Heather J. Hough

heather_hough
Heather J. Hough
Senior Policy and Research Fellow,
Policy Analysis for California Education, Stanford University

Heather J. Hough is a senior research and policy fellow and former executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) at Stanford University. As executive director, she led major statewide initiatives connecting research, policy, and practice. Hough is also an independent consultant and nationally recognized expert in education policy and governance. She works with state and local leaders to strengthen education systems with a focus on strategic planning, policy coherence, system improvement, and collaborative decision making. Her consulting practice helps organizations translate evidence into action by aligning goals, policies, and resources to improve student outcomes and rebuild public trust in education. She is an active volunteer and board member at the local and state levels, where she advances meaningful policy changes that improve people’s lives and strengthen public services delivery. Hough received her PhD in education policy from Stanford University.

updated 2025

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
Getting Down To Facts II
LCFF Research Collaborative
Organizing Schools to Serve Students with Disabilities
PACE/USC Rossier Voter Poll
Commentary by Heather J. Hough
: California’s Dashboard Data Will Guide Improvement
Heather J. Hough in the Media
PACE Executive Director Heather Hough on Cultivating a Sense of Belonging to Spark Students’ Enthusiasm for Learning in EdSource Podcast
 | EdSource
Boosting Student Success After COVID Is a Team Effort
 | EdSource
Reenergizing Learning: PACE Executive Director Heather Hough Discusses Strategies for Getting Beyond Stagnant Test Scores with EdSource Panel
 | EdSource
PACE Executive Director Heather Hough Speaks on Education Policy, Teacher Shortage, and Other Challenges in Capitol Weekly Conference
 | Capitol Weekly
Have Bay Area Students Recovered from Pandemic Learning Losses? Here’s What State Test Scores Show
 | The Mercury News
Publications by Heather J. Hough
Roll Call
Describing Chronically Absent Students, the Schools They Attend, and Implications for Accountability
In "Absent from School," PACE Executive Director Heather J. Hough analyzes student absenteeism using data from California's CORE districts. She explores the differences in absenteeism rates among students and schools, comparing them to other…
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…
GDTFII Brief CI
Continuous Improvement
Building System Capacity to Learn
Continuous improvement in education involves engaging stakeholders in problem-solving to discover, implement, and spread evidence-based changes that work locally to improve student success. California sees it as central to enduring education…
Using Data for Improvement
Learning from the CORE Data Collaborative
Effective data use is crucial for continuous improvement, but there is confusion about how it differs from data use for other purposes. This report explains what data are most useful for continuous improvement and presents a case study of how the…