Sam Burke
Associate Director of Assessment
Sam joined Bowdoin in 2021. As the Associate Director of Assessment, Sam manages the assessment of the Geoffrey Canada Scholars program and collaborates with THRIVE staff on program data collection, analysis, and strategic planning. She leverages both qualitative and quantitative data to improve the College’s understanding of factors that yield student success. In addition, she trains Bowdoin staff on qualitative data collection and analysis best practices and software to help foster a culture of evidence-based decision making and to support mixed-methods initiatives.
Prior to joining Bowdoin, Sam spent two years in southern Germany on a teaching Fulbright and four years in Cambridge, MA as an education policy research analyst working on federal and state contracts related to college readiness, arts integration, and early childhood programming. Additionally, Sam has worked as a qualitative consultant for the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, as a qualitative researcher at the STEPP Center at Northwestern University on research funded by IES, and as a qualitative intern at the Fryske Akademy in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. Sam earned her undergraduate degree in Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences and German Studies from Wellesley College.
Prior to joining Bowdoin, Sam spent two years in southern Germany on a teaching Fulbright and four years in Cambridge, MA as an education policy research analyst working on federal and state contracts related to college readiness, arts integration, and early childhood programming. Additionally, Sam has worked as a qualitative consultant for the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, as a qualitative researcher at the STEPP Center at Northwestern University on research funded by IES, and as a qualitative intern at the Fryske Akademy in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. Sam earned her undergraduate degree in Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences and German Studies from Wellesley College.
