Alicia Espinoza, MA, is the project lead for the Iowa Equitable Instruction Project under the Region 9 Comprehensive Center and a senior technical assistance consultant at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). In her Region 9 Comprehensive Center role, she helps build the Iowa Department of Education’s capacity to support districts as they implement, monitor, and continuously improve equitable instructional practices to support increased student achievement.
Espinoza brings more than 20 years of experience as a former teacher, teacher leader, and director, of which the last 15 years have been focused on leading teams through comprehensive school improvement efforts. Her expertise lies in providing professional learning and coaching to teacher leaders, school administrators, and district leaders through the implementation of evidence-based practices in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, designed to meet the needs of chronically low-performing and historically marginalized student populations.
Espinoza has served as a technical assistance consultant for several federally funded programs, including the State Support Network and the Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant. In both roles, she helped facilitate connections across state education agencies while increasing knowledge and skills in specific areas such as school improvement, comprehensive needs assessments, progress monitoring, and program coherence.
Espinoza received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California Riverside and a master’s degree in curriculum studies from DePaul’s School of Education. In 2002, Espinoza was awarded the Multicultural Urban Professional Educator Award by DePaul’s School of Education for her successful work with at-risk, high-poverty youth and adults.