Mark Berends is the Hackett Family Director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame. He is also a professor of sociology and directs the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity (CREO). He has written and published extensively on educational reform, school choice, the effects of family and school changes on student achievement trends and gaps, and the effects of schools and classrooms on student outcomes. His research focuses on how school organization and classroom instruction are related to student development, with special attention to underserved students and school reforms aimed at reducing educational inequalities. Within this agenda, he has applied a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods to understanding the effects of school reforms on students, teachers, and schools.

Barbara Schneider is the John A. Hannah University Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and the Department of Sociology. She uses a sociological lens to understand societal conditions and interpersonal interactions that create norms and values for enhancing human and social capital. Her research focuses on how the social contexts of schools and families influence the academic and social well-being of adolescents as they move into adulthood. In her career, Schneider has also played a significant role in the development of research methods for the real-time measurement of learning experiences. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Academy of Education, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and, most recently, was elected to the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. Stephen Lamb is Emeritus Professor of Education at Victoria University, in Australia. He was formerly Director of the Centre for International Research on Education Systems. Lamb has worked on a wide range of international and national projects on school funding, performance of schools and school systems, factors influencing student achievement, and social differences in school to work transition. His research is concerned with how well schools and education systems work, for whom, and why.