Leslie M. Babinski, PhD, is a Research Professor at Duke University’s Center for Child and Family Policy in the Sanford School of Public Policy. She earned her doctorate in Educational and School Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and has extensive experience partnering with schools, districts, community organizations, and nonprofit organizations to improve educational opportunities for children and families.

Dr. Babinski’s work focuses on developing, testing, and scaling evidence-based programs that support early literacy. At Duke, she has led randomized controlled trials of the Bridging English Language Learning and Academics (BELLA) Professional Learning Program, demonstrating positive impacts on early literacy outcomes for multilingual learners. She also directs Building Bridges through Stories, a digital storybook project that enables multilingual students and their families to co-create curriculum-connected storybooks in their home languages.

She is the co-founder of FigStar Learning, a research and development company, and BELLA Learning, a nonprofit organization that partners with schools and districts to implement BELLA at scale. Her work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education and Bukhman Philanthropies and has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and practitioner-focused publications. Through her work, Dr. Babinski is committed to translating research into practical tools, professional learning, and instructional supports that benefit educators, district leaders, students, and families.