H. Alix Gallagher

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H. Alix Gallagher
Managing Director and Director of Strategic Partnerships,
Policy Analysis for California Education, Stanford University

H. Alix Gallagher is the managing director and director of strategic partnerships at Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). In research partnerships with California Education Partners and CORE Districts, the partners co-develop a research plan that provides ongoing feedback to support those organizations’ work and broader learning for California about how to support district and school improvement. Gallagher also leads PACE’s partnership with TeachAI, engaging with how artificial intelligence (AI) affects education and what state and district-policy makers could do in emerging arena. In response to COVID-19, Gallagher leveraged her knowledge of instruction and teacher learning to support partners rethinking instructional models to include distance and blended learning. Before joining PACE, Gallagher was an associate director at the Center for Education Policy at SRI International, where she led large-scale randomized controlled trials and policy studies. She received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

updated 2024

Contributing topics
Access, quality & alignment in early childhood education
College access & postsecondary success
Continuous school improvement & support
Education finance
Educational governance & policy
Educator workforce & effectiveness
Supporting students’ social-emotional, mental & physical health
Understanding, measuring & improving student outcomes
Contributing initiatives
Continuous Improvement and Support Systems in California
CORE-PACE Research Partnership
COVID-19 Recovery
Commentary by H. Alix Gallagher
: Strategies for Successful Scaling in Districts: Breaking the Cycle of the "Next New Thing"
: Unlocking the Potential of Transitional Kindergarten Requires Better Data on Early Education
: From Reactive to Proactive: Putting Districts in the AI Driver’s Seat
: The Urgent Need to Update District Policies on Student Use of Artificial Intelligence in Education
H. Alix Gallagher in the Media
: Hit Hard by COVID, California High School Seniors Struggling Toward Graduation
: New California Digital Learning Integration and Standards Guidance Website Launched
: High School Teachers React to Phasing Out of D and F Grades
: Some Bay Area School Districts Consider Dropping D, F Grades as Students Have Difficulties Adjusting
: Why some California Schools Are Changing Student Grades
Publications by H. Alix Gallagher
Leadership that Supports Continuous Improvement
The Case of Ayer Elementary
In the past few years, California’s education policies have focused on continuous improvement as a general approach to improving student outcomes. While approaches for doing continuous improvement are sometimes well-specified (e.g., in specific…
Learning and Practicing Continuous Improvement
Lessons from the CORE Districts
The education sector is embracing the hope that continuous improvement will lead to more beneficial student outcomes than standards-based reform and other approaches to policies and practice in prior decades. This report examines attempts in…
Engaging District, School, and Teacher Leaders in Improvement
California’s shift towards continuous improvement in education makes understanding how districts and schools can learn to improve a more pressing question than ever. The CORE Improvement Community (CIC), a network of California school…
Shaping Professional Development to Promote the Diffusion of Instructional Expertise Among Teachers
Shaping Professional Development to Promote the Diffusion of Instructional Expertise Among Teachers
This study examines how high-quality professional development can promote the diffusion of effective teaching strategies among teachers through collaboration. Drawing on longitudinal and sociometric data from a study of writing professional…