Amy Marcetti Topper

  • Program Evaluation and Assessment Specialist
  • Student Learning, Outcomes Assessment, and Accreditation
  • Phone: 401.874.9127
  • Email: atopper@uri.edu
  • Office Location: Tyler Hall

Biography

Amy Marcetti Topper supports the execution of campus-wide reporting on assessment, including assisting with the development and implementation of systems for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to student learning and program reporting performance to ensure alignment with institutional goals. She works with undergraduate, graduate, and general education program faculty to advance an effective and meaningful university-wide assessment process. Prior to her work at URI, Amy managed and collaborated on numerous quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies examining higher education outcomes for the U.S. Department of Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lumina Foundation for Education, the National Education Association, the Community College Research Center, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Amy has authored and co-authored papers published in Teachers College Record, Review of Educational Research, Journal of Education Policy, Journal of School Choice, The Almanac of Higher Education, and Education Policy Analysis Archives. She has also contributed to numerous national reports and policy briefs and presented research at national and international conferences (American Educational Research Association, Association for the Study of Higher Education, Comparative and International Education Society, Student Financial Aid Research Network, Human Development and Capability Association).

Education

  • Ph.D., Education Policy and Evaluation (specialization: Higher Education), Arizona State University
  • M.A., Leadership in Teaching, College of Notre Dame of Maryland
  • B.A., Philosophy and the History of Mathematics and Science, St. John’s College

Selected Publications

  • Topper, A. M. (2019). More than a number: A capabilities framework for conceptualizing community college success. Teachers College Record, 19(1). Available at: http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=22444
  • Fischman, G. E., Topper, A. M., Silova, I., Goebel, J., & Holloway, J. (2018). The influence of international large-scale educational assessments on national policies. Journal of Education Policy. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2018.1460493
  • Fischman, G. E., Sahlberg. P., Silova, I., & Topper, A. M. (2018). International large-scale student assessments and their impact on national school reforms, in Sutter, L. (Ed.) Handbook of Comparative Studies in Education. London, U.K.: Sage Publisher.
  • Topper, A. M., & Howard, M. (2017, August 22). A comparison of federally funded sample surveys on postsecondary education: Areas of alignment and variation. National Postsecondary Education Cooperative, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. Available at https://nces.ed.gov/npec/pdf/NPEC-S_Sample_Survey_Comparison.pdf