Corinne Alfeld, Ph.D.–Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist, National Institute for Work and Learning, Academy for Educational Development
Corinne Alfeld, Ph.D. has over fifteen years of experience in researching high school and college students’ academic and career interests and achievement. Her doctoral dissertationwas a longitudinal analysis of gender differences in math and science motivation, performance, and aspirations; she has also written several peer-reviewed journal articles on STEM topics. At AED, she is leading a descriptive research project on CTE Programs of Study to learn how high schools work with local colleges to structure dual enrollment opportunities that facilitate the transition to college for CTE students and is working with other senior staff at AED to provide technical assistance to states on developing CTE Programs of Study. In addition, Dr. Alfeld is co-leading a study of student outcomes of the NSF Advanced Technical Education (ATE) program and leading a mixed methods research study on secondary-postsecondary-business partnerships around career technical education (CTE) programs of study.
Dr. Alfeld began her professional career as an analyst at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where she worked with data from a national survey of the science and engineering workforce and contributed to the statistical publication, Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. Prior to joining AED, she served as Deputy Director for the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE), where she was involved in a variety of projects focused on CTE. One experimental research study developed and tested an intervention to increase high school students’ math skills by integrating rigorous math with hands-on experience in the CTE curriculum; the intervention is now being implemented in schools and districts nationwide. Another research study led by Dr. Alfeld while at NRCCTE examined growth over time in characteristics such as engagement, motivation, self-concept, and leadership among students involved in career technical student organizations (CTSOs, e.g., SkillsUSA).
She is an ad-hoc consultant for the National Association for Partnerships in Equity on their NSF-funded STEM Equity Pipeline Project and is an advisory board member for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) high school transcript study. She is also actively involved with a variety of CTE organizations, such as the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and the National Association of State Directors of CTE Consortium (NASDCTEc), in addition to the NRCCTE. She has an M.A. in developmental psychology from George Washington University and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Michigan.