Anna Nicotera

Senior Researcher

Anna is a Senior Researcher at Basis Policy Research, where she leads multi-year projects studying how programs and policies shape educational opportunities and outcomes. She has over 15 years of experience researching and evaluating education reform initiatives.

Her work focuses on evaluating programs and policies aimed at strengthening the educator workforce, accelerating student learning, and changing school governance structures. She designs and leads mixed-methods studies that examine how these initiatives impact student outcomes and the experiences of teachers and school leaders. Anna is currently leading the evaluation of a statewide teacher residency program in New Mexico where results will be used to improve educator preparation program quality and support sustainable funding.

Over her eleven years at Basis, Anna has successfully led several multi-year, federally funded research and program evaluations, including U.S. Department of Education Charter School Program grants, Teacher and School Leader Incentive grants, Education Innovation and Research grants, and Regional Education Laboratory research studies.

Before joining Basis, Anna served as the senior director of research at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools where she developed the Public Charter School Dashboard. At Vanderbilt, she was a pre-doctoral research fellow with the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Anna holds a Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy and a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Chicago. She has been following her favorite band around the world, seeing them at Red Rocks in Colorado, Nashville, and London.