Lam Pham, an assistant professor of educational evaluation and policy analysis in the NC State College of Education, has won the Association for Educational Finance and Policy (AEFP) Early Career Award.
The competitive Early Career Award recognizes outstanding researchers based upon factors that include the quality and policy-relevance of their scholarship in the areas of education finance or policy and impact of their scholarship on policy or practice.
“AEFP is my primary professional organization so winning this award is a great sign that my work is respected in the field,” Pham said.
Pham’s research examines policies aimed at building and retaining effective teachers in chronically low-performing schools. He was nominated for the award based, in part, upon his work examining statewide policies in education, including North Carolina’s restart school and the Advanced Teaching Roles program.
The award also recognizes his ongoing partnerships with multiple North Carolina school districts. For example, since 2022, Pham has partnered with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in order to recruit, develop and retain teachers in an effort to improve the district’s 10 lowest performing schools.
More recently, Pham partnered with Rockingham County Schools for a project that will examine the impact of a program that provides principals with extra funding that can be used to recognize teachers who take on extra duties at their schools. Funded by the NC Collaboratory, the project is being co-developed with district administrators and will explore the impact compensation has on teacher retention.
“Research in partnership with educational leaders and policymakers is a core part of my work, and I think the Early Career Award selection committee recognized the importance of research-practice partnerships,” Pham said.