an Ed.M. from Harvard University, and a BA from Brandeis University.

Nathan Dilworth

Since 2010, Nathan Dilworth has worked with math teachers in ISA schools to create intellectually engaging math curriculum. He assists math departments with curriculum development, helps math teachers with lesson planning, and works with students in classrooms to create a team of people engaged in math. Prior to joining ISA, Nathan taught math in the New York City Public Schools. As the department head in a small school in the South Bronx, Nathan used his love of math and background in engineering to bring math to life for his students. He holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and a Master of Arts in secondary math education.

Betty Greene-Bryant, Ed.D.

Betty Greene-Bryant is an innovative, purposeful leader who brings a depth of experience from public and private school administration. She has extensive experience forming and working with strategic partnerships within various national education membership associations, higher education institutions, public school districts, and the business community. These education and business partnerships focused primarily on middle and high school reform efforts, research to practice, career-to-work/postsecondary topics, students with disabilities, grant development and management, program evaluation, and professional learning for school administrators and teachers. She has served in the roles of director and assistant director for various U.S. Department of Education grants. Betty served as the first principal in residence at the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), director for professional services at the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), and senior director for professional services and interim executive director for the Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE). She also served as an elementary, middle, and high school administrator. Her other work in the field of education includes teaching at American University in Washington D.C., and Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Savitre Jackson

Savitre Jackson has been a part of the ISA team since 2008. As the operations administrator, Savitre’s role touches many facets of ISA’s work. She ensures that coaches are contracted with their matched schools, that financial management flows smoothly and costs remain low for our school partners, and that people are well supported when they reach out to our offices. Savitre developed her operational acumen from work in two other major industries: international mail and public utilities.

Abner Oakes

Abner Oakes strives to create schools that change students’ lives. At ISA he directs outreach and business development activities and works on the organization’s equity-focused efforts in schools and districts. Previously, he was at the Alliance for Excellent Education, focused on improving outcomes for historically underserved students. He also worked at the educational technology company JumpRope, the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, and the professional development provider Modern Red SchoolHouse. He spent eight years working with Winner (South Dakota) School District, helping the district improve outcomes for its Native American students. He started his career teaching middle and high school students. “ISA is an organization focused on equity, on improved outcomes for all students,” states Abner, “and it’s exactly the kind of work I left the classroom to do, more than 20 years ago.” After earning a Bachelor of Arts at Dartmouth College, he received his Master of Arts at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English.

Marvin Pryor, Ed.D.

Dr. Pryor has served for more than 30 years in the field of education with experience as a classroom teacher, central office coordinator, high school principal, secondary chief of schools, and chief academic officer. As a high school principal in an urban school district, Dr. Pryor’s leadership enabled him to transform one of the lowest performing high schools in the state of Georgia to a high performer that was recognized by U.S. News and World Report in USA Today Magazine as one of America’s best high schools. Under his leadership, and with a strong partnership with the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA), he defied the odds and increased the school’s graduation rate of 27% to 100%, 98%, and 97%, respectively, during his first three graduation cohorts. Dr. Pryor received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Berklee College of Music, a master’s degree in education from Jacksonville State University, and an education specialist’s degree and a doctor of education degree in educational leadership from Sarasota University.

Nigel Pugh

After working for 40 years as an English teacher, assistant principal, principal, and assistant superintendent for the Inner London Education Authority and the New York City Department of Education, Nigel brought his expertise to ISA in October 2018 as a leadership coach and a coach to support special education inclusion. Nigel was the founding principal of the Queens High School of Teaching in 2003, then an ISA school. Since then he has been the principal of a successful turnaround school in Manhattan and supported 10 professional networks in the New York City Department of Education central office that provided services and supports to 355 New York City schools pre-k through 12th grade. Nigel has mentored many future leaders through the New York City Leadership Academy and taught future leaders through the Principals’ Institute at Bank Street College of Education. He has considerable experience in leadership support, facilitative leadership, creation of new schools, designing inclusive environments for students with disabilities and other nontypical students, addressing the disproportional suspension of young men of color, and supporting LGBTQ students and adults in educational settings. More recently he has moved into international work through Americans for Bulgaria to support school leadership development in Bulgaria.

