Research Partnerships

How information affects students’ interest in colleges: Results from a randomized control trial of a college search interface (with Ben Castleman and Cait Lamberton)

• Examining how small variations in the presentation of information about a college affect students’ interest in and sense of fit with that institution (~ 5,000 participants)

Dual Enrollment pathways in Virginia (with Daniel Rodriguez Segura)

• Evaluating variance in dual enrollment participation across Virginia
• Developing interventions to inform students about postsecondary options based on their dual enrollment participation and performance

The labor market returns to “stackable credentials” (with Daniel Rodriguez Segura)

• Evaluating the labor market returns to individuals who “stack” credentials in Virginia
• Partner agencies: Virginia Community College System

The effects of parental outreach on preschool attendance

• Developing pilot intervention to evaluate effectiveness of different messaging campaigns to increase preschool and early grades attendance
• Partner agencies: Urban Community Schools (Cleveland, OH)

Lessons from the library: Improving youth library engagement (with Ben Castleman, Ariel Kalil, and Brett Fischer)

• Funded by Heckscher Foundation; developing and evaluating interventions to nudge book returns, fine repayment, and youth/family engagement with library services
• Partner agencies: Brooklyn Public Library

Tablet-based intervention to reduce summer learning loss (with Ben Castleman)

• Conducted an RCT to evaluate whether a tablet-based intervention that provides students with motivational videos from trusted voices in school encouraging them to read over the summer along with concrete prompts about when to engage in summer reading reduces summer learning loss among elementary school students.
• Partner agencies: Arlington Public Schools (Arlington, VA)

First Year Forward: The effects of virtual mentoring and timely nudges on college persistence (with Ben Castleman and Zack Mabel)

• Designed college-advising interventions for first-year students. Launched RCT of three interventions in fall 2016 and revised RCTs in fall 2017 and 2018 (~900 students per cohort)
• Partner agencies: College Summit/Peer Forward