Heather Staker is a Senior Research Fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute and one of the world’s foremost experts on K-12 blended learning. She is widely recognized for her work identifying and defining the most common models of blended learning and continues to contribute to the national dialogue on education reform.

Heather is the co-author of Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools (San Francisco: Wiley, 2015). Her other research publications include the seminal paper “The rise of K-12 blended learning,” an assessment of 40 of the most prominent blended learning programs in the U.S., as well as “Classifying K-12 blended learning,” a comprehensive analysis of the salient distinctions between blended learning models. Her most recent paper, “Is K-12 blended learning disruptive?,” which she co-authored with Clayton M. Christensen and Michael B. Horn, makes predictions about the future of America’s classrooms. Her other research topics include competency-based learning, digital learning policy, and the expansion of high-speed broadband access.

Heather testifies regularly at state legislative sessions and is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist at education conferences around the country. Her favorite assignment is training education leaders how to develop high-impact technology investments centered on high-quality blended learning.

Prior to joining the Christensen Institute, Heather served under Governor Pete Wilson’s administration as a member of the California State Board of Education. She was a teaching fellow at Harvard College and a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Company. She graduated from Harvard College and received an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. She is the mother of five pre-K and elementary school students.