People

Research Assistants

  • Katherine Canon

    Research Assistant, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Katherine Canon is a graduate assistant at the National Center on Performance Incentives and is a master's of public policy student in Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. Katherine earned a B.S. in elementary education and human and organizational development from Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. She was an elementary teacher in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools for seven years prior to beginning her master's degree.

  • Kelly Fork

    Research Assistant, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Kelly Fork is a graduate assistant for the National Center on Performance Incentives and is currently a master’s student in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. She earned a B.S. in international relations from the United States Military Academy at West Point and her M.S. in engineering management from the University of Missouri at Rolla. Ms. Fork served in the U.S. Army for six years in the Corps of Engineers with various assignments around the world.

  • Brian McInnis

    Research Assistant, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Brian McInnis is a graduate assistant for the National Center on Performance Incentives and is currently engaged in his master's of public policy program at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. From 2005 to 2006, he served as the first student appointee to the California State Preschool through Postsecondary (P-16) Education Council. Mr. McInnis earned his B.A. in Economics and History from the University of California at Davis, and immediately after graduation worked as a senior analyst for the University of California Office of the President.

  • Xiao (Art) Peng

    Research Assistant, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Art Peng is a graduate assistant for the National Center on Performance Incentives and is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. Mr. Peng received a bachelor's degree in Economics through a special joint program operated by the University of Colorado at Denver and the China Agricultural University. He earned an M.A. in Economics and an M.A. in Statistics from the University of Missouri-Columbia where he was a graduate research assistant in the Economic and Policy Analysis Research Center. Mr. Peng’s research interests and experience include studying the economics of education, higher education policy, and estimating school and teacher productivity.

  • Kurt Scheib

    Research Assistant, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Kurt A. Scheib is a graduate assistant for the National Center on Performance Incentives and a Ph.D. student in the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. He is also a pre-doctoral fellow in the Experimental Education Research Training (ExpERT) program of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Mr. Scheib’s research interests include public school resource allocation and utilization, education equity and adequacy, funding formulae, and schools of choice. He currently serves as a research assistant for Prof. Dale Ballou. From 2002-2004, Mr. Scheib served as a Teach for America corps member in Baltimore City. More recently, he was a teacher and business manager at KIPP Academy Charter School in the South Bronx. Scheib received a BA in economics from Dickinson College, an MA in economics from Vanderbilt University’s Graduate Program in Economic Development (GPED), and an MTS (Master of Theological Studies) from Vanderbilt Divinity School.

  • Jeffrey A. Springer

    Research Assistant, National Center on Performance Incentives

    Jeff Springer is a graduate assistant for the National Center on Performance Incentives and is currently a Ph.D. student in the Leadership, Policy and Organizations department at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. His research interests include performance-based compensation and Information Technology (IT) in both American and international K-12 public education. He currently serves as a research assistant to Dr. James W. Guthrie. Mr. Springer previously worked in early-stage IT venture capital, strategic consulting, buy-side asset management, and investment banking. He holds an MBA from Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management and a BA in Politics from Princeton University.


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