As vice president of Research, Evaluation, Evidence and Data at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Stephen Plank balances several responsibilities. These include advancing evidence-based practices; commissioning social policy research; overseeing evaluations of Casey programs and initiatives; supporting innovative research methodologies and data resources; and building local capacity to produce and use data to inform programs, planning and policy reform.
Plank’s expertise — cultivated over 25 years — is in leveraging data, research and evaluation in the areas of education, school improvement and college and career readiness. Additionally, he has collaborated with experts in public health, housing, workforce training and other human service fields.
Prior to joining Casey, Plank served as a managing researcher at the nonprofit American Institutes for Research, one of the largest behavioral and social science research and evaluation organizations in the world. Earlier in his career, Plank directed research and evaluation at the Corporation for National and Community Service — the federal agency that administered AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and the Social Innovation Fund — and spent 18 years as a faculty member and research scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Plank has authored several books and articles in journals including the American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, Journal of Vocational Education Research, Sociology of Education and American Journal of Education. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematical methods in the social sciences and sociology from Northwestern University and master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology from the University of Chicago.