Kate Schwartz, Ph.D., MPP is an Clinical Assistant Professor in Applied Statistics at New York University and affiliate researcher at Global TIES for Children at NYU. She holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Studies and a PhD in Psychology and Social Intervention from New York University.
As part of the Ahlan Simsim and Play to Learn initiatives at Global TIES, Kate helped lead four impact evaluations and two implementation studies in Lebanon, Jordan, and Colombia; supported an impact evaluation, intervention development research, and a longitudinal study in Bangladesh; and advised on school-readiness/ECE curricula in Iraq. She is currently supporting adaptation and piloting of a remote early learning program in Haiti and a better understanding of the impact of school streets in Tirana, Albania. Her research centers on research practice partnerships, finding the right methodology for the right questions, program implementation and adaptation (including for whom and under what conditions programs work), and supporting the adults in children's lives. Within NYU’s Applied Statistics program, Kate teaches Data Science for Social Impact, Data Science Translation, Statistics for Behavioral and Social Sciences, Statistical Mysteries, and Missing Data.
Prior to graduate school, Kate worked in domestic and international not-for-profit organizations for over six years. During her PhD program, Kate was the Project Director for TIES' Additional Insights project and helped start IHDSC On the Ground: Putting Research to Work for Children. She also collaborated with Publicolor, a NYC not-for-profit, to better understand student, teacher, and administrator reactions to student-designed paint transformations of common areas of the school; the links between such transformations and student engagement; and aspects of the school’s physical environment that likely influence learning but cannot be easily painted over.
Selected Publications
Schwartz, K., Michael, D., Torossian, L., Hajal, D., Yoshikawa, H., Abdulrazzak, S., … Behrman, J. (2024). Leveraging Caregivers to Provide Remote Early Childhood Education in Hard-to-Access Settings in Lebanon: Impacts From a Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2024.2334841
Rafla, J., Schwartz, K., Yoshikawa, H., Hilgendorf, D., Ramachandran, A., Khanji, M., ... & Wuermli, A. (2024). Cluster randomized controlled trial of a phone-based caregiver support and parenting program for Syrian and Jordanian families with young children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 69, 141-153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2024.07.004
Schwartz, K., Cappella, E., & Aber, J. L. (2019). Teachers’ Lives in Context: A Framework for Understanding Barriers to High-Quality Teaching Within Resource Deprived Settings. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 12(1), 160–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2018.1502385
Schwartz, K., Cappella, E., Aber, J. L., Scott, M. A., Wolf, S., & Behrman, J. R. (2019). Early childhood teachers’ lives in context: Implications for professional development in under‐resourced areas. American Journal of Community Psychology, 63(3-4), 270-285. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12325
Cappella, E., Schwartz, K., Hill, J., Kim, H. Y., & Seidman, E. (2019). A national sample of eighth-grade students: The impact of middle grade schools on academic and psychosocial competence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 39(2), 167-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431617735653
Kim, H.Y., Schwartz, K., Cappella, E. et al. Navigating Middle Grades: Role of Social Contexts in Middle Grade School Climate. Am J Community Psychol 54, 28–45 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-014-9659-x