Megan Sambolt

Megan Lebow Sambolt is a Principal Researcher in the Youth, Family, and Community Services Division of American Institutes for Research (AIR). Sambolt specializes in equity in education, attendance and chronic absenteeism, and behavior management interventions. Sambolt serves as the Co-Project Director for the Bridges Collaborative Continuous Improvement project, an implementation study of a consortium of public school districts, charter management organizations, and public health organizations focused on addressing school segregation. Sambolt also serves as the AIR Project Director for the federally-funded Student Attendance and Engagement Center and a Senior Advisor for the Equitable Attendance Policy Partnership, focusing on supporting states and districts as they test equitable attendance policies and supports in their local contexts.

Additionally, Sambolt leads AIR’s Good Behavior Game work (AIR GBG) serving as the project director for the National Institute for Justice Scale-Up trial, in which different models of GBG training and support are tested to determine which models promote scalability and sustainability. She also oversees all AIR GBG partnerships, including domestic collaborations with state and local education agencies and public health agencies, and international partners.

Previously, Sambolt served as the Knowledge Generation team leader for the College and Career Readiness and Success Center and the Products and Tools Team Leader for the National High School Center, focusing on both college and career readiness and high school improvement. Sambolt also has experience with topics including research-practitioner partnerships focused on implementing plan-do-study act cycles on equitable attendance policies and supports, competency-based education, and online learning.

Prior to working at AIR, Sambolt worked as a middle school teacher in New York, New York.