Lisa Carlos

Director of Research,

EdSource

Lisa Carlos was the director of research at EdSource, where she led policy research on education funding and reform. She previously served as director of policy and research at WestEd and was a senior policy associate at the organization. She was also a senior policy analyst for the National Commission on Migrant Education and a research associate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Earlier in her career, she worked as a program analyst for the U.S. Department of Education. Carlos has also served on the board of trustees for Woodside Priory School in California. She is currently a commissioner and vice chair of the Housing Authority with the City of Santa Barbara and an affordable housing advocate. Carlos earned her MPA in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

updated 2025

Contributing topics

Continuous school improvement & support

Educational governance & policy

Supporting students’ social-emotional, mental & physical health

Understanding, measuring & improving student outcomes

Publications by Lisa Carlos

March 1998

California's Class Size Reduction

Implications for Equity, Practice, and Implementation

In 1996, CA launched a $1 billion class size reduction (CSR) initiative to improve early literacy. The initiative provides $800 per student to schools reducing class size to 20 or fewer in first, second, and/or third grade, and kindergarten. CSR was…

April 1997

California Curriculum Policy in the 1990s

Standards and Assessments

This study traces California's curriculum-related reforms in mathematics and science during the 1990s, examining the role of the California Department of Education and the state's shifting political and policy context. It analyzes the perceptions of…