Heather Lavigne, an expert in research methodology and child development, is the deputy director of the REL Northeast & Islands at EDC. To this role, she brings expertise in overseeing complex research initiatives and quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research using descriptive, experimental, and quasi-experimental methods. She is a certified reviewer for the What Works Clearinghouse.

A widely published author, Lavigne leads studies that explore how to enhance formal and informal PreK–12 STEM learning. She has headed up a body of work that investigates young children’s learning from media. In collaboration with WGBH, she has been a principal investigator (PI) of several National Science Foundation initiatives that examine strategies to support children’s computational thinking.

Before joining EDC, Lavigne was the director of education at WGBY Public Television, where she oversaw projects focused on PreK–12 education and teacher professional development.

Lavigne holds a PhD and MS in Developmental Psychology with a concentration in Quantitative Methodology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and an MEd in Technology in Education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.