Dr Hanan Khalifa
Director, Education Transformation and Alliances
Dr Hanan Khalifa leads a cross-divisional team of experts in the field of language learning, teaching and assessment on providing evidence-based decision making and developing language education, working with ministries of education worldwide and developing strategic partnerships at a global level.
Previously, Hanan has held ministerial roles as advisor to Ministers of Education and University Presidents, and worked for international development agencies and world renowned educational firms (BC, AMIDEAST, AIR, FHI 360). Hanan's expertise lies in language testing, educational assessment, monitoring and evaluation, standard setting, research (methodology, instrument design, data analysis), and institutional capacity building. Hanan holds a PhD in Language Testing from the University of Reading, UK.
Her work experience includes education reform strategy, bespoke solutions, test design, curriculum and syllabus design, materials development, baseline and impact studies, assessment audits, and managing large surveys (TIMMS and PISA). Hanan is an expert member on Council of Europe CEFR panels and the Eaquals inspection committee. She has presented worldwide, with a track record of over 60 conference presentations and 30 publications including Examining Reading (co-authored with Professor Cyril J Weir, used as course/key reference material by ALTE and master's programmes in UK universities). She was the recipient of the 1989 Hornby Award for ELT and a joint winner with Anne Burns and Katherine Brandon of the 2013 IEAA Excellence Award for Innovation in International Education. Hanan speaks Arabic and French. In 2018, she was recognised as one of the top 36,000 Egyptian Scientists living and working overseas.
Recent projects
- Hanan worked closely with the Ministry of Education in Malaysia to evaluate the learning, teaching and assessment of English in schools in Malaysia. She was also part of the team that who undertook the research to inform the development of an English language strategy, laid out in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025. Read a summary of project here, the research article here or watch a video summarising the project and its impact.
- Hanan worked on a project for the Ministry of Education and Employment (MEDE) in Malta, to support MEDE’s strategic vision for a robust bilingual education system. We helped the Ministry benchmark English language proficiency and deliver a teacher development programme. Read a summary of project here, or the research article here.
- Hanan supported the Center for Advancement of Postgraduate Studies (CAPSCU) at Cairo University, where a programme of English courses and assessments is helping to improve access to postgraduate study and career opportunities for marginalised Egyptian university students. The programme delivered English language assessment and professional teacher development. We also delivered our evaluation and impact measurement service and you can read the research report here, or a summary of the project here.