Matthew A. Kraft, research director for FutureEd, is an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University. His research and teaching interests include the economics of education, education policy analysis, and applied quantitative methods for causal inference. He has published widely on such topics as teacher coaching, teacher professional growth, teacher evaluation, teacher-parent communication, teacher layoffs, social and emotional skills, school working conditions, and extended learning time. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Brown University Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and AERA's Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award. His background includes a stint teaching in public schools in Oakland and Berkeley. He holds a doctorate in quantitative policy analysis in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, as well as a master's in international comparative education and a B.A. in international relations from Stanford University.