Dr. Reino Makkonen

Reino Makkonen is a Senior Research Manager with two decades of experience studying teacher workforce patterns and school and district leadership across Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. His work involves evaluating educator development programs via quasi-experimental research designs and integrated quantitative and qualitative methods, often including validating interview, survey, and observational measures. His recent technical assistance efforts with state and district partners have focused on developing logic models and theories of change for new educator support initiatives, designing implementation and formative evaluation plans to monitor early indicators, and expanding the use and application of research evidence.

Prior to joining WestEd, Makkonen spent several years developing, implementing, and studying early literacy curricula with Houghton Mifflin. He holds a masters degree in educational policy analysis from Harvard University and a doctorate in educational measurement and evaluation from the University of California Berkeley.