Amy N. Farley

Amy N. Farley is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies in the School of Education. Her current research focuses broadly on equity in P-20 education systems and how consequential policies impact educational opportunity, access, and student outcomes. Since her appointment at UC, Dr. Farley has led multiple research-practice partnerships examining student success, academic supports, and education policy in both legal education and undergraduate studies. She has also collaborated on research examining equity and opportunity in a variety of K-12 settings. Dr. Farley currently serves as an Associate Editor for AERA Open and the Division L (Policy and Politics) Secretary for the American Educational Research Association. 

Dr. Farley completed her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, with a dual emphasis in education policy and research and evaluation methodology. 
Before joining the University of Cincinnati, she was a Strategic Data Fellow through Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research, where she worked closely with state and local agencies to conduct research and provide technical support in the implementation of policies related to standards, evaluation, and assessment. Following her fellowship, she became the Director of Research & Impact at her agency, where she led the development and execution of the research plan for a $20M grant and served as Principal Investigator on two additional grants through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to graduate school, she taught 4th through 8th grade in Oregon.  

Ph.D.: University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO, 2014 (Educational Foundations, Policy, & Practice; Research and Evaluation Methodology)

M.Ed.: University of Oregon Eugene, OR, 2003 (Educational Leadership)

Education Policy; Politics of Education; Equity, Access, and Opportunity; School and University Reform; High-Stakes Data Use and Measurement; Student Success and Academic Support Programs; 

2014 -2015 Director, Research & Impact, Led the development and execution of the associated research plan for a $20M grant examining the integration of policies related to standards, evaluations, and assessments in the state of Colorado. Serve as Principal Investigator on a $1.4M grant designed to identify teacher effectiveness measures for first-year teachers and a $385K grant designed to explore data use and feedback and coaching for pre-service teachers. Provide institutional support on evaluation and research within other initiative areas., Colorado Education Initiative, Denver, CO

2012 -2014 Strategic Data Fellow, Led the development and survey pilot for a student and teacher perception survey (with more than 60,000 respondents in total) to be used as an optional measure in the state model teacher and principal evaluation system. Provide analytic support across my agency to influence policy decisions that impact district and state decision-making and student outcomes., Center for Education Policy Research, Harvard University,

Grant: #RG15240 Investigators:Farley, Amy; Swoboda, Christopher 03-01-2017 -02-28-2018 Association for Institutional Research Law Student Success and Supports: Examining Bar Passage and Factors that Contribute to Student Performance Role:PI $50,000.00 Active Type:Grant

Grant: #URS AHHS and IR Advancement Grants AY 2017-2018 Investigators:Lobue, Amy 07-01-2017 -12-31-2019 UC's Research Support Exploring Law Student Success at UC and Beyond: Bar Passage and Factors that Contribute to Student Performance Role:PI $30,000.00 Active Level:Internal UC

Grant: #FY18 PPI Investigators:Lobue, Amy; Smith, Everrett 02-01-2018 -09-30-2018 Ohio Department of Education Principal Preparation Innovation Role:PI $99,859.88 Awarded Level:State of Ohio

Grant: #CEI Investigators:Lobue, Amy 07-01-2017 -05-15-2019 William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Expanding a Statewide Teacher Collaboration Initiative Around Performance Assessment: Common Assignment System (CAS) Growth and Replication Role:PI $77,400.00 Awarded Level:Private Non-Profit

Grant: #Center for Legal Education Excellence Grant Investigators:Chanvisanuruk, Joel; Lobue, Amy; Swoboda, Christopher 03-07-2019 -11-30-2020 AccessLex Institute Passing the bar: A multisite, mixed methods investigation of law student success Role:Collaborator $125,000.00 Active Level:Private Non-Profit

Peer Reviewed Publications

Goldhaber, D., Bignell, W., Farley, A., Walch, J., & Cowan, J. (2016. ) Who chooses incentivized pay structures?: Exploring the link between performance and preferences for compensation reform in the teacher labor market. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, , 38 (2 ) ,245-271