Sam Rikoon

Sam Rikoon is a research scientist in the K-12 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Center at ETS in Princeton, New Jersey, and serves as ETS’s research liaison to ISA. He works on building and validating applications of noncognitive and social emotional learning assessments for use with populations ranging from middle school students through those in higher education and the workforce. Recently, he has been the research lead for ETS SuccessNavigator™ and its high school adaptation, as well as principal investigator on a longitudinal study of student learning outcomes in higher education. Sam also led a project funded by the Wallace Foundation to develop a brief situational judgment test of interpersonal skills for middle and high school students, and has been leading efforts to catalog and make use of ETS’s history of noncognitive assessment work going back several decades. His methodological expertise includes classical test and item response theory, multilevel and mixture modeling, longitudinal analyses, and structural equation modeling. Sam received his doctorate in policy research, evaluation, and measurement (quantitative methods) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Talisa Dixon

A veteran educator and longtime champion of equitable opportunities and student voice, Dr. Talisa Dixon retired as the superintendent and chief executive officer (CEO) of Columbus City Schools (OH) in 2023. Her 25-year (and counting) career in public education began in Akron Public Schools (OH), where she served as a social studies teacher and then as an assistant principal. But she is no stranger to Columbus. CCS Leader on the Rise Dr. Dixon spent 9 years as an administrator in Columbus City Schools from 2001–2010. She served 3 years as an assistant principal at Brookhaven High School and then 6 years combined as the principal at Brookhaven and at Columbus Alternative High School. She began her tenure as the superintendent/CEO in March 2019 after 5 years of leading the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District in northeast Ohio. Dr. Dixon successfully led CCS through the global COVID-19 pandemic, making shifts from remote to hybrid to full in-person learning while implementing creative strategies to meet the needs of students and their families.

Kaweeda G. Adams

Kaweeda G. Adams served as the superintendent of the City School District of Albany, NY, for 6 years. She is currently the deputy executive director of research and policy for the Conference of Big 5 School Districts in New York State.
A native of Shreveport, LA, and a third-generation educator, Mrs. Adams served in a variety of teaching and administrative positions in the Clark County (NV) School District, the nation’s fifth largest school district, for 28 years prior to accepting the leadership role in Albany in 2017.
In Albany, Mrs. Adams was a leader in developing the first Equity in Education Policy, which serves as the foundational lens for restructuring instructional and operational best practices. The district also committed to enhancing the delivery of quality instruction through culturally responsive education and implementing research-based educational practices to eliminate racial predictability of student success, disproportionality in behavioral consequences, inequities impacting marginalized and underserved populations, and systemic barriers to opportunities and access.

Dr. Alicia Thompson

Dr. Alicia Thompson has served as the superintendent of the Wichita Public Schools (KS) for 6 years. Her 25-year career in Kansas’ largest school district began as a teacher at Ingalls Elementary, now Spaght Magnet Elementary. She transitioned into a building leader and then a district administrator prior to her appointment as Wichita’s superintendent in spring 2017.

She obtained her postsecondary education from Langston University and Newman University, and ultimately received her doctorate of educational leadership from Wichita State University.

In her role as superintendent, she serves on the Wichita Regional Chamber Board of Directors, the United Way of the Plains Board of Directors, and the Greater Wichita Partnership and Business Education Alliance. She also serves on the WSU School of Education Leadership Advisory Board and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and The Links, Inc. Dr. Thompson has been honored with the Wichita Business Journal’s Leadership in Diversity Award and the NAACP Education Award, to name a few.

Cynthia Paris

Cynthia Paris is a transformational leader. Her career in education spans more than 25 years, much of it focused on working with bilingual students and turning around underperforming schools. She spent 4+ years in Lawrence Public Schools (MA), as the superintendent, following her nomination by the Lawrence Alliance for Education and appointment by the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education. Prior to that, she worked in Newton Public Schools (MA), where she was the assistant superintendent of elementary education. She worked in Boston Public Schools for 17 years, serving as a bilingual speech-language pathologist before becoming a principal, leading her second school to turn around its status. Ms. Paris holds a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, was an academy fellow at the Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College in 2012, and served as a teaching fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s School Leadership Program in 2013–2014.

Lorna Lewis, Ed.D.

Dr. Lorna Lewis has been a pioneer for her nearly 40-year career as an educator. In June 2018 she became the first woman of color to preside over the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYCOSS), which represents more than 800 top education leaders statewide. She currently serves as the superintendent of Malverne Union Free (NY) School District, after having served as the superintendent of Plainview-Old Bethpage (NY) Central School District and East Williston (NY) School District. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Hofstra University and an invited lecturer for Adelphi University and Fordham University. In 2019 the NAACP recognized her with a Legacy Award, and she has been recognized for her accomplishments as a leader in education by the Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey, The Korean Parents Association of Long Island, St John’s University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, Long Island Black Educators Association, National Coalition of 100 Black Women – Suffolk County Chapter, and Erase Racism.

