Edynn Sato is Associate Director for the Assessment and Standards Development Services (ASDS) program at WestEd. In addition to contributing to program oversight and direction, she serves as the Director of Research and English Language Learner Assessment in ASDS and the Director of Special Populations for the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC).

Sato's areas of focus include large-scale, test development (formative, summative) for general education, ELL students, and students with disabilities; alignment and linkage studies; frameworks for standards development and implementation; and research in emerging areas related to the assessment and accountability of ELL students and students with disabilities (e.g., academic language, access, accommodations) that impact policy and practice.

Prior to joining WestEd, Sato worked in various academic, nonprofit, small for-profit, Fortune 500, and Internet-based organizations. She served as lecturer in the College of Education at San Jose State University, teaching courses on assessment and evaluation and the psychological foundations of education; and Executive Editor at LeapFrog SchoolHouse, overseeing the content development of a technology-based, interactive product for students in grades K-5 that integrated formative assessment and differentiated instruction.

She also was Director of Education and Measurement at eSCORE.com, managing the development and implementation of online assessments and educational content for students in grades 2-8, as well as child development and motivation content for parents; Program Developer at SCORE! Education, creating educational products and programs targeting at-risk, urban students in grades K-12; and Development Supervisor at CTB/McGraw-Hill, overseeing the development of several high-stakes statewide standardized assessments and their ancillary materials.

Sato was a researcher at UCLA’s Center for the Study of Evaluation/CRESST, where she was involved in various evaluation projects and the research and development of large-scale performance-based assessments in English, language arts and social studies, as well as assessments related to language development.

She also worked as a consultant in her own company, where her projects focused on product evaluation and assessment design and development.

She received a BA in multidisciplinary studies (elementary education) from Santa Clara University, and an MA and PhD in educational psychology from UCLA.