Dr Callie Womble Edwards

About Callie

Dr. Callie Womble Edwards is an Educational Researcher with a multidisciplinary background in public health, workforce development, learning outcomes assessment, and program evaluation. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Research and Policy Analysis from North Carolina State University (NCSU) and a M.P.H. in Health Behavior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since 2018, Dr. Edwards has served as a Research Associate at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, where she evaluates educational initiatives using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. She currently serves on six Friday Institute research and evaluation projects and is the Project Lead for four of those projects, including one multi-district evaluation and three multi-school evaluations. As Project Lead, she is responsible for planning, management, and day-to-day operations, and she is also the main point of contact for our internal NCSU team, our external partners, and our clients. Additionally, a major aspect of Dr. Edwards’ work is developing and maintaining effective research-practice partnerships (RPPs) with schools and districts. RPPs provide a new pathway in educational research methodology by engaging researchers and practitioners in collaborative, iterative, and systemic inquiry. Recently, Dr. Edwards was nominated for the 2020 NC State University Award for Excellence, the most prestigious honor bestowed upon non-faculty employees. Prior to joining the Friday Institute, she served as a Research Specialist at the North Carolina Department of Commerce, and a Research Assistant in the Office of Assessment at NCSU.

Resources

• Intentional and Consistent: SEL in Action at Visitation Catholic School (Case Study)

  Co-Author
  For the 2019-2020 school year, Visitation Catholic School (Visitation), in conjunction with Big Shoulders Fund, developed an action plan around the implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) to address the needs and challenges of their students.
• Teaching for the Long Haul: Professionalizing Career Pathways for North Carolina Teachers (Whitepaper)

  Co-Author
  In 2016, the North Carolina General Assembly provided support for school districts across North Carolina to propose and implement pilot advanced teaching roles programs that would allow highly effective classroom teachers to take on leadership roles in their schools and reach more students. Six districts were chosen to develop pilot programs attuned to their local needs. As an extension of their formal three-year evaluation of these six pilots, and with the support of the Belk Foundation, the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University completed “deep dive” closer-look investigations of three of the six pilot programs.