Burstein Research

Hi, I'm Rachel Burstein, an independent education researcher and writer. What I do: I take on small-scale, user-centered research and writing projects. My research enables organizations to make better products, improve practice, and advocate for better policies. Who I work with: I work with educational organizations, nonprofits, philanthropic organizations, media outlets, edtech companies, and others who have interesting questions and a desire to see them fully investigated. Here's more about me: Rachel has long experience in the education and research worlds. Before striking out on her own, Rachel led a variety of early childhood and K-12 research projects at EdSurge Research. Rachel previously worked in research roles at New America where she studied civic innovation in local government; and at Ithaka where she studied university libraries, research practices and digital initiatives in scholarly publishing. In addition, Rachel co-led the development of U.S. history and civics content at IXL Learning and taught history courses at Brooklyn College. Rachel holds a PhD in U.S. labor history from the CUNY Graduate Center and a BA in history from Swarthmore College. Learn more at