Keri D. Ingraham

Dr. Keri D. Ingraham is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and Director of the Institute’s American Center for Transforming Education. She is also a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum.

Dr. Ingraham is a regularly requested guest for national television and podcast interviews, as well as for conference and event speaking engagements. Her articles have been published by The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Federalist, The Washington Times, The Epoch Times, Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire, Real Clear Education, The Daily Signal, National Review, The American Spectator, Daily Caller, and a host of other media outlets. Her work has been featured by Fox News, referenced in The Wall Street Journal, and cited in countless publications.

Dr. Ingraham has received several invitations to the White House, including from President Trump for the signing ceremony to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, meetings with senior advisors, an education, faith, and public policy summit, multiple education roundtables, and as a guest of the First Lady for the Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force Meeting. She is a featured speaker in a White House video and is quoted on the White House website. Dr. Ingraham has advised Cabinet Members, Governors, and Members of the U.S. Congress.

Prior to joining Discovery Institute, Dr. Ingraham spent nearly two decades leading within the field of education as a national consultant, requested conference speaker, head of school, virtual and hybrid academy director, administrator, classroom teacher, and athletic coach. Her areas of education expertise include innovation, thought leadership, research, online learning best practices, customized hybrid program development, business model creation, operations effectiveness, and strategic planning for sustainability and scaling.

She holds a Doctor of Education degree and a Master of Education degree from Regent University. Her Bachelor of Arts degree was awarded by George Fox University, where she was named an Academic All-American and was a four-year athletic team member. In addition, Dr. Ingraham earned an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Professional Certificate from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and the Stanford University School of Engineering.

She authored four chapters in the education policy playbook, Sketching a New Conservative Education Agenda. In 2022, her article “Teacher Certification & Uniform Salary Schedules Hinder Career Technical Education Staffing” won first place nationally in the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s Wonkathon for her innovative education reform policy ideas. In 2019, she was invited as a contributing author for the book, MindShift: Catalyzing Change in Christian Education and co-authored “From Gutenberg to 5G.” As a result of her national conference speaking and noteworthy forward-thinking school leadership, Dr. Ingraham received an invitation to join the MindShift in 2018. As a part of MindShift, she traveled nationally and internationally identifying outliers of excellence and innovation within the field of education.

Dr. Ingraham was awarded the George W. Selig Doctoral Fellowship in 2013. The following year, she received the “World Changer in the Field of Education” award from Regent University. In 2008, she was selected as a “Teacher of Excellence.” Early in her career, she was a state championship winning coach and five-time recipient of “Coach of the Year” honors. Dr. Ingraham is passionate about education preparing students to live, work, and thrive in tomorrow’s world, which will require tremendous and large-scale education transformation.

Archives

Trump Administration Takes Action to Supercharge America’s Talent Pipeline

_{Keri D. Ingraham
January 30, 2026}

America’s workforce crisis is leaving too many young people and adults on the sidelines. According to Nick Moore, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education, “more than one in ten young people aged 16-24 are disconnected from both school and work, while many adults face barriers to reentry due to credential opacity, benefits cliffs, or misalignment between education and employer needs.” This reality underscores the need for a workforce system that delivers clear pathways to skills, credentials, and employment. Thankfully, the Trump administration is taking decisive action to address this through multifaceted measures that merge education and workforce development programs that will provide a …

Why Governors Are Opting-In to School Choice at Record Speed

_{Keri D. Ingraham
January 27, 2026}

It’s National School Choice Week in America, and the advancement of education freedom is sweeping the country. Governors are opting-in their states to the new federal tax credit scholarship at rapid rates. The scholarship allows taxpayers to contribute up to $1,700 per year to a qualified non-profit scholarship-granting organization and receive a nonrefundable dollar-for-dollar tax credit. Organizations like ACE Scholarships award scholarships to K-12 students. Federal tax credit scholarships can be used for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition, fees, books, tutoring, transportation, and services for students with special needs. The landmark legislation was fittingly signed into law on Independence Day last year by President Donald …

Competition Coming for the SAT, ACT, AP, and International Baccalaureate

_{Keri D. Ingraham
January 21, 2026}

For far too long, K-12 education has been dominated by monopolies — the public education system, state standardized testing, the SAT and ACT college entrance exams, Advanced Placement, and the International Baccalaureate program. The result has been soaring educational costs, declining quality, and a lack of innovation, all to the detriment of students nationwide. But one company, Classic Learning Test, is bent on bringing competitive alternatives to break up those monopolies, which have been watered down in quality and infused with woke ideologies. The Classic Learning Test (CLT) “exists to reconnect knowledge and virtue by providing meaningful assessments and connections to seekers of truth, goodness, and beauty.” To the surprise of many, the CLT isn’t just for …

