Cindy Jiban, PhD

Cindy Jiban's work in research, assessment, and professional development focuses on students’ acquisition of foundational literacy and numeracy. Cindy was both a classroom teacher and a special educator before earning her Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota. After contributions at the Research Institute on Progress Monitoring, National Center on Educational Outcomes, and Minnesota Center for Reading Research, Cindy served as Principal Academic Lead at NWEA until 2023. While there, she led the content design of an award-winning early literacy assessment with research-based instructional connections. Her ongoing work to distill and translate research for practicing educators has helped accelerate commitment to evidence-based practices, most notably in the area of the science of reading.