Sola Takahashi is a Senior Research Associate with the Improvement Science program and leads WestEd’s improvement analytics work. Currently, Sola leads the Math Practical Measurement project to gather, develop, and support the use of “practical measurement” to advance equity in middle grades math instruction. She also provides continuous improvement training and support for many other improvement projects including early grade literacy and teacher preparation programs, and she focuses on the intersection of improvement science methods and advancing educational equity. 

For over a decade Sola has led large-scale efforts to develop and use measurement to improve educational systems through a continuous improvement approach. A seasoned designer and facilitator of trainings, she integrates continuous improvement methods into a wide range of coaching, technical assistance, and research. Her work is informed by the years she served as a public school teacher in the Bay Area.

Sola received her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, her master’s in education from the University of California at Berkeley, and her bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.