Charlie Barone, Ph.D.

Charles Barone is the Senior Director of the Center for Innovation. Immediately prior to NPU, Barone led K-12 policy for Democrats for Education Reform for over 16 years. He has been a central player in most major federal education reforms of the past 25 years including President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, No Child Left Behind, and the Every Student Succeeds Act. Barone’s work on education over more than three decades has spanned direct service, research, policy, and advocacy. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, trade publications, and mainstream media outlets. His commentary on education policy and politics has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio and in trade publications such Politico, National Journal, and Education Week. Barone was a top education advisor to the late Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) and to former Chair of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, George Miller (D-CA). Before his work on Capitol Hill, Charles was a postdoctoral fellow in the department of psychology at Yale University. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical/community psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park and resides in southern New Jersey where his twins are enrolled in a public middle school.