Alexander Kurz
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Phone: 480 965 7690
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MLFTC Farmer (ED) 342 B Tempe, AZ 85287-2111
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Mail code: 1811Campus: Tempe
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Alexander Kurz is an Associate Research Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation at Arizona State University and a Senior Fellow at the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE). He also serves as Director of the Arizona Practitioner-Researcher Educational Partnership (AzPREP) Office and the Applied Data Analysis and Visualization (ADAV) internship program.
A native of Germany, Professor Kurz earned his PhD in Special Education from Vanderbilt University in 2011. His research on opportunity to learn (OTL), instructional coaching, and educational accessibility has appeared in journals including Exceptional Children, Educational Assessment, and the Journal of Special Education, and has earned Article of the Year from Assessment for Effective Intervention. He co-edited two accessibility handbooks and developed three educational technologies—MyiLOGS, Classpath, and ReadyCoach—two of which are commercially licensed.
Over the past 15 years, he has secured more than $56 million in external funding from agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education, IES, OSEP, NSF, USAID, and the U.S. Department of State, as well as non-profits such as the Gates Foundation, the Oak Foundation, and United Way. He received ASU's 2026 Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research by the Career Faculty Association.
PhD Special Education (Interdisciplinary Program in Educational Psychology), Vanderbilt University 2011
MEd Special Education (Applied Behavior Analysis Certification Program), Vanderbilt University 2007
Professor Kurz's research advances opportunity to learn (OTL) as a lens for improving educational outcomes for students with and without disabilities, extending from classroom-level measurement and instructional coaching to system-level evidence and public data infrastructure. His work spans educational measurement, instructional coaching, accessibility, and researcher-practitioner partnerships (RPPs), and he has developed both validated instruments and educational technologies, including MyiLOGS, Classpath, and ReadyCoach, to put that research into practice at scale.
Over the past 15 years, he has secured more than $56 million in external funding for research conducted with local, state, federal, and international agencies, including IES, OSEP, NSF, USAID, the U.S. Department of State, the Gates Foundation, and the Oak Foundation. He has led federally funded projects on school improvement in Title I schools, OTL and student growth, formative assessment of teacher instruction, instructional coaching for early reading, and human capital management systems. He has also led research and evaluation efforts for local non-profits, including Valley of the Sun United Way and the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, as well as international partners, including the Kingdom of Morocco through a USAID-funded higher education partnership.
Presently, he leads the Math Hub at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, an expert-guided resource that addresses K-12 math education by drawing on current research, policy, and practice; and co-leads the Unlocking Potential initiative, which has produced a fifty-year national dataset on students served under IDEA.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Kurz, A., Reichenberg, R. E., Elliott, S. N., & Yel, N. (2020). Opportunity-to-learn performance levels and achievement gains for students with and without disabilities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 94, 1-11.
Kurz, A., Reddy, L. A., & Glover, T. A. (2017). A multidisciplinary framework of instructional coaching. Theory Into Practice, 56, 66-77.
Kurz, A., Elliott, S. N., Lemons, C. J., Zigmond, N., Kloo, A., & Kettler, R. J. (2014). Assessing opportunity-to-learn for students with and without disabilities. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 40(1), 24-39. (CEC Article of the Year)
Kurz, A., Elliott, S. N., Kettler, R. J., & Yel, N. (2014). Assessing students' opportunity to learn the intended curriculum using an online teacher log: Initial validity evidence. Educational Assessment, 19(3), 159-184.
Kurz, A., Elliott, S. N., Wehby, J. H., & Smithson, J. L. (2010). Alignment of the intended, planned, and enacted curriculum in general and special education and its relation to student achievement. Journal of Special Education, 44(3), 131-145.
Selected Book Chapters
Kurz, A. (2018). Confronting the known unknown: How the concept of opportunity to learn can advance Tier 1 instruction. In S. N. Elliott, R. J. Kettler, P. A. Beddow, & A. Kurz (Eds.), Handbook of Accessible Instruction and Testing Practices (pp. 135-156). New York: Springer.
Kurz, A. (2011). Access to what should be taught and will be tested: Students' opportunity to learn the intended curriculum. In S. N. Elliott, R. J. Kettler, P. A. Beddow, & A. Kurz (Eds.), Handbook of Accessible Achievement Tests for All Students (pp. 99-129). New York: Springer.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Research Reports and Policy Briefs
Kurz, A., & Campbell, S. (2026). Navigating the Math Wars: A Practical Guide to the Divides and Debates Influencing Math Instruction. Center on Reinventing Public Education.
Kurz, A., Campbell, S., De Araujo, Z., Jackson, C., Koellner, K., & Berry, R. Q. (2025). Access to Qualified Math Teachers for All Students. Center on Reinventing Public Education.
- Kurz, Alexander (Co-PI); Lake, R. (PI). Unlocking Potential: An Evidence-Building Agenda for Students with Learning Differences. OAK FOUNDATION (10/1/2024 – present).
- Kurz, Alexander (Co-PI); Lake, R. (PI). Math Research and Evidence Hub. GATES FOUNDATION (1/1/2023 – present).
- Glover, T.A., Reddy, L.A., Kurz, Alexander. Data-Driven Instructional Coaching Model to Guide Teachers' Support of Students with Early Reading Difficulties (DDICM). OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPT. OF EDUCATION (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2025).
- Kurz, Alexander; Oakes, W.P.; Pinkerton, T.; Thompson, N. Virtual Exchange: Future Educators for Inclusion (FEFI). U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (7/1/2023 – 1/24/2025).
- Thompson, N.; Oakes, W.P.; Kurz, Alexander. Higher Education Partnership Morocco (HEP-M). USAID (10/1/2021 – 9/30/2024).
- Kurz, Alexander; Glover, T.A.; Reddy, L.A.; Elliott, S.N. Technology-Supported Behavioral Support Coaching: Project Select-Support-Succeed (ReadyCoach). OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPT. OF EDUCATION (10/1/2017 – 9/30/2023).
- Kurz, Alexander; Judson, E.; Barnard, W. Arizona K-8 Consortium: Building CS and CT Capacity in Rural K-8 Education. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2023
Courses
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 707 | Proposal Writing |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 707 | Proposal Writing |
Selected Presentations
Kurz, A. (2025, September 15). The math wars: A guide to the divides and debates influencing math instruction [Invited presentation]. Gates Foundation. Washington, D.C.
Kurz, A. (2025, January 28). Driving effective interventions: Practical insights for multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) and special education professionals [Invited presentation]. PIVOT Center, University of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT.
Kurz, A., Oakes, W. P., Pinkerton, T., & Thompson, N. L. (2023, October 24). Growing the social networks of Moroccan teacher preparation actors for increased collaboration [Conference session]. Ireland International Conference on Education. Dún Laoghaire, Ireland.
Kurz, A., Reddy, L. A., Glover, T. A., & Mazzariello, G. (2023, July 24). Use of a coaching technology platform for supporting student behavior [Conference session]. OSEP Leadership and Project Director Conference. Washington, D.C.
Elliott, S. N., Kurz, A., Yel, N., & Tindal, G. (2017, April 27). Mathematics content aligned or not and test performances of students with disabilities [Paper presentation]. National Council on Measurement in Education Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX.
Kurz, A. (2012, May). Using teacher logs to measure opportunity to learn in the context of special education: Conceptual and methodological challenges and empirical findings [Paper presentation]. Educational Testing Service Research and Policy Forum. Princeton, NJ.
Selected Awards
Outstanding Contributions in Research Award. Career Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions in Entrepreneurial Research (ASU, 2026).
Tableau Fellow, Tableau Data Fellow for Data Visualization to Support Data-Based Decision Making and Continuous Improvement (Tableau Foundation, 2015).
Article of the Year, Editorial Board Award for Assessment for Effective Intervention (Council for Exceptional Children, 2015).
Bonsal Applied Education Research Award, Award for Research and Development of Educational Technology with Large-Scale Application K-12 (Vanderbilt University, 2011)
Selected Service
Lead, Continuous Improvement Topical Action Group (TAG), MLFC (2021–Present)
Directs college-wide continuous improvement efforts, translating improvement science and data visualization into faculty-facing dashboards for program assessment and student support.
Director, Arizona Practitioner-Researcher Educational Partnership (AzPREP) Office (2013–Present)
Connects schools and community organizations to ASU research expertise; has fielded 27 distinct district and community inquiries since founding.
Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Special Education Scientific Peer Review Panel (2022–2023)
Reviewer for grant applications submitted to the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER).
Guest Editor, Assessment for Effective Intervention (2017–2018)
Special issue on informing school practices and teacher evaluation via formative assessment.