socos learning
I partner with schools and districts to build stronger systems for evidence-based improvement. With over 25 years of experience in PK-16+ education research and practice, I know firsthand the fast pace of decision-making in classrooms, schools, and districts. I also understand the importance of meaningful engagement with students and adults across multiple roles, the challenge of systems transformation, and the care required to provide trustworthy evidence.
My work balances immediate demands for actionable evidence with developing internal capacity for generating and using evidence. This may include accessing relevant research, gathering practical evidence of implementation and impact, or building collaborative culture and routines for reviewing evidence to guide improvement. Other possibilities include facilitating equitable partnerships between research and practice, or engaging community members around their interests in evidence. More options are listed below; specific consulting services will be customized to your strengths, needs, and context.
In parallel, I am pursuing multiple projects to rebuild and improve our national infrastructure for education research. I welcome collaborators and thought partners to advance the work.
Norma Ming
- Continuous improvement
- Implementation science
- Collaborative and participatory research
(e.g., research-practice partnerships, action research) - Developmental evaluation
- Research priority-setting
- Evidence infrastructure
- Research impact
specialties
- Conducting rapid reviews of relevant research
- Facilitating co-creation of learning agendas
- Refining logic models and theories of action
- Coaching on improvement methods
- Devising practical measures
- Embedding routines for using evidence in decision-making
- Advising on research partnership structures and processes
- Assessing research impact
- Creatively meeting other needs for evidence
Services
- Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University. Certificate from IES-funded Program for Interdisciplinary Educational Research.
- A.B. in Chemistry, Harvard University.
EducatioN
- Managed San Francisco Unified School District's research and evaluation portfolio; expanded institutional partnerships; elevated relevance and rigor in research and evaluation projects; adapted tools and provided training and coaching in continuous improvement.
- Launched Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's Impact Lab, leading evidence-building to guide development and use of new educational models, including collective priority-setting.
- Board member for Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness.
Experience
- Ming, N.C., & Dickson, S. (in press). Practice-Side Tensions and Tradeoffs When Coproducing Research: Mind the Thorns. In J. Senechal, D. Naff, & H. Parkhouse (Eds.), Navigating Issues of Equity in Schools through Research-Practice Partnerships: Stories from the Field. New York NY: Taylor & Francis Group.
- Ming, N.C. (2023). Building Evidence Systems to Integrate Implementation Research and Practice in Education. William T. Grant Foundation Digest: Issue 8, Winter 2022/23.
- Farley-Ripple, E., Ming, N., Goldhaber, D., Sarfo, A.O., & Arce-Trigatti, P. (2022). Building Capacity for Evidence-Informed Improvement: Supporting State and Local Education Agencies. University of Delaware: Center for Research Use in Education.
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2022). The Future of Education Research at IES: Advancing an Equity-Oriented Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
- Ming, N.C., & Goldenberg, L. (2021). Research Worth Using: (Re)Framing Research Evidence Quality for Educational Policymaking and Practice. Review of Research in Education, 45(1), 129-169.