Jill Gandhi is a research scientist with over a decade of experience developing and evaluating mixed-method research studies in the field of early education and child development. Trained in applied psychology, her work involves partnerships with education agencies and policy stakeholders to produce research relevant to policy and practice. Her expertise includes survey design, experimental and quasi-experimental methods, advanced qualitative analysis, and data management. 

At NORC, Jill is the lead analyst and data manager for several studies in early childhood education policy and cultural engagement. For the Consumer Education and Parental Choice in Early Care and Education (CEPC) and the National Survey of Artists projects, she serves as the data archiving lead, which includes data file preparation and the creation of public-facing materials to support future data users. Jill also leads data analysis for the National Survey of Artists and Feeding America’s Child and Family Choice projects. In her data analysis roles, she produces data visualizations and summaries that translate complex statistical analyses for non-research audiences. 

In her prior role as a postdoctoral research scientist at the Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Jill led survey development and analysis for the Early Childhood Poverty Tracker, a longitudinal study of a representative sample of New York City families with young children. Her previous work also includes several collaborative research projects with the New York City Department of Education Division of Early Childhood Education to support and improve the quality of their universal pre-kindergarten programming efforts. Jill has a proven record of research dissemination aimed towards a variety of non-academic and academic audiences, including publications in journals such as Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, Developmental Psychology, and Early Education and Development.