Denise M Lowe, Ed.D.

Dr. Denise M. Lowe is a determined advocate for children and education and a progressive and courageous woman inspired to make a difference and bring about change. A former superintendent and chief school administrator of the Asbury Park (NJ) School District, she has more than 42 years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, assistant superintendent, English department chair, associate for the New York State Education Department Office of School Improvement, and state monitor. She is the managing director of All Children Can Learn, LLC, an educational consulting firm based on the tenets of Dr. Ronald Edmonds’ Effective Schools research and serves on the Howell Township (NJ) board of education and has memberships in the National Alliance of Black School Educators, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the Suffolk County (NJ) Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

Constance Evelyn, Ed.D.

For more than three decades, Dr. Constance Evelyn has represented the interests of public education at the local, state, and national levels. Her transformative executive leadership, which is focused on promoting equitable educational experiences and outcomes for all children, undergirds her reputation both in New York State and nationally. Her roles as a teacher, principal and superintendent promoted targeted support for educators and led to closing opportunity gaps and dramatic increases in student achievement. Dr. Evelyn was twice appointed by Governor Cuomo to represent the voice of New York State superintendents on the Smart School Commission and the Common Core Learning Standards Task Force. Dr. Evelyn was also called upon to provide testimony to the Board of Regents in New York State regarding the importance of diversifying educator talent. In 2019, Dr. Evelyn was awarded the Harriet Tubman National Freedom Award for her ceaseless dedication to equity and excellence. She is the coauthor of Evaluating the Superintendent: The Process of Collaborative Compromises and Critical Considerations.

Brenda Cassellius, Ed.D.

Dr. Brenda Cassellius has spent three decades as an educator devoted to helping all children succeed and thrive. Most recently as the superintendent of Boston Public Schools, she led the district successfully through a global pandemic, secured $110 million in new annual funding, and passed an historic admissions policy, increasing diversity and opportunity for students across Boston. Prior to her work in Boston, she served as the commissioner of education in Minnesota, where she worked to enact comprehensive education reforms that resulted in a remarkable list of accomplishments, including historic new funding for schools, all-day kindergarten, state-funded preschool, and the highest high school graduation rates on record. Dr. Cassellius is best known for her unrelenting advocacy and commitment to ensuring all children receive an equitable and excellent education.

Meria Carstarphen, Ed.D.

Dr. Meria Carstarphen has more than 20 years of transformational leadership and executive management experience in education, with a track record of dramatically improving student and organizational outcomes. Nationally recognized as a successful and experienced public education leader skilled at managing billion dollar organizations efficiently and effectively, her collective impact spans more than 800,000 students, 20,000 employees, and hundreds of schools. Over her career, she has served as teacher and administrator, and, in the role of superintendent, led major metropolitan American public school districts including Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Most recently, she joined Gallup as a senior scientist, their first ever in education. Her current work is focused on solving global illiteracy by integrating human and artificially intelligent learning systems to teach the science of reading.

Samira Nanda Sine

Samira Nanda Sine is cofounder of The Sine Institute of Policy & Politics and Just For The Children, the former New York director at Common Sense, and cofounder of the Common Sense U.K. initiative. During the course of her professional career, she has worked in Mumbai, Hong Kong, and New York City as a journalist and writer. With more than 15 years as a writer, on-air broadcaster, and producer, she has worked at the BBC World Business Desk, Reuters Television News, and Huffington Post. She has also hosted a travel and food show that airs on TLC (Discovery Channel), A&E Networks, and Apple TV. Samira has always believed in bigger causes around women, children, education, and digital literacy and serves on boards of organizations that are committed to women and children’s health. Her passions include helping educators and families effectively navigate the complex digital world that children live in today, as well as helping bridge the digital divide. Because she had a teacher as a mother, education was her first calling. Currently based in New York, Samira lives with her spouse, four children, and a golden retriever. She is a trustee at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City and is on the board of governors at National Academy of Design. She helped start the nonprofit Saving Mothers. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from New York University, a master’s degree in English literature from Bombay University, India, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, India.