Eboni Howard

Eboni Howard is a managing researcher at AIR with over 24 years of experience in the areas of early childhood and family support, as well as program administration and management. Dr. Howard has served as a senior advisor, principal investigator, or project director for over 38 projects. She is nationally recognized for her expertise in early childhood development and using mixed-method evaluation approaches.

At AIR, Dr. Howard currently leads several early childhood projects, including a random controlled-trial efficacy trial of the HighScope Preschool Curriculum and a validation study of a Pennsylvania’s state-wide kindergarten entry assessment tool. She is also a partner researcher on the Illinois validation study of their Quality Rating and Improvement System and a senior advisor for ED’s Invest in Innovation (i3) grant evaluating the impact of a family engagement intervention in 60 schools in Philadelphia. She has vast experience providing strategic planning, technical assistance, consulting, and research services to public and private local, state, and national organizations. Before joining AIR, she was the Frances Stott Chair in Early Childhood Policy and founding director of the Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy at Erikson Institute. Prior to her work at Erikson, Dr. Howard was a senior researcher at Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Howard has presented extensively on early childhood topics and has served on a number of advisory boards, including the Illinois’s Early Learning Council and First 5 LA Research Advisory Committee. Dr. Howard is well known for her eloquent, engaging, and informative presentations, having provided more than 60 presentations in her career to various audiences. She also served on the National Research Council’s Committee on Developmental Outcomes and Assessments for Young Children that published Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What and How.