Audrey Beardsley

Biography

Audrey Amrein-Beardsley is currently a Professor in Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Her research interests include educational policy, educational measurement and research methods. She is the author of over 50 peer- and editorially reviewed journal articles and two academic books published respectively in 2014 and 2016. Her research has been highlighted in popular press outlets including National Public Radio (NPR), The New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, Education Week, The Huffington Post, The Economist; other local news outlets (e.g., The Boston Globe, the Houston Chronicle, the Arizona Republic); and television media, including Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) shows and HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Amrein-Beardsley is also the creator of the blog VAMboozled! and creator/host of a web series entitled Inside the Academy during which she interviews and archives the personal and professional histories of some of the top educational researchers in the academy of education. Amrein-Beardsley's research focuses on the use of value-added models (VAMs) in and across states since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). For states still relying on VAMs for high-stakes consequences, she is conducting validation studies on multiple system components, as well as serving as an expert witness in many legal cases surrounding the (mis)use of system output. Amrein-Beardsley's research centers on three questions: What are the intended and unintended consequences of educational policies when realized in practice? How is inferential validity interpreted and possibly disregarded in policy and practice?

Research Interest

Guiding Research Questions: What are the intended and unintended consequences of educational policies when realized in practice? How is inferential validity interpreted and possibly disregarded in policy and practice?