Current Projects

The labor market returns to “stackable credentials (with Kelli Bird and Ben Castleman)

Evaluating the labor market returns to individuals who “stack” credentials in Virginia

Partner agencies: Virginia Community College System

Job Market Paper

Press: UVAToday

Text Nudging for Improved Course Performance (with Lindsay Page, Tyler Walsh, and Eric Smith)

Evaluating the effectiveness of academic chatbots in introductory college courses

Partner agencies: Georgia State University

Pre-registered at REES, Registry ID: 8160.1v1

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

Developing and evaluating interventions to nudge book returns, fine repayment, and youth/family engagement with library services

Partner agencies: Brooklyn Public Library

Funding: The Heckscher Foundation

Press: The Brooklyn Public Library Already Knows How to Get Books Back Without Fines, Next City

Press: How behavioral science could get people back into public libraries, FastCompany

Project Report

Using Natural Language Processing to Investigate Treatment Variation in Education: Evidence from a Large-Scale College Advising Field Experiment (with Brian Kim and Alice Choe)

Leveraging student/advisor text message interaction data from the Nudges to the Finish Line RCT to document variance in sentiment and topic modeling across advising pairs and the effect of that variation on treatment response

Eyes on the Virtual Prize: The Impact of Goal Setting on Virtual Learning Engagement (with Carycruz Bueno)

Examining the effect of goal-setting interventions and targeted reminders on students' engagement with virtual learning

Reducing SNAP benefit churn (with Susanna Loeb)

Applying behavioral science insights to reduce SNAP “churn” (temporary benefits lapse) through proactive outreach and process simplification

Partner agencies: Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance

Funding: J-PAL North America, State and Local Initiatives