Dr. Geoffrey Borman
President
Dr. Jaymes Pyne
Affiliated Scholar
Dr. Jessaca Spybrook
Affiliated Scholar
Hyunwoo Yang
Affiliated Scholar
Over the past two decades, Dr. Borman has been an independent consultant to numerous educational program developers, businesses, universities, research centers, and the federal government. As President, Geoffrey D. Borman provides leadership to MDI and its projects. MDI’s Affiliated Scholars offer technical assistance and provide design and analysis support.
Trained as a quantitative methodologist at the University of Chicago, Dr. Geoffrey Borman (Ph.D., 1997) is the President of Measured Decisions. Borman’s main substantive research interests revolve around the social distribution of the outcomes of schooling and the ways in which policies and practices can help address and overcome educational inequality. His primary methodological interests include the synthesis of research evidence, the design of quasi-experimental and experimental studies of educational innovations, and the specification of school-effects models.Borman has led or co-directed over 25 major randomized controlled trials, which have included randomization and delivery of educational interventions at the student, classroom, school, and district levels. He has conducted three recent research syntheses, including a meta-analysis of the achievement effects of 29 nationally disseminated school reform models. Finally, other recent projects reveal the consequences of attending high-poverty schools and living in high-poverty neighborhoods and uncover some of the mechanisms through which social-context effects may be manifested. Dr. Borman was the recipient of a 2002 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, the 2004 Raymond Cattell Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association, the 2004 American Educational Research Association Review of Research Award, and the 2008 American Educational Research Association Palmer O. Johnson Award. In 2009, Dr. Borman’s significant contributions to the field of education research were recognized by his nomination and selection as a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. He provides leadership to all Measured Decisions projects, offers technical assistance to evaluators funded through the Investing In Innovation (i3) and Education Innovation and Research (EIR) programs, and leads the design and analysis of several projects.
Dr. Jaymes Pyne is a research associate at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Sociology in August 2019. While at UW-Madison he was an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Predoctoral Fellow and a Graduate Research Fellow at the Institute for Research on Poverty. He studies engagement and punishment in schools and other social institutions. Dr. Pyne serves as lead analyst on several projects conducted through Measured Decisions.
Dr. Jaymes Pyne is a research associate at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Sociology in August 2019. While at UW-Madison he was an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Predoctoral Fellow and a Graduate Research Fellow at the Institute for Research on Poverty. He studies engagement and punishment in schools and other social institutions. Dr. Pyne serves as lead analyst on several projects conducted through Measured Decisions.
Dr. Jessaca Spybrook is a Professor of Evaluation, Measurement, and Research at Western Michigan University. She received her Ph.D. in Education Studies with a focus in Quantitative Methods in 2007 from the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on improving the quality of the designs and statistical power analyses of group randomized trials in education. She has received grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation to support her work. She co authored the software and documentation for Optimal Design Plus, a program that assists researchers in planning adequately powered multilevel studies. In 2010, Spybrook was awarded a National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. Prior to attending graduate school she was a seventh grade math teacher. Through Measured Decisions, Dr. Spybrook provides technical assistance to evaluators funded by the Investing In Innovation (i3) program.
Hyunwoo Yang is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Master’s degree in Education Theory and Policy in 2016 from Pennsylvania State University. He has worked as a research assistant in the Center of Research on Early Childhood Education and is a Graduate Research Fellow for the Institute for Research on Poverty. His research focuses on how education policies and programs shape children’s school experiences, well-being, and school outcomes. Yang’s research focuses primarily on educational outcomes for children at early ages; especially those for low-income students and students of color. Supported by an American Educational Research Association/National Science Foundation Dissertation Grant, his dissertation examines trends and effects of universal public pre-kindergarten programs. He taught for several years in public elementary and middle schools in South Korea prior to graduate school. Yang provides analytical and research design support to projects conducted through Measured Decisions.
Hyunwoo Yang is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Master’s degree in Education Theory and Policy in 2016 from Pennsylvania State University. He has worked as a research assistant in the Center of Research on Early Childhood Education and is a Graduate Research Fellow for the Institute for Research on Poverty. His research focuses on how education policies and programs shape children’s school experiences, well-being, and school outcomes. Yang’s research focuses primarily on educational outcomes for children at early ages; especially those for low-income students and students of color. Supported by an American Educational Research Association/National Science Foundation Dissertation Grant, his dissertation examines trends and effects of universal public pre-kindergarten programs. He taught for several years in public elementary and middle schools in South Korea prior to graduate school. Yang provides analytical and research design support to projects conducted through Measured Decisions.