Incentives Are Wrong in Education

_{Keri D. Ingraham
January 12, 2026}

Teachers are incentivized in education to stay in the profession longer through the step-and-lane salary schedule, which gives a raise each year for experience, regardless of professional performance. This creates a system in which individuals are not accountable for proving they are providing student learning. Teacher pay is not linked to student test scores or student growth; rather, it is based on time in the profession. High-achieving individuals enter the profession and find that their hard work and professional results are not rewarded. They often leave the system to pursue a career opportunity in which their job performance is recognized with financial compensation. It’s time the system was flipped so that high performance by educators is incentivized and rewarded. …

Ending the Woke Monopoly: White House Takes Aim at Higher Ed’s Ideological Capture

_{Keri D. Ingraham
December 12, 2025}

Last week, the White House convened an education roundtable with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon titled, “Biased Professors, Woke Administrators, and the End of Free Inquiry on U.S. Campuses.” Secretary McMahon opened the event by stating, “It was an honor to be at the White House today with this dedicated coalition of students, faculty, institutional leaders, and policy advocates to highlight the issue of woke ideology and the capture of our institutions of higher education. DEI policies have turned universities from free marketplaces of ideas to purveyors of manufactured ideological conformity, chilling free speech and undermining academic rigor.” She explained, “We are committed to working with higher education leaders to reverse course …

Trump Admin Delivers on Promise to Dismantle U.S. Department of Education

_{Keri D. Ingraham
November 25, 2025}

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced six interagency agreements (IAAs) with four federal agencies to take another major step forward toward fulfilling the promise of dismantling the 45-year failure of the astronomically expensive and ineffective department. The agreements are with the Department of Labor, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of State. According to a press release from the Department of Education, “by partnering with agencies that are best positioned to deliver results for students and taxpayers, these IAAs will streamline federal education activities on legally required programs, reduce administrative burdens, and refocus programs and activities to better serve students and …

Indiana Is Innovating Education — More Than Any Other State

_{Keri D. Ingraham
October 29, 2025}

On Oct. 17, Indiana submitted a waiver application to the U.S. Department of Education seeking flexibility and a reduction of red tape from Washington. Under the leadership of Gov. Mike Braun and Secretary of Education Katie Jenner, Indiana is innovating K-12 education from all angles, and the rest of the nation should take note. Upon taking office in January, Braun expanded eligibility for the Choice Scholarship Program to all families in the Hoosier State, creating a free market K-12 education landscape. Demand for education options has surged, and providers have responded. In Indiana, private school choices have expanded significantly over the past four years, with enrollment up 22 percent. Indiana also offers robust public school choice, including inter-district and …

The First Lady’s Undeniable Resolve to Win the AI Race

_{Keri D. Ingraham
September 10, 2025}

America is in a global artificial intelligence (AI) race. The stakes are historically high with economic and national security implications. As President Trump declared in July, “Whether we like it or not, we are suddenly engaged in a fast-paced competition to build and refine this groundbreaking technology that will determine so much about the future of civilization.” The President, First Lady, and the Trump Administration are taking decisive steps to ensure America is prepared and positioned to win one of the most consequential competitions among nations in modern history, determining future global dominance. On Thursday, First Lady Melania Trump hosted a meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education. Michael Kratsios, Director of the …

White House Invitations

_{Keri D. Ingraham
August 22, 2025}

I’m deeply grateful for the abundance of opportunities that continue to come, allowing us to drive true transformational change in education at the highest levels in our nation. This month, I was at the White House participating in a Policy Summit alongside national leaders in education, faith, and public policy. In mid-June, Senior Advisors of the President invited me to the White House to share about the work of Discovery Institute’s American Center for Transforming Education. In March, in recognition of our work to advance education freedom, I received a special invitation from the President to attend a White House unveiling and signing ceremony of the executive order that dismantles the U.S. Department of Education. This executive order serves as the …

Education Freedom Victories This Year

_{Keri D. Ingraham
August 21, 2025}

It’s been an incredible year thus far of education freedom victories. Six More States Have Signed Universal School Choice into Law This Year Massive legislative wins for education freedom have occurred at the state level this year, with Tennessee, Idaho, Wyoming, Texas, Indiana, and New Hampshire passing universal school choice into law. That brings the total to 17 states granting all families statewide education freedom. First Federal School Choice Program in History Becomes Law on Independence Day As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the first federal school choice program in the history of our nation became law on July 4. The tax credit scholarship program, set to begin in 2027, will provide millions of children with educational scholarships! The bill allows …

Giving Students an On-Ramp to Post-High School Success

_{Keri D. Ingraham
August 19, 2025}

College is not providing the on-ramp that most students in our country need to a high-growth, high-demand career field. Many students graduate from college saddled with debt and with a degree that is misaligned with the job market. Continuing the status quo can no longer be acceptable. Therefore, it’s essential that we not only ask but also answer the following question. How are we giving kids an education that will prepare them so that when they exit high school without going on to college, they are ready to be contributors to society through something they are excited about, and they can use a passion to do something meaningful with their life? It’s past due time to reinvent high school. It must more adequately prepare students for their future. Too many students …

