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Amanda
Parsad

Principal Solutions Architect, Education

Amanda Parsad has 23 years of experience leading, designing and providing technical guidance for conducting rigorous impact evaluations of educational interventions.  Her research focuses on K-12 success, college access and success, adult education and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Since joining Abt in 2000, Ms. Parsad been the technical lead on a wide variety of projects representing a multitude of sampling designs, data elements, units of analysis and analytical methods. Recently, she has been the director of analysis on studies that used individual- or cluster-level randomized evaluation designs, as well as quasi-experimental designs that included propensity-score, difference-in-differences and interrupted time series analyses. She also has provided technical assistance on contracts by helping other researchers implement their studies. Her expertise in design and implementation of randomized, quasi-experimental studies and population-based study designs—and her ability to communicate complex design and analysis issues clearly and accessibly—have made her a highly sought-after resource for advice on evaluation topics both within and outside Abt.

Presently she is the director of analysis for the U.S. Department of Education’s “Effectiveness of Promising Strategies in Federal College Access Programs” studies. These cluster randomized control studies are investigating the implementation and impacts of specific interventions that promote college access among high school students participating in two federal college access programs (GEAR UP and UPWARD BOUND). She also provides technical assistance to evaluators of the Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovation Fund, and technical reviews of the Department of Education’s Investing in Innovations (i3) program evaluation designs and analysis plans.

EXPERTISE

  • Impact and implementation evaluation design and analysis
  • Complex analytic techniques
  • Systematic reviews
  • Analytic and technical support

KEY PROJECTS

  • Effectiveness of Promising Strategies in Federal College Access Programs: Enhancement of college advising in the federal Upward Bound college access program & college transition text messaging in GEAR UP , U.S. Department of Education
  • National Evaluation of Investing in Innovation (i3), U.S. Department of Education
  • Workforce Innovation Fund Program, The US Department of Labor
  • Evaluation of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, National Science Foundation
  • Evaluation of National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE), National Science Foundation
  • Evaluation of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM), National Science Foundation
  • Evaluation of the National Science Foundation’s International Research Fellowship  Program (IRFP) and East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI), National Science Foundation
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) National Assessment Implementation Study (NAIS) , U.S. Department of Education
  • The Study of State and Local Implementation and Impact of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, U.S. Department of Education
  • WIC Peer Counseling Study (Phase 2), USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
  • Director of Analysis, Evaluation of the NASA Science, Engineering, Mathematics Aerospace Academy (SEMAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • Martinez. A., Epstein. C. and Parsad, A. (2015).  Developing internationally engaged scientists and engineers: The effectiveness of an international postdoctoral fellowship program. Research Evaluation, Oxford Journal.
  • Martinez. A., Linkow T., Miller. H., Parsad, A. (2018). Study of Enhanced College Advising in Upward Bound: Impacts on Steps Toward College. (https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20194002/)
  • Martinez, A., Epstein, C., Parsad, A. & Whittaker, K. (2012). Evaluation of NSF’s International Research Fellowship Program: Final Report. Prepared for the National Science Foundation. Bethesda, MA: Abt Global.
  • Martinez, A., Neishi, K., Parsad, A., Whittaker, K., & Epstein, C. (2012). Evaluation of the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes Program: Final Report. Prepared for the National Science Foundation. Bethesda, MA: Abt Global.
  • Carney, J., Martinez, A., Drier, J., Neishi, K., & Parsad, A. (2009). Evaluation of the National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT): Follow-up Study of IGERT Graduates (Final Report). Prepared for National Science Foundation, Arlington VA.
  • Ricciuti, A., St.Pierre, R., Lee, W., Parsad, A., & Rimdzius, T. (2003). Third National Even Start Evaluation: Follow-Up Findings from the Experimental Design Study. Report prepared for U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.
  • St.Pierre, R., Ricciuti, A., Tao, F., Creps, C., Swartz, J., Lee, W., Parsad, A. & Rimdzius, T. (2003). Third National  Even Start Evaluation: Program Impacts and Implications for Improvement. Report prepared for U.S. Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service.
amanda parsad