Key Staff
Sabrina W. M. Laine, Ph.D.
Currently a senior policy advisor to the CEO at Learning Point Associates, Dr. Laine has a diverse background in educational policy research and teacher quality. She spearheaded efforts to contribute to policy research and resource development related to issues of teacher quality and quantity. Her work includes several published studies on teacher supply and demand, teacher professional development, alternative certification, teacher recruitment and retention, and teacher turnover.
Dr. Laine's management responsibilities and experiences at Learning Point Associates for the past eight years have well prepared her to direct the activities of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. She has a deep knowledge of content and research in the area of teacher and teaching quality, and she also has a personal passion for it. By serving on advisory boards of national organizations, including the Education Commission of the States and the National Governors Association, Dr. Laine has worked for the last several years to ensure that policies and programs are in place that enable all children to have access to highly qualified teachers.
She is skilled in working closely and effectively with local, state, regional, and federal education agencies; sensitive to the challenges faced by educators in urban, rural, and low-performing schools; agile in establishing and sustaining collaborative relationships with other organizations; and efficient in managing both financial and human resources. As former chief officer for research and development at Learning Point Associates and acting director of the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL)—the regional educational laboratory (REL) serving the Midwest—Dr. Laine was responsible for a full-time staff of 45 and a $9 million annual budget. Her responsibilities also included managing state and federal contracts to conduct research and development on such topics as school reform, technology evaluation, data-driven decision making, and closing the achievement gaps.
Dr. Laine recently led a series of focus groups with rural, urban, and suburban teachers in the Midwest to better understand what is necessary to recruit and retain talented teachers in high-need schools. Funded by the Joyce Foundation, this project was an effort to actively take into account the voice of the subject being studied: the teacher. In addition, Dr. Laine has led the convening of and facilitation of technical assistance for all of the Learning Point Associates regional advisory groups, including teachers of the year from the Midwest, rural and urban superintendents, educational service agency directors, and state education agency (SEA) staff.
Dr. Laine is effective and confident in dealing with policymakers at all levels and is equally accustomed to developing the type of responsive relationships that will be necessary to work productively with the regional comprehensive centers, the states, and the U.S. Department of Education. Her work under the REL contract at Learning Point Associates included conducting state and regional needs-sensing activities; developing state policy seminars that addressed priority needs; convening the network of SEA liaisons; planning the areas of focus for the urban, rural, and teacher advisory councils; and translating and communicating research and best-practice knowledge for a variety of audiences in multimedia formats.
In addition to her skill in directing the diverse staff of a REL (including researchers, evaluators, professional developers, technology experts, and communicators), Dr. Laine also is experienced in managing volunteer advisory boards.
She earned her doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies at Indiana University and holds a master's degree in European law and economics from the University of Amsterdam.
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