Fewer Parents Want to Send Their Kids to College

_{Keri D. Ingraham
August 15, 2025}

There is a growing demand for alternatives to a traditional education as the return on investment in college is plummeting. Combine ever-increasing tuition prices with the reality that only 62% of students who enter a four-year college graduate within six years, and only 40% secure a career in the field of their degree, and this should not be surprising. Fewer parents want to send their children to a four-year college. According to a 2025 report published in The Wall Street Journal, “Nearly half of parents say they would prefer not to send their children to a four-year college after high school, even if there were no obstacles, financial or otherwise.” Furthermore, a growing number of students are not interested in attending college. The Wall Street Journal report also …

Education Freedom Can Now Ring From Sea to Shining Sea

_{Keri D. Ingraham
July 10, 2025}

This Independence Day weekend, American families had increasing reason to celebrate as education freedom is poised to span from the Pacific to the Atlantic, with the possibility of bringing school choice to children in all 50 states for the first time in our nation’s history. The passage of the federal reconciliation bill, dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” includes a modified version of the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), a tax-credit provision providing education scholarships for children across the country from households under 300 percent of the median income of the geographical area, beginning in 2027. Individual taxpayers can contribute to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations and receive a 100 percent nonrefundable tax credit of up …

Video: Is America Doomed to Decline?

_{Keri D. Ingraham
July 10, 2025}

America’s future depends on unlocking its greatest resource: the creativity and potential of its people. Dr. Keri Ingraham explores why education reform is key to renewing our nation at The Believe! Journal. Listen to the full article HERE Read the article HERE …

Is America Doomed to Decline?

_{Keri D. Ingraham
July 4, 2025}

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”The Declaration of Independence With the 250th anniversary of our nation upon us, many are reflecting on the past while also considering the future. What makes America unique? Where is the great American experiment headed? Are our best days behind us? Is America doomed to decline? Despite all America has overcome and achieved in the past, many people hold a pessimistic outlook for our nation’s future. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan delivered a charge to the nation in his Inaugural Address. His words ring resoundingly true today, nearly 45 years later. “It is time …

The Case for Industry-Specific High Schools

_{Keri D. Ingraham
June 27, 2025}

As the price tag of a college degree soars, the perceived value by parents, students, and employers alike is decreasing. A 2024 essay in The Wall Street Journal found, “Nearly half of parents say they would prefer not to send their children to a four-year college after high school, even if there were no obstacles, financial or otherwise.” Additionally, the report noted that two-thirds of high school students believe “they will be just fine without a college degree.”1 Furthermore, the findings of a November 2023 survey revealed that an astonishing 55 percent of US companies eliminated bachelor’s degree requirements for employment eligibility.2 Instead, employers are valuing skills and experience over education. Employers face growing challenges filling specialized jobs …

Texas Grants Gov. Abbott Greater Oversight of Higher Education

_{Keri D. Ingraham
June 18, 2025}

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will soon sign a bill that will empower the appointed governing boards of Texas public universities with greater oversight of the institutions under their charge. This comes at a time when an increasing number of people recognize the need for higher education accountability and reform. The bill directs the governing board of the university to review the “general education” curriculum at least once every five years. The specific purpose is to ensure that four critical qualities are met for the courses. First, the courses are “foundational and fundamental to a sound postsecondary education.” Second, courses are necessary for preparing students for their “civic and professional life.” Third, they equip students for …

“Live Free or Die” State Becomes First Universal School Choice State in the Northeast

_{Keri D. Ingraham
June 12, 2025}

With Governor Kelly Ayotte’s signature on Tuesday, New Hampshire became the first state in the Northeast and the 17th state in the nation to enact universal school choice. New Hampshire joins Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming in empowering all parents statewide with a portion of their children’s education funding to select the K-12 education avenue of their choice. Previously, New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account program, which began in 2021, was restricted to only families meeting a certain household income threshold. However, during this legislative session, the state House and the Senate took up separate bills to make all students eligible for the …

It’s Not Just Families Leaving District Public Schools

_{Keri D. Ingraham
June 6, 2025}

There was a mass exodus from district public schools during the prolonged school closures when parents had a front-row seat in their child’s classroom through the remote Zoom sessions. They witnessed the infiltration of radical political agendas and the lack of quality academic instruction. When schools were unresponsive to their concerns, parents who could exit the system for alternative education avenues for their children did so. But it wasn’t just families who left district public schools. Teachers have also found the door. According to a new report from Independent Women, titled “Give Teachers a Break: Cutting Red Tape to Unleash the Potential of America’s Great Teachers,” an astonishing 16% of teachers “left their schools between 2020 and …

The Education Freedom Era Is Underway

_{Keri D. Ingraham
June 2, 2025}

As recent as five years ago, statewide education freedom was a far-fetched idea to most people. Yet, with 16 states signing it into law in four years, it shows what is possible with excellent leadership, political will, and the voices of moms and dads.