Christopher Doss (he/him/his) is a quantitative researcher at the RAND Corporation who specializes in fielding causal and descriptive studies in education. His research interests are broad and have focused on early childhood education policies, educational technologies, STEM education, alternative teacher and principal preparation programs, and post-secondary workforce success. He is currently leading a study to understand the effects of an SEL program in pre-K, leading a study seeking to integrate computational thinking into Head Start classrooms, co-leading a study looking at micro-credentials as a way to train high school teachers to teach STEM pathway courses, and continues to co-led studies on how text-messaging technology can help parents support the academic growth of their children at home.
Though he is broadly interested in early childhood education, educational technologies, STEM education, educator training, and the intersection of the aforeenioned topics, he is also interested in answering questions at all levels of education through rigorous quantitative research.
Prior to entering research, Doss was a high school physics teacher and school leader. His experiences in schools provide a unique perspective that continues to inform his current work. Doss received his Ph.D. in economics of education from Stanford University.
Selected Publications
Doss, C., Zaber, M., Gates, S.M., Hamilton, L.S., "The Relationship Between Measures of Preservice Principal Performance and Future Principal Job Performance.," Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 44(1), 2022
Kilburn, M. Rebecca, Andrea Phillips, Celia J. Gomez, Louis T. Mariano, Christopher Joseph Doss, Wendy M. Troxel, Emily Morton, and Kevin Estes, Does Four Equal Five? Implementation and Outcomes of the Four-Day School Week, RAND Corporation (RR-A373-1), 2021
Master, Benjamin K., Elizabeth D. Steiner, Christopher Joseph Doss, and Hannah Acheson-Field, Pathways to Instructional Leadership: Implementation and Outcomes from a Job-Embedded School Leader Training Program, RAND Corporation (RR-A255-1), 2020
Robert Bozick, Christopher Doss, Kyle-Silar Evans, and Gabriella Gonzalez., "Occupational credentials for jobs in the sub-baccalaureate STEM economy: The case of the emerging energy sector in Ohio," AREA Open, 6(3), 2020
Christopher Doss, Erin M. Fahle, Susanna Loeb, Benjamin York, "More Than Just a Nudge: Supporting Kindergarten Parents with Personalized and Differentiated Text Messages," Journal of Human Resources, 56(1), 2019
Benjamin York, Susanna Loeb, Christopher Doss, "One Step at a Time: The Effects of an Early Literacy Text Messaging Program for Parents of Preschoolers," Journal of Human Resources, 56(1), 2019
Christopher Doss, "How Much Regulation? A Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Analysis of Student Literacy Skills in Prekindergarten vs. Transitional Kindergarten," Education Finance and Policy, 14(2), 2019
Doss, C., Fricke, H., Loeb, S., and Doromal, J., "Engaging Girls in Math: The unequal effects of text messaging to help parents support early math development.," Economics of Education Review, 2022