People

Staff

  • Susan F. Burns

    Program Manager, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Susan Freeman Burns is program manager at the National Center on Performance Incentives, and is currently an Ed.D. student in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. Her research interest include school leadership and teacher quality and effectiveness, particularly in K-12 public education. Ms. Burns previously worked as a teacher and principal in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, and served as an Exemplary Educator, assisting schools places on the state's high priority list for No Child Left Behind. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from Agnes Scott College, an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, and an Ed.S. in Administration and Supervision from Middle Tennessee State University.

  • Cate Gardner

    Policy and Outreach Analyst, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Cate Gardner is a policy and outreach analyst for the National Center on Performance Incentives and is currently an Ed.D. student in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. Her research interests include the intersection of policy and practice, teacher professionalism, alternative education and independent schools. Born and raised in Connecticut, Ms. Gardner previously worked at a boarding school for at-risk students in Oregon. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from Middlebury College and an M.A. in Education Policy and Leadership from Stanford University.

  • Alicen Hatter

    Office Manager, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Alicen Hatter is office manager for the National Center on Performance Incentives. She has vast office management experience in several professional fields and has been a managing broker assistant in the field of property management. Ms. Hatter brings a wealth of management expertise and provides key administrative assistance on all of the center’s research and development projects.

  • Rebekah Hutton

    Program Manager, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Rebekah Hutton is currently a program manager for the National Center on Performance Incentives. Ms. Hutton completed her undergraduate degree in French language and literature at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Upon completion of her B.A. she moved to France and spent an academic year teaching English in a French public high school through an exchange with the French government and the Centre International d'Etudes Pedagogiques. When she returned to the United States, she began her master's studies at Vanderbilt University in international education policy and management. Ms. Hutton completed her M.Ed. in May 2007. In addition to her academic coursework, she has completed multiple research projects at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and World Leaning for International Development in Washington D.C. Ms. Hutton's research interests include education finance, development project sustainability, scaling-up of experiment-validated best educational practices, comparative education, and the effects of education on global health.

  • Warren Elliott Langevin

    Research Manager, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Warren Langevin is research manager for the National Center on Performance Incentives. His research interests are political behavior, federalism and intergovernmental relations, political institutions, and education policy. He has conducted new methodological research on local governance reform and geographic trends in state legislative activity for the National Center on School Choice. His current research projects explore the historical development of teacher certification and compensation policies in the United States. Mr. Langevin graduated with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University in 2007.

  • Joyce Meeuwsen

    Policy Analyst, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Joyce Meeuwsen is a policy analyst for the National Center on Performance Incentives and is currently an Ed.D. student in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. Her research interests include analysis of teacher quality, measures of student achievement, and the role of data in educational decision-making. Ms. Meeuwsen previously held positions in financial analysis and administration, followed by six years as an elementary classroom teacher. She received a B.A. in Economics from San Jose State University and a M.A. in Teaching and Learning/Curriculum Design from the University of California, San Diego.

  • Matthew J. Pepper

    Research and Data Quality Coordinator, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Matthew Pepper is the Research and Data Quality Coordinator at the National Center on Performance Incentives. Currently employed at Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) in the Department of Assessment and Evaluation, Dr. Pepper ensures that accurate and timely data resources are responsibly provided to NCPI for analysis. Dr. Pepper has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and economics from the University of Tulsa, and holds both a masters in Economics and Ed.D. in Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University. Before taking his current position, he served as the Director of Research in the Tennessee Department of Education and the Coordinator of Assessment for MNPS.