Laura S. Hamilton

Laura S. Hamilton is senior director of the Center on Advancing Measurement and Assessment at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), where she leads research on innovative approaches to measurement and assessment across education, workforce, and community development. Her work focuses on education policy, teaching, education technology, youth development, and civic learning, with an emphasis on evidence-based guidance for practitioners and policymakers. Previously, she was associate vice president of research centers at Educational Testing Service (ETS), where she led research on assessment and learning across K-12 and postsecondary education, workforce development, and language assessment, and served as Eignor executive editor. She also held the distinguished chair in learning and assessment at the RAND Corporation, where she co-directed the American Educator Panels. Hamilton has served on numerous expert committees and panels, including the Joint Committee on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, multiple National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees, and technical advisory groups for state assessment programs. She has held editorial roles with multiple academic journals and received the Joseph A. Zins Distinguished Scholar Award for her work on whole-child development. Hamilton earned her MS in statistics and PhD in educational psychology from Stanford University.

updated 2025