Cognitive, Academic, and Behavioral Skills.

• Using rigorous quantitative methods, I am engaged in a project to identify patterns related to Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals, services, placements, and more, leveraging students' digital IEPs in Indiana.
• I have also measured 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 the US Census Bureau. This collaboration 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 research demonstrating the interconnections between housing and educational offerings and school-related racial and economic segregation.
• I also collaborate with UCI CADA, the Oregon Department of Education, and the US Census Bureau. This collaboration 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.

• California Department of Education
• MIT Blueprint Labs Charter School Research Collaborative
• Urban Institute Student Upward Mobility Initiative
• EdFund
• Gates Foundation

• 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 
  • U.S. Census Bureau Special Sworn Status
• 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

The Undergraduate Research Fellows for Social Science and Public Policy (Undergraduate Summer Fellowship)

The Undergraduate Research Fellows for Social Science and Public Policy program is an eight-week, paid summer internship that prepares current Brown undergraduates to work as research assistants on empirical social science and public policy projects, including those related to public health, the education system, social inequality, and population well-being. The program is supported jointly by the Annenberg Institute, the Brown University Economics Department, and the Population Studies and Training Center.  

The program is structured in two phases. The first phase is a two-week “bootcamp” that covers skills in coding, data management, research design, and statistical analysis. Students will engage in hands-on learning opportunities using Stata, a statistical software package that is widely used in social science research. The second phase is a six-week research internship that pairs fellows with a Brown faculty member in one of the social sciences: Education, Economics, Sociology, Political Science, or a related field. Students will gain firsthand experience with the process of conducting empirical research and operating as an effective research team member.

Our approach emphasizes mentorship and peer learning, encouraging fellows to develop student and faculty relationships that may continue through the rest of their time at Brown. During the program, fellows also attend workshops and panels that introduce them to cutting edge research techniques and highlight research career paths both inside and outside of academia.

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.