Who We Are: Matt Finster, PhD

“The fate of our future depends on the education of our youth.”

About Matt Finster

(He/Him/His)

Matt leads projects in educator effectiveness for the Region 5 and 14 Comprehensive Centers. He is an expert in developing strategic talent management systems that aim to create a more equitable distribution of effective teachers for all students.

With over 15 years of experience in educational policy research and technical assistance, Matt has supported education organizations at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as a variety of private foundations. He has authored or coauthored over 75 publications, technical reports, and presentations on topics ranging from the evaluation of teacher leadership programs to implementation costs for meeting student learning objectives.

Career Highlights

• As the Region 14 Comprehensive Center Project Lead for Increasing Equitable Access to Effective Educators, Matt supported the development of a talent management system rooted in data-driven decision-making for the Arkansas Department of Education.

• Matt developed a teacher leadership toolkit for the Ohio Department of Education. The Ohio Teacher Leadership Toolkit includes tools and resources to support schools, districts, and educators in teacher leadership initiatives. These materials were also incorporated into an online resource for managing teacher leadership for the Region 5 Comprehensive Center.

• Matt is a principal member of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education One scientific peer review panel. Matt also contributes to nominating grant applications supporting research on improving STEM knowledge.

• Matt is an associate editor for the Journal of Education Human Resources (JEHR), a quarterly publication providing research, analysis, case studies, and field-based commentary on human resource issues in the education sector.