Naomi Duran investigates the impact of structural inequality on the availability of educational resources that are important for fostering greater engagement and achievement in school. She specializes in quantitative methods and linking large-scale data on students, families, schools, and neighborhoods to comprehensively examine factors that may promote students’ attachment to school and educational success. Prior to joining NWEA, Dr. Duran received a master’s and PhD in human development and family studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her dissertation research was funded by a grant from the American Educational Research Association and the National Science Foundation. She also conducted education policy research at the Learning Policy Institute and the American Institutes for Research.