Nancy Duchesneau
Senior P-12 Research Associate
Nancy is a Senior P-12 Research Associate and leads the Social, Emotional, and Academic Development work at EdTrust. In this role, she works to fill current gaps in research, policy, and advocacy to ensure that schools holistically support the well-being and development of students, and especially for low-income students and students of color.
In addition to having served as EdTrust’s Spencer Fellow for Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, Nancy worked in multiple roles prior to joining EdTrust. Experiences include being a tutor and barista before graduate school, and more recently as a research assistant under education faculty at Michigan State University. She has also previously worked on projects with researchers at ETS and interned with consultants at the Center for Assessment.
Nancy received her B.S. from Lehigh University in psychology and is currently in the final stages of the Education Policy Ph.D. program at Michigan State University, with a dissertation that focuses on the intersections of social-emotional learning with culture and restorative justice.
Proudest Moment
Receiving my first acceptance letter to graduate school
What are people most surprised to learn about you?
I used to breakdance in college.
What drew you to education?
After college, I served as both a private tutor for wealthy families and a sub-contracted tutor in a low-income school district. Although my own experiences growing up had shown me that opportunities differ based on race and income, the differences in educational opportunities I saw as a tutor were stark. Upset with what I was seeing, I entered graduate school for education policy intent on finding ways to reduce these inequities.
