Dr. Julie Oxenford‐O’Brian is the Co-Director of the Center for Practice Engaged Educational Research, Executive Director of Assessment and Program Improvement, and an Associate Research professor in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver. As C-PEER Co-Director, she works with practitioners to identify/define problems of practice, and then to implement quality “on the ground” research to create and validate solutions for those problems. She also provides leadership for SEHD in instructional assessment, data collection and analysis for program improvement, and external program accreditation and teaches research methods for the Educational Doctorate. Her research and technical assistance to educational organizations focuses on the following: improvement planning, accountability, data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement, the Colorado Growth Model, classroom and formative assessment, teacher evaluation, standards implementation (e.g., aligning curriculum and assessment) competency-based education and program improvement.