Leigh S. McCallen, Ph.D.

Director of Research and Evaluation at College Access: Research and Action (CARA)

Leigh is responsible for conducting impact evaluation of CARA’s programs and leading research projects that translate CARA’s work to practitioner, policy, and academic audiences. She brings expertise in using quantitative, qualitative, and participatory approaches to examine key issues in equitable higher education access and success. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Vassar College and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY). Prior to joining CARA, Leigh worked in various capacities across the CUNY system, including as an analyst at Institutional Research and as a research associate with the Center for Teaching and Learning at Queens College. 

Janice Bloom, Ph.D.

Co-director, College Access: Research and Action (CARA)

Janice has been involved in urban school reform in New York City for the past twenty years as a teacher, staff developer, researcher and professor of educational studies. After starting her career as a teacher at Central Park East Secondary School, one of New York City’s early small public high schools, she earned a Ph.D. in Urban Education from the CUNY Graduate Center. She was an assistant professor at Eugene Lang College/The New School and has been a teacher-mentor and school design coach with organizations such as New Visions for Public Schools and the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA), where she has helped to design classrooms and schools, and nurture educators, for inquiry-based teaching and learning. Her research and writing has focused on the transition of small school students to higher education.