Collaborators

Dr. Christina Cipriano is an applied developmental and educational psychologist, and leads The Education Collaboratory’s vision, strategy, research, and partnerships. An internationally recognized expert in the science of social and emotional learning, her work focuses on advancing inclusive, evidence-based systems that improve outcomes for students, educators, and schools, with a particular commitment to ensuring that research reflects and serves learners of all abilities and identities.

She has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and secured over $16 million in extramural funding.

Her award-winning scholarship has informed federal education policy, shapes international investments in SEL and inclusion, and influenced teaching and learning in schools and systems worldwide.

She holds the inaugural Joseph W. and Alma W. Keilty Endowed Chair and Professor in Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and serves as series editor of Essential Social Emotional Learning and Development, published by Routledge.

Dr. Sophie Barnes is the Director of Research for The Education Collaboratory where she works with Dr. Christina Cipriano to shape and execute the Collaboratory’s research agenda to advance the science and practice of social and emotional learning (SEL). Dr. Barnes oversees the evidence infrastructure, research synthesis, meta-analysis, and measurement systems that anchor our work. She leads the living systematic review of universal school-based SEL interventions (www.improvingstudentoutcomes.org ) to generate timely, actionable, and rigorous evidence to inform research, practice, and policy.

In her research, Dr. Barnes uses rigorous quantitative methods to investigate the setting- and individual-level mechanisms that support children’s social, emotional, and behavioral skill development in school contexts. She is also interested in adding nuance and precision to SEL measurement and partnering with schools and districts to learn about their implementation and use.

Sophie received her Ph.D. in Education from Harvard University where she trained with Dr. Stephanie Jones. She is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education.

Michael F. McCarthy, Ph.D., is the Head of Disability Research, Creative Innovation, and Public Impact at the Education Collaboratory. His research brings together social and emotional learning, youth emotional development, inclusion, artificial intelligence, measurement, and educational policy.

As the point person for our AI strategy and platform development, Michael builds tools that make complex evidence navigable and actionable for practitioners out in the real world. His scholarship takes a hard look at how disability is framed in political and educational discourse, how inclusive SEL can be designed to serve students with learning differences, and how AI can actively advance equity in education. He grounds this translation work in a rich, practitioner-informed career spanning international early childhood development, family engagement, and the design of rights-affirming tools for students with disabilities.

He has published in top-tier journals, including, Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy, Child Development, Review of Educational Research, AERA Open, and Remedial and Special Education. 

Michael leads Disability Discourse Matters and the Education Collaboratory’s podcast, Life Above Water. He is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education.

Dr. Melissa Stoffers bridges the gap between research data and the lived realities of schools. She leads our engagement with the schools, districts, families, and communities at the absolute center of our work. Drawing on her background as a former special education teacher, she designs participatory research partnerships that treat practitioner and community knowledge as essential from day one.

Her scholarship explores how educational systems shape inclusive environments for students with disabilities, focusing on the social dimensions that matter most: belonging, peer relationships, and the exact conditions neurodivergent learners need to thrive.

Armed with expertise in mixed methods, Melissa ensures our partnerships are methodologically rigorous and deeply responsive to the community. She also leads our National Advisory Board—a group of high school students with and without learning differences whose perspectives directly drive our research priorities, design, and dissemination strategies.

She is an Assistant Research Professor in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dr. Rebecca Levine brings a necessary mix of clinical social work training and education research to the team. Her scholarship zeroes in on student mental health, trauma-informed SEL, and figuring out how young people can meaningfully shape the very educational systems that serve them.

She has published original research on how teachers are prepared for student mental health, SEL in low-income and refugee afterschool settings, and the power of youth voice in school-based policy.

At the Collaboratory, Rebecca works side-by-side with school and district partners to study their implementation journeys, looking at how educators sustain evidence-based practices over time. She also flexes her mental health expertise by contributing to our living systematic review of universal school-based SEL interventions. As a licensed independent clinical social worker, her deep commitment to amplifying student and practitioner voices grounds all of her research in reality.

Becca is a postdoctoral associate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education.