Marianne Bakia

Biography

Marianne Bakia, Ph.D., is a program director for SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning. She leads educational technology research and development projects in the United States and abroad, in both K12 and higher education. She also manages CTL’s office in Washington, D.C. She often leads large-scale, multi-faceted research and evaluation projects that include technical assistance and training and strategic planning for workshops and conferences. Funders of her work include the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Currently, she is leading a study examining implementation features of online courses that are associated with improved student performance, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bakia is also currently leading a project funded by the U.S. Department of Education that is studying conditions, policies, and practices that support effective online instruction and learning in K-12 educational settings. Her work has been published in several reports published by the U.S Department of Education as well as articles on the cost and cost-effectiveness of technology in education, particularly in developing countries, and on the economic development role of community colleges in the United States. She earned a Ph.D. in economics and an MPA from Columbia University. With SRI's Barbara Means and Robert Murphy, Bakia is co-author of the book Learning Online, published in April 2014.

Research Interest

Bakia was trained as an economist specializing in education policy, and her work focused on blending qualitative and quantitative data to identify ways to support at-risk students in online and blended environments.