Elizabeth Iris Rivera Rodas is an associate professor of quantitative research methods in the Department of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University's College of Education and Human Services. She holds a joint PhD in urban systems with a concentration in urban educational policy and in management with a concentration in economics from Rutgers University - Newark, an MS in social research from Hunter College, CUNY, and a BA in economics from Barnard College, Columbia University. Dr. Rivera Rodas began her career as an education researcher and completed a two-year data fellowship through Harvard University's Strategic Data Project in a northern New Jersey urban district. Before beginning her doctoral work, she was the director of research, evaluation, and policy at the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), where she designed and implemented several evaluation studies of NACME programs and served as a member to the board of directors for the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology. Her appointment at NACME followed several years of research experience, the last two as a research analyst at SRI International's Center for Education Policy in Washington, DC. As an economist of education, Dr. Rivera Rodas' scholarly interests involve the economics of urban education, residential and school segregation, and teacher quality.