Susan Lyons

SUSAN LYONS, Ph.D., is committed to transforming traditional assessment systems to better serve the needs of students, educators, and the public. As the Principal Consultant at Lyons Assessment Consulting, Susan works alongside innovators to advance theory and practice in educational measurement.

Susan holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Math Education from Boston University and served as a math educator before pursuing her graduate work. She received her master’s and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a focus on Research, Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics from the University of Kansas while working at KU’s Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation and the Center for Research on Learning. After completing her doctoral studies, Susan worked as an associate at the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, where she partnered with states and national organizations to promote quality in educational assessment and accountability systems. In 2019, Susan launched Lyons Assessment Consulting, which quickly became a leader in supporting innovation in educational assessment and accountability. Lyons Assessment Consulting services include supporting the strategic design of assessment and accountability systems, leading research, and serving as technical advisors to large and complex projects.

Though she primarily works as a practitioner, Susan remains active in writing and publishing. She frequently releases white papers documenting her applied work, publishes in peer-reviewed journals, and presents at professional conferences.

In late 2020, Susan co-founded Women in Measurement, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing gender and racial equity in the field. Since its launch, she has served as the organization’s Executive Director, ushering it through the start-up phase to its now prominent position as a fixture within the measurement community, offering support for more than a thousand women in our field.