Before joining WolfBrown as a Research Associate, Jena Gu contributed to research and evaluation projects at WestEd, where she contributed to two studies examining literacy instruction, social-emotional learning, educational technology, and program implementation. Her work combines qualitative and quantitative methods to help educators and organizations understand how programs are experienced in practice and how they can better support learners.
Selected Publications & Presentations
- Jo, I. Y., Gu, J., & Ciancio, D. (2025). Sunshine Phonics Digital Decodables: Promising early results from an implementation study. WestEd.
- Nilsen, K., Gu, J., Cazarez, D., &; Ciancio, D. (2024). Impact and Implementation Evaluation of the Find Your Grind Program. WestEd. Learn more here.
- Miskell, R. C., Ciancio, D., Gu, J., & Erby, L. (2025). Newsela’s impact on social studies instruction: A study in the Red Clay School District. WestEd. Learn more here.
- Harris, C. J., Billman, A., Damelin, D., Triant, J., McKinney, D., Gu, J., Barrett, D., Brodsky, L., & Chan, M. (2025, December). Anchoring research in elementary classrooms: Designing and studying formative assessment bundling literacy and elementary science [Poster presentation]. Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Principal Investigators Meeting, Washington, D.C.
