Elisabeth Barnett has led a great deal of research on the high-school-to-college transition, college readiness, dual enrollment, developmental education, early college high schools, the Common Core State Standards, and career and technical education practices. Her publications include Caring Campus: Faculty Leadership in Student Success; The Role of Higher Education in High School Math Reform; Reshaping the College Transition: Early College Readiness Assessments and Transition Curricula in Four States; Bridging the Gap: An Impact Study of Eight Developmental Summer Bridge Programs in Texas; Dual Enrollment: A Strategy for Educational Advancement of All Students; and a co-edited volume of New Directions in Community Colleges entitled Academic Pathways to and from the Community College (with Debra Bragg; Jossey-Bass Publishers).
Barnett has also served as associate director of the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools and Teaching (NCREST) at Teachers College and is affiliated with the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness.
Barnett received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in educational organization and leadership–higher education.