Kiley O'Meara

Kiley O'Meara Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE)
Kiley O'Meara
Director of Strategic Learning and Evaluation,
The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation

Kiley O'Meara is the director of strategic learning and evaluation for the The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation. O'Meara most recently served as a senior researcher for educational and philanthropic initiatives at Stanford University and Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). With PACE, she partnered with schools, districts, nonprofits, and foundations dedicated to improving K–12 education. O'Meara specialized in investigating change process: the practices, tools, and levers that support improvement; the contexts that inspire innovation; and the habits, mindsets, and behaviors that promote growth. Further specializing in improving education for low-income youth, she has conducted pivotal research on initiatives supported by major foundations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Her diverse career spans roles such as director of policy and research at GreatSchools, program officer for Knowledge and Learning at The Stupski Foundation, and policy director for The Hewlett–Annenberg Challenge. Her commitment to education extends to early in her career when she was a TK–12 educator, teaching high school English. Holding an MPP in education policy from Harvard University and a BA in English from Middlebury College, O'Meara actively contributes to her community, serving in leadership roles at The Ethel Walker School's Parent's Association and the Harvard Alumnae Association, and volunteering at Healing Meals in Simsbury, CT.

updated 2024

Publications by Kiley O'Meara
Improvement Team Leads’ Perspectives on Fitting Improvement Work to Their Sites
This chapter in an edited book focuses on the work of two improvement network hubs in California as they tried to support participating districts and schools to improve the proportion of students “on-track” for post-secondary success. California has…
CORE’s Approach
Busy educators are often faced with a dilemma—staying up to date with evidence-based practices and initiatives that support their professional growth while combating a constant barrage of superficial ideas from other contexts. Continuous improvement…
Lessons from Two Learning Networks
Continuous improvement has a prominent place in California’s approach to educational accountability. But while there are proof points that show the potential of continuous improvement, currently there is not evidence that continuous improvement…
A Case Study of Two High-Poverty School Districts
This report examines two districts—Azusa Unified and Dinuba Unified—that have begun to shift district structures, policies, and culture to have a measurable effect on student outcomes.Both districts have committed to reducing the D/F rate for…