NANCY KOBER is an editorial consultant at the George Washington University, where she edits and writes reports, articles, and other publications for the Graduate School of Education and Human Resources and writes, edits, and conducts policy analysis and research for the Center on Education Policy. At the time she wrote this book, Kober was a freelance writer, editor, and consultant specializing in education, with extensive experience translating research findings into plain language. Her numerous publications include dozens of reports for the Center on Education Policy, a chapter in Narrowing the Achievement Gap published by the Harvard Education Press, a book on family literacy issued by the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, and reports for the U.S. Department of Education. She assisted in editing and writing reports for the Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council (NRC) and for several NRC committees, including the Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning. Kober has taught writing to federal executives, including senior researchers and leaders at federal science mission agencies. Previously she served as a legislative specialist for a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on education. She has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a master’s degree in writing from the University of Virginia.