Sarah Beach

Sarah Beach is the director of research at the Education Rights Institute. She previously served as an inaugural fellow of ERI and research assistant professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law. Her perspective is informed by her experience as a public elementary, secondary, and university educator and scholar. Her research interests include assessment and accountability for K-12 schools, education policy for equitable student success and systems thinking with a focus on systemic change. 

Beach’s work can be found in academic journals, handbooks and as chapters in edited books. She frequently presents research at conferences, including those hosted by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), International Conference on Justice and Education, and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). She serves as a co-chair of the NCME Presidential Task Force on Educational Measurement and Civil Rights.  

Beach holds a Ph.D. in research, statistics and evaluation from the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, where she was a Dean’s Fellow. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Richmond in political science and is licensed as a teacher in the state of Virginia in secondary English and elementary education.