Matthew A. Kraft

Matthew A. Kraft is an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University. Dr. Kraft is a faculty affiliate of the Annenberg Institute, the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown University and affiliated faculty of the Harvard Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. He is also a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research, a research fellow with IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, and an invited researcher at J-PAL North America. His primary work focuses on efforts to improve educator and organizational effectiveness in K–12 public schools. His scholarship examines efforts to improve teacher hiring, professional development, evaluation, and working conditions; the application of new approaches to interpreting effect sizes in education research; and the development of school-based tutoring and mentoring programs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has published over 40 academic articles in leading education, economics, and public policy journals. His research has been distinguished by receiving the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Outstanding Public Communication Award, the Society for Educational Effectiveness Early Career Award, the William T. Grant Early Career Scholar Award, the Brown University Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Palmer O. Johnson Memorial Award for the most outstanding article across the seven flagship AERA journals, and a National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship. Dr. kraft holds a PhD in quantitative policy analysis from Harvard University along with an MA in international comparative education and a BA in international relations from Stanford University. Previously, he taught middle and high school humanities in Oakland and Berkeley, CA public schools.

updated 2024