Heather Lavigne, an expert in child development and research methodology, leads studies that explore how to enhance formal and informal PreK–12 learning. She is heading up a body of work that investigates young children’s learning from media. In collaboration with WGBH, she is a principal investigator (PI) of several National Science Foundation initiatives that support children’s computational thinking. As co-PI of Ruff Family Science, she is informing a program model for intergenerational science learning.
Lavigne brings expertise with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research using descriptive, experimental, and quasi-experimental methods. Drawing from this experience, she contributes to studies for the Regional Educational Laboratories. She is also a certified reviewer for the What Works Clearinghouse.
Before joining EDC, Lavigne was the director of education at WGBY Public Television, where she oversaw projects focused on PreK–12 education and teacher professional development.
Lavigne holds a PhD and MS in Developmental Psychology with a concentration in Quantitative Methodology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and an MEd in Technology in Education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.