Doctoral Candidate 

Arizona State University 

Tara Bartlett is a doctoral candidate in Arizona State University’s Educational Policy and Evaluation program. Her research focuses on participatory governance within school communities, particularly through a student-centered approach. Tara’s research is driven by a passion for integrating opportunities for youth and families to participate in school and district-based decision-making processes and policy creation and adoption. 

Before pursuing a doctoral degree, Tara was a public school educator with 14 years of teaching experience in Arizona Title I middle schools. As an education leader, Tara has been integral in elevating district curriculum and statewide standards initiatives and facilitating professional development opportunities for fellow educators. These experiences, coupled with the observed outcomes of civic action and student voice within the classroom, led Tara to reimagine how K-12 schools can better equip youth with the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practices to become political and civic changemakers within their own communities for the long term. 

Additionally, Tara has experience working on both small and large-scale civic education projects in Arizona, across the US, and internationally. In Arizona, Tara serves as Co-Director of the Arizona Civic Coalition and has been integral to expanding and adopting the proven practices of civic education in Arizona schools. At both the state and regional U.S. levels, Tara coordinates and facilitates several K12 civic learning programs like Project Citizen, Kids Voting AZ, and We the People. Nationally, Tara has worked on several civic research projects, including the Educating for American Democracy project and the Project Citizen Research Program. Internationally, Tara continues to facilitate cross-cultural learning opportunities on citizenship education, public pedagogy, and civic engagement for the U.S. State Department's Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI), the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI), and the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) programs.