Robert D. Barr

Robert D. Barr, PhD, is recognized as one of the nation's leading experts on reaching and teaching children of poverty and minority students and helping high-poverty schools become high-performing ones. He is an educator, speaker, author, and emeritus analyst with the Boise State University Center for School Improvement. Dr. Barr has keynoted hundreds of state, regional, national, and international conferences and has provided workshops for schools, school districts, and state departments of education in every area of the United States. He has helped high-poverty schools in more than 40 states improve student performance.

Dr. Barr has been selected for the National School Boards Association's prestigious Meet the Expert sessions at their national conferences 12 times and has received three national awards for Distinguished Achievement. He has been a guest on the PBS program Firing Line, ABC Evening News, and the Fox television show The O’Reilly Factor and has been quoted in The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. In addition, he has provided expert testimony to the US Congress and a number of state legislatures and often serves as an expert trial witness.

Dr. Barr has served as professor and director of teacher education at Indiana University, dean of the Oregon State University College of Education, and dean of the Boise State University College of Education.