Alaina Harper

Alaina aims to operate at the nexus of district policies and their implementation throughout districts, schools, and classrooms. She is deeply dedicated to building policy alignment between the curriculum taught in schools and the skills that will ensure our children are prepared for successful futures. Connecting her decade of experience in the classroom and approaches to innovation and improvement she learned through her studies, Alaina believes strongly that the most effective change will come from embracing teacher voice and fostering alignment between educational practitioners and policy initiatives.

Alaina began her teaching career at KIPP Academy Middle School in Bronx, NY, where she has taught both Writing and Science. Throughout her tenure, she consistently took on roles of increasing responsibility, leading multiple grade levels, providing instructional coaching, and being the conduit between families, teachers, and the school. Alaina continued her own learning by coaching and evaluating new teachers for different alternative certification programs, including Adjunct Lecturer at Relay Graduate School of Education, Development Coach at New York City Teaching Fellows, and Outside Evaluator at MATCH Teacher Residency Program. As a Gordon Ambach Fellow with the New York State Education Department, Alaina investigated how initiatives develop from seedling ideas to full-scale implementation across an entire state.

Education

• Harvard University Graduate School of Education