Grady Deacon specializes in evaluating K–12 education programs and helping education organizations build and use evidence to strengthen their programs.
His work includes impact and implementation studies, evaluation technical assistance, and mixed-methods research, and, in particular, he has experience studying tutoring, education technology, mathematics, and instructional interventions.
At Mathematica, Deacon has led and supported evaluations for philanthropic foundations, school districts, education providers, and the U.S. Department of Education. Currently, he leads studies of AI-based tutoring programs, overseeing quasi-experimental evaluations of program implementation and effectiveness. He has also provided evaluation technical assistance to tutoring and mathematics programs, helping organizations develop research questions and study designs, collect and analyze data, interpret findings, and use evidence to improve programs. In postsecondary education, Deacon has supported research across a portfolio of digital courseware providers, synthesized evidence on how courseware can improve student learning, and led data collection and analysis for an evaluation of a postsecondary courseware provider. His other work includes evaluating a professional development program for K–12 writing instruction and reviewing evidence for the What Works Clearinghouse.
Before joining Mathematica, Deacon taught second grade as a Teach For America corps member and worked on education policy at the College Board and the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He is a certified reviewer in What Works Clearinghouse Group Design Standards Version 5.0 and holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
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