Jonathan Stern

Jonathan Stern, PhD, is an expert in research, assessment and evaluation within RTI’s International Education division. He has 20 years of experience in educational measurement and assessment, quantitative methods, research design, and program monitoring and evaluation.

Dr. Stern has provided technical expertise and assistance to education programs and ministries of education in more than twenty countries throughout his career. He has also served as the Principal Investigator for two large-scale, cross-country research initiatives: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Learning at Scale (investigating 14 of the most successful early grade reading and mathematics programs across the globe) and the LEGO Foundation-funded Play Accelerator (serving as the evaluator and research partner for five ‘learning through play’ focused implementation programs in five countries).

Since joining RTI in 2014, Dr. Stern has worked extensively in the education assessment space, leading efforts in the development and validation of Group Administered Literacy and Mathematics Assessments, as well as contributing to research and innovations in standard setting and benchmarking for early grade reading. He has also regularly supported projects, implementers and ministries in strengthening their use of data and applied research findings for evidence-based decision-making about program implementation and policy development.