Julie Riordan is an EDC principal research scientist, leader in the field of educational research, and experienced manager of results-driven federally funded research centers. She guides large teams in advancing educational improvement and innovation through high-priority applied research, strong partnerships with education leaders and teachers, and effective dissemination. She specializes in strategies that make it easy for educators to use evidence to improve students’ academic success and brings extensive expertise in quantitative and qualitative research, organizational change in schools, and evaluation of education policy.

Julie is the director of the REL Northeast & Islands at EDC and previously served as  the deputy director and applied research & evaluation lead. As director, she holds a strong track record of leading her team in fully meeting the research and resource needs of schools, districts, and states and has secured consistently high federal CPARS ratings for the rigor, quality, cost-efficiency, and effectiveness of the team’s work.

Julie serves on the Digital Promise Advisory Board for Research@Work, is a member of The Wallace Foundation’s Education Leaders Network, and holds a position on the editorial review board for the International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership.  She regularly shares her insights and findings with the public, at practitioner convenings, and at the conferences of organizations such as the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness and American Educational Research Association.

Julie holds a PhD in Educational Policy from the University of Pennsylvania.