Lora Cohen-Vogel, the Frank A. Daniels Jr. Distinguished Professor at the UNC School of Education and an expert in education policy, has been selected to serve on North Carolina’s inaugural Innovation Leadership Council, a cross-sector advisory body charged with identifying promising PreK-12 educational practices, evaluating their effectiveness, and bringing them to scale statewide.
Established by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to support implementation of the state’s “Achieving Educational Excellence: 2025-2030 Strategic Plan,” the Council brings together education leaders from across regions, roles, and research settings. The five-year plan aims to position North Carolina’s public schools as the best in the country by 2030, and it is the first joint plan between the State Board of Education and the state superintendent.
The council is designed to create stronger connections across North Carolina’s education community while accelerating the adoption of evidence-based practices that improve student outcomes.
Partnering with school districts across the country, including North Carolina, Cohen-Vogel is widely recognized for her work in education policy, continuous improvement, and large-scale system transformation.
“Some of the most promising solutions to educational challenges are already emerging in schools and communities across our state,” Cohen-Vogel said. “The opportunity now is to learn from those efforts and create pathways to diffuse those solutions to inform improvement at a broader scale.”
At Carolina, Cohen-Vogel directs the Interprofessional Graduate Certificate in Improvement Science and
Implementation, which prepares professionals in education, healthcare and other human-facing fields to improve outcomes through change leadership, rapid prototyping, and cycled learning and adaptation.
Cohen-Vogel previously served as vice president of the approximately 25,000-member American Educational Research Association, the largest professional organization dedicated to advancing educational research. She has led major funded research initiatives through the U.S. Department of Education and Institute of Education Sciences, served on committees of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and published work in the field’s leading academic journals.