Adrienne van der Valk is writer and associate editor for Teaching Tolerance. She has an extensive background in social work, social science research and journalism. Most recently, she was a lead researcher at the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) where she specialized in interventions for student populations traditionally underrepresented in postsecondary education. As a key member of EPIC's research team, she worked with the South Carolina Course Alignment Project and led the Texas College and Career Readiness Initiative and the Generation TX San Antonio project. She also traveled nationally training educators on Common Core State Standards implementation.