Dr. Molly Faulkner-Bond

Molly Faulkner-Bond is a national leader in policies, programs, and research for multilingual learners. Her work is driven by a commitment to elevating the strengths of multilingual learners and advocating for their right to quality educational experiences. As a Research Director on WestEd’s English Learner and Migrant Education Services team, Faulkner-Bond collaborates with educators, researchers, and communities to conduct high-quality research around multilingual learner education and support educators and leaders to understand, interpret, and act on data and research results. She has collaborated with state education agencies (SEAs) across the country to support them in evaluating, implementing, and updating or changing state-level English learner policies related to language instruction, reclassification, and assessment implementation. She also specializes in coaching education agencies to organize, analyze, and interpret their own student data to answer and act on high-leverage questions of interest. Prior to joining WestEd, Faulkner-Bond was a grant program officer at the Institute of Education Sciences, where she provided technical assistance and monitoring to applicants and recipients of multiyear research grants focused on improving educational opportunities and outcomes for English learners. She has coauthored a book on federal policies affecting English learners; coedited a book on educational measurement and assessment; and coauthored articles, guides, briefs, infographics, and federal reports designed to increase awareness and understanding around data, research results, and best practices for multilingual learners’ education and success.

She holds a PhD in research, educational measurement, and psychometrics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.