Julie Riordan, principal research scientist and a leader in the field of educational research, facilitates educational improvement through applied research and strong partnerships with education leaders and teachers. Riordan has extensive experience in the evaluation of education policy, organizational change in schools, and the use of evidence to guide decision-making to improve students’ academic success and well-being.

Riordan is the director of the REL Northeast & Islands at EDC. She has deep expertise in research design and methods, needs assessment, and strategic dissemination. She serves on the Digital Promise Advisory Board for Research@Work, an advisory panel for the Providence Education Research Consortium. She is a subject matter expert on systems change for the scale-up of  well-being supports for students in Massachusetts schools. Riordan also serves on the editorial board of International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership.

Her research interests include school improvement, teacher preparation and effectiveness, collaborative research models, healthy child development, and school health.

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