Karyn Lewis, PhD
Vice President of Research and Policy Partnerships
Karyn Lewis leads a team dedicated to generating actionable, policy-relevant research that directly addresses critical challenges in K–12 education. Her team’s work is strategically focused on bridging the gap between rigorous research and practical educational improvements, ensuring that insights translate into meaningful strategies for educators, policymakers, and school leaders.
Prior to joining NWEA, Dr. Lewis was a senior researcher at Education Northwest/REL Northwest, where she led a diverse portfolio of applied research, technical assistance, and evaluation projects. She is a former data fellow with the Strategic Data Project at the Harvard Center for Education Policy Research. She completed a National Science Foundation–funded postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado Boulder and earned her PhD from the University of Oregon in social psychology.
Publications by Karyn Lewis
User Guide and FAQ: MAP Growth National Dashboard
This user guide explains how to navigate the MAP® Growth™ National Dashboard, understand the key metrics and terms, make appropriate comparisons of data, and communicate findings responsibly. This guide also includes a robust “Frequently Asked Questions” section that provides in-depth answers about the dashboard and its uses.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: Growth
Technical Appendix: MAP Growth National Dashboard
This is the accompanying technical appendix to the MAP Growth National Dashboard providing more details of the data and describing more fully the sample and methods used within the dashboard.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: Growth
Using data from the MAP Growth National Dashboard, this Trends Snapshot report focuses on academic growth trends post-COVID and points to a positive turn for U.S. reading after years of stagnation. This positive trend was also noted for historically underserved groups who showed the largest reading gains from 2025 to 2026.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Growth, Math & STEM, Reading & language arts
This is the technical appendix to the “Struggling adolescent readers left behind: Evidence of post-COVID-19 declines and pathways forward” research brief, which highlights an urgent challenge in academic recovery: middle school reading.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Empowering educators, Growth, Middle school, Reading & language arts
Struggling adolescent readers left behind: Evidence of post-COVID-19 declines and pathways forward
Using data from the MAP Growth National Dashboard, this research brief highlights an urgent challenge in academic recovery: middle school reading. While students have shown encouraging progress in math and elementary reading since the pandemic, reading achievement among grades 6-8 remain stagnant, with the lowest-performing students falling even further behind.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Empowering educators, Growth, Middle school, Reading & language arts
This is the technical appendix for the NWEA research brief titled, “Behind at the Starting Line,” which examines Kindergarten test scores from more than 400,000 U.S. students and noting patterns that can predict academic success or identify students at risk of falling further behind. This early identification is key for educators, enabling them to intervene and influence learning trajectories before the next critical milestone: third grade.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: Informing instruction, Early learning, Empowering educators, Growth
NWEA research brief examining Kindergarten test scores from more than 400,000 U.S. students and noting patterns that can predict academic success or identify students at risk of falling further behind. This early identification is key for educators, enabling them to intervene and influence learning trajectories before the next critical milestone: third grade.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: Early learning, Empowering educators, Growth, Informing instruction
