rafaelheller@gmail.com
202-669-1077
based in Washington, DC
About me
I’ve worked in K-12 and higher education for more than 35 years as a teacher, researcher, policy advocate, writer, and editor.
Since 2022, I've been an independent consultant, serving as a writer, editor, and strategic counsel to education advocacy groups, foundations, research centers, and other organizations. (Recent clients have included New America, the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, the National Center on Education and the Economy, and Just Equations.)
From 2016 until 2022, I was the editor-in-chief of Phi Delta Kappan magazine, the nation’s leading forum, since 1916, for informed debate about how best to meet the challenges that face our public schools.
Previously, I was principal policy analyst at Jobs for the Future, where I led efforts to define a new agenda for high school improvement in the post-No Child Left Behind era, and I've also held positions at the Alliance for Excellent Education, the Association for American Colleges and Universities, and elsewhere. Earlier in my career, I spent several years teaching writing, rhetoric, and English, including a stint as professor and English department chair at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador.