Who We Are
BERC is a partnership between Morgan State University, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore City Public Schools, and other Maryland universities, along with a wide set of affiliated faculty and researchers.
RESEARCH BOARD & INSTITUTIONAL LEADS
The group reviews and approves all research projects and products. It maintains a quality-control process, ensuring all work is of high scientific rigor and relevant to the mission and priorities of BERC and City Schools.
CEO-DEANS BOARD
The group facilitates communication about findings from current projects and how the district will implement changes to practice or policy.

Marc L. Stein
Managing Director, Director of Research Operations
Marc L. Stein, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. His research investigates how systems external to the educational system impact children and their opportunities to achieve positive educational and life outcomes. His current work is examining how space and place interact and condition the ability of individuals, families and communities to access and benefit from educational opportunities. This work utilizes geospatial data and tools in conjunction with longitudinal administrative data archives and data intensive computing to deepen our understanding of educational opportunity and access across social groups.

Lieny Jeon
Director of Early Childhood Initiatives
Lieny Jeon is the Jeffrey Alexander Grigg Associate Professor in the Department of Advanced Studies in Education at Johns Hopkins School of Education. She leads the Early Childhood Data Collaborative (ECDC) which is an early childhood focused research-practice partnership. She received her PhD degree in Human Development and Family Science with a minor in Quantitative Method at Ohio State University. She completed her post-doctoral training in the Department of Defense Child Development Virtual Laboratory School. Her research focuses on early care and education, family characteristics and neighborhood disadvantage that impact children’s lives.

Nathaniel Dewey
Assistant Research Scientist
Nathaniel Dewey, PhD, is an assistant research scientist with the Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. His primary research interest is the quantitative methodology of improvement science in education. His research agenda involves the development of practical tools to assist in school improvement. To this end, Nathaniel’s secondary research interests include systems thinking, causality, experimental design, time-series analysis, time-series data in education (e.g., daily attendance), and computational social science. The vision of his research is a world where schools are empowered to improve their own quality.

Curt Cronister
Senior Data Manager
Curt Cronister (MAS Spatial Analysis for Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) is a seasoned data analyst with years of experience in the management and analysis of research data at Stanford, Northwestern, and Johns Hopkins, as well as for-profit companies like SunAmerica, Morningstar, and United Educators. Mr. Cronister has over 20 years of experience organizing original data sources, developing associated data dictionaries and creating data collection, storage, retrieval and analytic systems. He is also proficient in the use of GIS software to map data and provide spatial context for geographic datasets.

Rachel E. Durham
Senior Fellow
Rachel E. Durham is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) and has a background in sociology of education, education policy and demography. Prior to joining NDMU, she spent 11 years as a full-time researcher at BERC, serving as Research Co-Director and Evaluation Director, and representing BERC on a number of citywide workgroups and taskforces. Her research focuses on graduates’ transition to adulthood, differences between career and college readiness, and community schools.
Graduate Research Assistants

Zyrashae Smith
Graduate Research Assistant

Juan Cortes
Graduate Research Assistant

Briana Bostic
Graduate Research Assistant

Xiangyu Zhao
Graduate Research Assistant

Ebony Leon
Graduate Research Assistant

Jun Wang
Graduate Research Assistant
Research Board & Institutional Leads
The Research Board is chaired by the City Schools research director and the research co-directors from founding universities, Morgan State and Johns Hopkins. Membership includes one faculty member from each university, referred to as Institutional Leads. Research board Institutional Leads serve as liaisons between any interested faculty members at their institution and BERC. The Research Board reviews and approves all research projects and products. This board collaboratively maintains a quality-control process to ensure that all work generated through BERC is of high scientific rigor and relevant to the mission and priorities of BERC and City Schools. The Research Board meets monthly to ensure timely approval of projects.
Research Board Co-Chairs
Christopher Wohn
Director of Research, Baltimore City Public Schools
Simone Gibson
Associate Professor, Morgan State University
Julia Burdick-Will
Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Institutional Leads
Sean Coleman
Director of Doctoral Program, Bowie State University
Harriet Kargbo
Assistant Program and Program Coordinator, Center for Adult Learning, Coppin State University
Qi Shi
Associate Professor, Loyola University Maryland
Seema D. Iyer
Associate Director, The Jacob France Institute, University of Baltimore
Jane Arnold Lincove
Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Jessica Shiller
Associate Professor, Towson University
Ana Taboada Barber
Dean for Research, Innovation and Partnerships
Rachel Durham
Associate Professor, Notre Dame of Maryland University
Terry Shaw
Associate Professor and Director, Research Division, Institute for Innovation and Implementation, University of Maryland