As a research methodologist and professor of education at American University, Dr. Jennifer L. Steele has spent a decade honing tools for teaching science-based decision making to aspiring policymakers. Her own research has examined the effects of educational opportunities on life outcomes, with studies spanning dual-language education, teacher effectiveness, vocational pathways, and returns to a college degree. Her research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others, and published in dozens of peer-reviewed articles. Her media writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Hill, Fast Company, The Hechinger Report, Education Week, and Salon, and she has been a frequent television commentator on CGTN and other networks. Previously a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, as well as a writing teacher and financial advisor, she holds a doctorate in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University and degrees in education, English, and psychology from Stanford and Georgetown Universities.