As associate director of education, Amanda has experience in program evaluation and technical assistance (TA) for a broad range of clients, including the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the Department of Defense (DoD), the New York State Education Department (NYSED), the Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning, the University of North Carolina System Student Success Innovation Lab (UNC SSIL), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has studied numerous populations of interest, including educators, youth, federal grantees, and military personnel.

A psychologist by training, Amanda brings expertise in mixed-methods studies. She contributes to Westat Insight’s education program area of research, including an impact evaluation of a Seattle college tuition and supports program, an examination of the Virginia Community College System’s Single Stop initiative to provide basic needs supports to students as part of ED’s Regional Educational Laboratory Appalachia, and an evaluation of TA services provided to NYSED charter schools.

Earlier, Amanda was a research psychologist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where she evaluated a program designed to teach resilience skills in DoD schools. She was also an assistant professor at the University of New England, where she led a study of first-year students’ transitions to college. She received her Ph.D. in community and developmental psychology from the University of Virginia.