Jill Bowdon

Principal Researcher

Jill Bowdon is a principal researcher at AIR. Dr. Bowdon has extensive training in statistical methods appropriate for making causal inferences, including experimental design and quasi-experimental methods. Altogether, she has 10 years of experience performing education research. Dr. Bowdon is a lead analyst for the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest and for the REL Northeast and Islands, research centers funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).  In her role as lead analyst, Dr. Bowdon assists with research design and analysis of experimental, quasi-experimental, and observational data.

Prior to joining AIR, Dr. Bowdon was an Institute for Education Sciences (IES) Postdoctoral training fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bowdon earned her Ph.D. from the Sociology Department at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was also an IES Pre-doctoral training fellow. She started her career as a fourth-grade teacher.

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Expertise
Education
Social and Emotional Learning
STEM

Ph.D. and M.S., Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison; B.A., Sociology/Anthropology, Earlham College

Contact Jill Bowdon

+1.312.288.7600
Related Work

Supporting States with Preschool Development Grants

21 Jan 2021
The Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five initiative supports states to create plans to facilitate collaboration and coordination among existing early childhood care and education programs. AIR has partnered with four states—California, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota—to support their work as they expand access to high-quality early childhood care and ...

Children’s Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois

30 Oct 2019
At least half of states administer or are developing kindergarten entry assessments. In fall 2017 the Illinois State Board of Education began requiring teachers to report data on every child’s skills at kindergarten entry using the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey.

Reducing Summer Melt and Improving College Persistence: Testing the Effectiveness of a Light-touch Text Messaging Intervention

Text messaging is a popular and inexpensive strategy for reaching out to college-going students who may have limited access to the information in their schools and communities. This project will conceptually replicate and test whether Castleman and Page's “summer melt” text messaging intervention increases college enrollment, persistence, and credential attainment ...
Image of baby in a gingham shirt being held by a parent

Changing the Trajectories of Children in Foster Care: The Safe Babies Court Team Evaluation

Children in foster care are at risk for poor developmental outcomes, including increased rates of poor health, higher rates of depression and anxiety, more attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders, more problems in school, and increased rates of incarceration and suicide. The Safe Babies Court Team™, created by ZERO ...

Mentoring for At-Risk High School Students: Findings From a Study of Check & Connect

01 Feb 2017
To improve graduation rates, districts and schools need clear, evidence-based information about the impact of dropout prevention strategies. Check & Connect is a mentoring program designed to promote positive outcomes (including student engagement, progress and persistence, and school completion) through the provision of continuous, individualized student support. This research brief ...