Academic and Behavioral Skills. Using rigorous quantitative methods, I am engaged in a project identifying patterns related to IEP goals, services, placements, and more leveraging students' digital IEPs in the state of Indiana. Indiana requires schools to submit student Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) into a centralized database, making it possible to analyze IEPs on a statewide scale and uncover novel insights about their content.

I have also conducted measurement work on the predictive validity of administrative and survey-based measures of students' academic and behavioral skills.

I am also engaged in a collaboration between the Oregon Department of Education and US Census Bureau that allows us to link data from the Oregon Department of Education and local school districts with IRS records housed at the Census Bureau to understand rich measures of family background and relationships with K-12 education, labor market, criminal justice, family formation, and other transition to adulthood outcomes.

Human Capital. I have written about the impacts of a diverse teaching workforce on student outcomes. Professionally, I designed a performance-based compensation system for Gwinnett County Public Schools. I also developed a pilot program for Indianapolis Public Schools principals to redesign their school days to implement new schedules to support teachers' work-life balance.

Segregation. I have work that demonstrates the interconnections between housing and educational offerings with school-related racial and economic segregation.

I am also engaged in a collaboration between the Oregon Department of Education and US Census Bureau that allows us to link data from the Oregon Department of Education and local school districts with IRS records housed at the Census Bureau to understand rich measures of family background and relationships with K-12 education, labor market, criminal justice, family formation, and other transition to adulthood outcomes

• Urban Institute, Student Upward Mobility Institute, Co-PI (PI: Jacob Hibel), $450,000

• Education Resource Strategies and The Education Trust (2022). Alliance for Resource Equity Toolkit. Alliance for Resource Equity. Link; Education Combination; Diagnostic; Guidebooks

• IES Predoctoral Award 2023

• Brown
  • Annenberg Institute
  • Data Science Institute
  • Population Studies and Training Center
• Other Universities and Government Agencies
  • Boston University Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC)
  • UC Irvine Center for Administrative Data Analysis (CADA)
  • Research Advisory Committee, Massachusetts Education to Career (E2C) Research and Data Hub 
• Academic
  • American Economic Association
  • American Sociological Association
  • American Educational Research Association
  • Association for Public Policy and Management
  • Association for Education Finance and Policy
  • Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness
  • National Council on Measurement in Education

EDUC 1475: The Big IDEA: The Complexities of Gifted and Special Education (Undergraduate and Graduate)

This course introduces students to the historical foundations, policy framework, efficacy research, and ongoing controversies in gifted and special education. Special and gifted education are hot-button policy issues and affect the experiences of all students in U.S. schools. In the U.S., 15% of students receive special education services, and 6% receive gifted education services. Some of these students are educated with their peers, and some are educated in school settings that can cost $400,000 relative to an average spending of $17,000 per pupil nationally. There are many complex issues related to gifted and special education. At the end of this course, students will have an increased understanding of gifted and special education policies, developed research and policy writing skills, and be positioned to continue engaging on these issues in future studies.

EDUC 2360: Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation for Education (Urban Education Policy A.M.)

Informed education policymaking requires reliable information about the causal effects of government programs and other factors shaping educational outcomes. This course offers an overview of education policy analysis with an emphasis on econometric strategies for measuring program impacts. It aims to make students critical consumers of policy evaluations and to equip them with tools to conduct their own research. Topics covered include the political context for policy research, social experiments, alternative strategies for making causal inferences, and cost-benefit analysis.