Moses, M., Saenz, L., & Farley, A.N. (2014. ) The central role of philosophy in a study of community dialogues .Studies in Philosophy and Education, , 34 (2 ) ,193-203

Farley, A. N., Gaertner, M., & Moses, M. S. (2013. ) Democracy under fire: Voter confusion & influences in Colorado’s anti-affirmative action initiative .Harvard Educational Review, , 83 (3 ) ,432-462

Moses, M. & Farley, A. N. (2011. ) Are ballot initiatives a good way to make education policy?: The case of affirmative action .Educational Studies, , 47 (3 ) ,260-279

Stringfield, S., Dariotis, J. K., Plano-Clark, V. L., Farley, A. N., Allen, A., Carr, K., Morrison, A., West, J. A., Roberts, J. K., & Sellers, G. (2017. ) Successes and cautionary notes from a two-year study of the Ohio Network of Education Transformation .International Journal of Educational Reform, , 26 ,209-223

Farley, A. N., Clayton, G., & Kaka, S. J. (2018. ) Teacher education in the Trump era: The role of multiple measures under deregulated teacher evaluation and accountability .Critical Issues in Teacher Education, , 25 ,33 -47

Farley, A. N., Clayton, G., & Kaka, S. J. (2018. ) Linking teacher education to redesigned systems of accountability: A call for multiple measures in pre-service teacher effectiveness .Education Policy Analysis Archives, , 26 (12 ) ,

Farley, A. N., Swoboda, C. M., Chanvisanuruk, J., McKinley, K. M., Boards, A., & Gilday, C. (2019. ) Law student success and supports: Examining bar passage and factors that contribute to student performance .Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, , 16 (3 ) ,605 -629

Gibbons, S. & Farley, A. N. (2020. ) Learning to think like a teacher: Effects of video reflection on preservice teachers’ practice and pedagogy .Action in Teacher Education, ,

Farley, A. N. (2020. ) Direct democracy in education: How ballot initiatives challenge equal opportunity and risk tyrannizing underrepresented students .Education and Urban Society, ,

Farley, A. N., Childs, J. & Johnson, O. (2019. ) Preparing leaders for wicked problems? How the revised educational leadership standards address equity and justice .Education Policy Analysis Archives, ,

Gibbons, S. & Farley, A. N. (2019. ) The use of video reflection for teacher education and professional learning .Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, ,

Farley, A. N. (2019. ) Legislating education policy and equity at the ballot box: A descriptive analysis of the prevalence and content of education ballot initiatives over time .Education Policy Analysis Archives, ,

Other Publications

Moses, M. S., Farley, A. N., Gaertner, M., Paguyo, C., Jackson, D., & Howe, K. R. (2010. ) Investigating the defeat of Colorado’s Amendment 46: An analysis of the trends and principal factors influencing voter behaviors . Public Interest Projects

Welner, K. & Farley, A. N. (2010. ) Confronting systemic inequity in education: High impact strategies for philanthropy .Washington, D.C.: National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy,

Technical Reports

Farley, A. N. (2013. ) Student Perception Survey technical report. .Submitted April, 2013 to the Colorado Education Initiative,

SPS Technical Report

Farley, A. N. (2011. ) Exceeds expectations incentive: Teacher characteristics and student achievement, 2011 Report Brief .Submitted May, 2011 to Denver Public Schools,

Exceed Expectations Incentive

Fulbeck, E. & Farley, A. N. (2010. ) Teachers’ attitudes, behaviors & student achievement, 2010 Report Brief .Submitted May, 2010 to Denver Public Schools,

Teachers’ Attitudes, Behaviors & Student Achievement

Strategic Data Fellowship Center for Education Policy Research, 2012-2014

University of Colorado Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship May 2011

Philosophy of Education Student Summer School Fellowship June-July, 2009

Politics of Education

Policy Issues in Teaching and Learning

Educational Policy Analyis

Leadership for Social Justice

Curriculum Development & Data Analysis