Lenay Dunn

Overview

Over her 20 years of experience in education research, Lenay Dunn has developed expertise in mixed-methods research, program evaluation, policy implementation, technical assistance, and research use. As a Senior Research Director on the Research–Practice Partnerships team, she fosters knowledge exchange and evidence use with and between state education agencies, local education agencies, institutions of higher education, and other education partners. She helps partners develop, select, and use evidence to make decisions; guide implementation; and improve educational systems, opportunities, and outcomes.

Dunn leads research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects on topics including early literacy, school improvement, postsecondary access and success, chronic absence, and teacher recruitment and retention. From 2019-2025 she served as Deputy Director for the Regional Educational Laboratory West (REL West), providing leadership to REL West’s portfolio of applied research and analytic technical assistance supports to education partners in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah to use research, data, and evidence to improve outcomes. She has led the development of research and evidence-based frameworks and tools, in partnership with practitioners, to guide evidence-informed improvements. For example, she coauthored the Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement, a widely used framework to inform systemic improvement efforts.

Before joining WestEd, Dunn served as the Director of Research and Evaluation for a unit at Arizona State University and as a Research Analyst at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). Dunn entered the education field as a teacher and spent several years leading school and university-based programs focused on ensuring all students have access to opportunities and supports to help them succeed.

Education

• PhD in education policy, Arizona State University 
• MA in social sciences in education, Stanford University 
• BA in women’s studies, University of Arizona 
• Certificate in applied project management, Northwestern University 

Select Publications

Barrat., V. X., Dunn, L., Quach, A., Perrault, P., Lent Morales, K. & Hickox, I. (2025). Still missing too much school: A follow-up analysis of Arizona chronic absence trends in grades 1-8 [Research brief]. Helios Education Foundation & WestEd.

Powell, K., Stackhouse, S., Le Fevre, L., & Dunn, L. (2023). Strategies and practices to close the gender-based achievement gap in Florida [Research brief]. Helios Education Foundation & WestEd. 

Barrat., V. X., Ambroso, E., Zhu, N., Berliner, B., Cook, M., Dunn, L., Perrault, P., & Hickox, I. (2022). Missing too much school: Trends in K–8 chronic absenteeism in Arizona during the pandemic [Research brief]. Helios Education Foundation & WestEd. 

VanGronigen, B. A., Meyers, C. V., Scott, C., Fantz, T., & Dunn, L. D. (2022). Soliciting, vetting, monitoring, and evaluating: A study of state education agencies’ use of external providers for school improvement efforts. Journal of Educational Change, 23, 1–32.  

Barrat, V. X., & Dunn, L. (2020). Progress of Arizona kindergarteners toward English proficiency in grade 3 by English learner student classification. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory West. 

Redding, S., McCauley, C., Ryan Jackson, K., & Dunn, L. (2018). Four domains for rapid school improvement: Indicators of effective practice (The Center on School Turnaround Four Domains Series). Center on School Turnaround at WestEd. 

Hale, S., Dunn, L., Filby, N., Rice, J., & Van Houten, L. (2017). Evidence-based improvement: A guide for states to strengthen their frameworks and supports aligned to the evidence requirements of ESSA. WestEd. 

Meyers, C. V., Redding, S., Hitt, D. H., McCauley, C., Dunn, L., Chapman, K., et al. (2017). Four domains for rapid school improvement: A systems framework (The Center on School Turnaround Four Domains Series). Center on School Turnaround at WestEd.

Scott, C., Dunn, L., & McCauley, C. (2017). Reframing turnaround: From a school initiative to a system initiative. In C. Meyers & M. Darwin (Eds.), Enduring myths of school turnaround. Information Age Publishing. 

Honors, Awards, and Affiliations

Anchor Partner and Steering Committee Member, Knowledge Broker Network, Center for Research Use in Education, 2023–Present

Member, Arizona Chronic Absence Task Force, 2023–Present

Chair, First Things First—Arizona Early Childhood Development & Health Board, East Maricopa Regional Partnership Council, 2023–Present, (Vice Chair, 2020–2023, Member 2018–Present)

Member, Equitable and Inclusive Practices Advisory Council, Arizona Department of Education, 2019–2022

Fellow, Flinn-Brown Fellowship for Civic Leadership, 2017

Chair/Program Chair, School Turnaround and Reform Special Interest Group, American Educational Research Association, 2016–2018

Member, WestEd Institutional Review Board, 2016–Present

Recent Media Appearances

• Experts say Arizona schools are still struggling with chronic absenteeism, KJZZ, February 24, 2025
• Chronic absenteeism escalated during pandemic, Navajo Times, 2023 
• A lost year could put Arizona’s 3rd graders further behind, Arizona Republic, March 3, 2021 (paywall)
• Ways for Districts to Meet ESSA’s Research Requirements on Deadline, EdWeek, March 13, 2018