Brooke Sprague
Director of Impact
Brooke ensures Ripple Effect programs and partnerships are informed by current research about science education and develops and maintains systems for evaluation and data collection to inform future programmatic design. She leads efforts to learn from and continuously improve our work, establishing high-level priorities and determining design specifications for curricula and programs. Brooke has worked at the intersection of science and education for over a decade as a museum facilitator, teacher, laboratory manager, and senior science program manager. In her role at Northwestern University’s International Institute for Nanotechnology, she managed a research grant encompassing over 50 scientists from four departments. Most recently, she conceptualized and led the stakeholder-driven, qualitative research process behind Ripple Effect’s 2021 series of reports on water literacy. She received a BA in anthropology from Yale, a multiple subjects teaching credential from UCLA, and a master’s degree from Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy.
Past and Current Projects
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Led curriculum storylining process; contributed to lesson-level development; designed and led student learning evaluation; coordinated and contributed to program evaluation in collaboration with a third-party evaluator; wrote program evaluation report to share findings with a broader audience.
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Led curriculum storylining process; co-led lesson-level development; contributed to lab development; contributed to multi-stakeholder curriculum workshop development; designed curriculum pilot evaluation plan; designed curriculum pilot professional development plan.
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Part of the concept development team for growing this project further.
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Contributed to qualitative research design, implementation, and synthesis; led data analysis and interpretation; contributed to writing development process.
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Contributed to curriculum audit; led evaluation of teacher and student learning of the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices; contributed to curriculum development for localized water literacy mini-units.
Publications & Presentations
Anderson, C., Henderson, J., Johnson, S., Marshall, K., & Sprague, B. (in press). Puddles to Floods: Field-based investigations on flooding in New Orleans. Science & Children.
Anderson, C., Henderson, J., Johnson, S., Marshall, K., & Sprague, B. (2024). Moving Through Uncertainty: Supporting Teachers and Students in Shifting to Inquiry-based Science while Learning about Stormwater Flooding in New Orleans. www.rippleeffectnola.com.
Anderson, C., & Sprague, B. (2021). Water Literacy: A Shared Vision For K–12 Environmental Education. www.rippleeffectnola.com.
Anderson, C., & Sprague, B. (2021). Ripple Effect Water Literacy Stakeholder Reports 1-6. www.rippleeffectnola.com.