Matthew B. Courtney, Ed.D. is an Executive Staff Advisor to the Office of Continuous Improvement and Support at the Kentucky Department of Education. Dr. Courtney specializes in research and data use for educational decision making and supports schools and districts in Kentucky by promoting meaningful research use and studying efforts to support and expand research and data use for decision making. Dr. Courtney holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Education, a Masters Degree in Teacher Leadership, an Education Specialist Degree in School Administration, and a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. Dr. Courtney's work has been published in both academic and nonacademic settings and he has spoken on issues related to research and data use at conferences across the nation.