Designing and Scaling Research-Informed Academic Systems

Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy, Ed.D., provides executive-level leadership for complex arts education initiatives that integrate curriculum, assessment, research, and professional learning. Her work spans independent schools, national nonprofit organizations, and large-scale educational systems, with a consistent focus on rigor, equity, and long-term sustainability.

Across roles, she has built and strengthened academic systems that serve tens of thousands of students, support distributed educator networks, and align research with measurable institutional outcomes.

National Program Leadership

As Director II for AP Art and Design at the College Board, Rebecca leads curriculum, assessment, and research translation for a global program serving more than 85,000 students annually.

Her leadership includes:

  • Overseeing the evaluation of 82,000+ student portfolios each year, partnering with psychometricians to ensure validity, reliability, and equitable assessment practices

  • Co-directing a fully digital national Reading of approximately 400 secondary and postsecondary educators

  • Designing governance and performance frameworks for national educator committees, formalizing accountability and decision-making systems

  • Developing internationally adopted curriculum frameworks and professional learning models

  • Driving 120% growth in 3-D Art and Design participation and 24% overall program growth

Most notably, she conceived and scaled the AP Art and Design Exhibit, transforming assessment into an internationally recognized public-facing research and thought leadership initiative that elevates student voice and advances the visibility of arts education nationally.

Systems Strategy & Institutional Sustainability

Rebecca integrates strategic planning, governance design, and performance systems to ensure institutional coherence and long-term viability.

Her systems leadership includes:

  • Developing multi-year strategic growth plans across independent school and national contexts

  • Advising executive and board leadership on academic strategy, assessment integrity, and sustainability

  • Designing accountability and evaluation frameworks that support continuous improvement

  • Leading cross-functional teams spanning research, technology, and publications divisions in distributed environments

Within independent school settings, she directed capital and operating budgets, aligned program growth with enrollment strategy, and partnered with advancement teams to support donor cultivation and capital initiatives. She also led revenue-generating academic and summer programs designed for long-term financial sustainability.

Her work consistently aligns mission, academic rigor, and operational stewardship.

Research Translation & Field-Level Impact

Rebecca’s leadership is grounded in research and systems improvement science. She advances a model in which assessment, professional learning, and governance operate as integrated systems.

Her impact includes:

  • Partnering with research teams to design and interpret validity studies informing instructional practice and policy

  • Developing research-informed curriculum frameworks adopted internationally

  • Building scalable digital ecosystems supporting distributed educator communities

  • Presenting nationally on assessment integrity, inquiry-based learning, and systems improvement

Through this work, she strengthens arts education as a rigorous, research-informed discipline with measurable impact for educators and students.

Distributed & Digital Leadership

Rebecca leads at scale in fully digital and geographically distributed environments. She integrates research, technology, and professional learning to ensure consistency, quality, and collaboration across national networks.

Her experience managing large-scale virtual evaluation systems and distributed educator communities informs her belief that digital infrastructure, when thoughtfully designed, can expand equitable access and support sustainable field-level growth.

Rebecca’s leadership reflects a commitment to disciplined strategy, ethical stewardship, and measurable impact. She welcomes collaboration with institutions and organizations seeking to design research-informed, financially sustainable systems that advance the field of arts education.