Director, REL Appalachia
Dr. Justin D. Baer

Justin D. Baer, Ph.D., joined CNA's Education team in 2011 and draws on a decade of experience conducting research on a range of educational issues for federal, state, and non-profit clients.

Dr. Baer came to CNA from the National Education Association (NEA) where he led several projects focused on the teacher workforce, teacher evaluation, and school reform. He served as the project manager and co-author of The American School Teacher: Past, Present, and Future, a study of the teaching profession over the past half-century published by Harvard Education Press. As a member of NEA's Survey and Data Analysis unit, he led a review of value-added models used as part of teacher evaluation systems and consulted on the implementation and analysis of surveys administered to NEA members and the general public.

Dr. Baer began his career at the American Institutes for Research where he specialized in the design and analysis of large-scale surveys and educational assessments. He has worked extensively with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), serving as a task lead for the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and an analyst for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Dr. Baer earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington.