Katherine Shields, a senior researcher and program evaluator specializing in education, leads studies that provide new insights into strategies for effective college and career readiness and success for youth in and out of school, college students, and adults. She brings extensive expertise in quantitative and qualitative research, quasi-experimental design, psychometric analysis, multilevel modeling, survey design, and collaborative research.
Shields leads a study of career and technical education and work-based learning outcomes, funded by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), and research on a technology-enhanced STEM program for high school students funded by the National Science Foundation. As a senior researcher for the REL Northeast & Islands at EDC, she recently completed a study on the effects of accelerated college credit programs on educational attainment.
Shields co-led the REL event Setting Up for Success. She regularly publishes her findings in journals and is the co-author of EDC’s Work-Based Learning Data Collection Toolkit.
Shields holds an EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a PhD in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation from Boston College.