ERS Team

Arnelle Jones

In their role as a Principal Associate Consultant, Arnelle works with district partners across the country to strengthen resource strategy and align investments to student needs. At ERS, they have supported Seattle Public Schools in analyzing resource use and developing strategic priorities, advised Columbus City Schools on building stronger planning and resource allocation systems, and contributed to projects in Texas and Maryland focused on teacher compensation and staffing models. In addition to district-facing work, Arnelle serves as the Human Capital Practice Area Research Captain, where they lead efforts to surface and share research on the teaching job, compensation, and retention, and have helped evolve the role across the organization to better connect research to ERS practice.

Prior to joining ERS, Arnelle studied Education Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, focusing on educational equity and rural education. While in graduate school, they interned with the Strategic Data Project at Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research and later joined the Education Pioneers Summer Fellows Program, conducting a landscape analysis of family engagement practices. Before graduate school, Arnelle taught high school English and Spanish in rural Arkansas, near where they grew up, and served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Colombia.

Outside of ERS, Arnelle enjoys learning bass guitar, practicing salsa, biking, spending time with loved ones, and exploring new hobbies.

Previous Experience

Middle School English/Spanish Teacher/Grade-Level Chair

KIPP Blytheville Collegiate High School 

Graduate Intern

Harvard Strategic Data Project  

Education Pioneers Summer Fellow

Family Engagement Lab

Fulbright English Teaching Assistant

Colombia 

Education

B.A., Communication Studies

Arkansas State University

Ed.M., Education Policy and Analysis

Harvard Graduate School of Education