Stephani L. Wrabel (she/her) is a policy researcher at RAND with expertise in education and military-connected youth, and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She conducts research to improve practices, programs, and policies that shape the lives of students and military-connected people. Her portfolio includes studies focused on standards-based school accountability policy, student and school mobility, social and emotional learning, Department of Defense (DoD)-funded youth programs, and military resiliency and morale, welfare, and recreation programs. Her work has shaped both state and federal policy. Wrabel currently serves as a principal investigator on a series of studies focused on DoD-funded youth programs, such as the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe and Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. She also leads the independent evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education’s Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety.
Before pursuing her doctorate, she was a university administrator, an experience that shaped her interest in research to support young people. Wrabel earned her Ph.D. in urban education policy from the University of Southern California. She holds an M.Ed. from the University of Florida and a B.A. from Boston University.
Selected Publications
Wenger, Jennie W., Stephani L. Wrabel, Thomas E. Trail, Louay Constant, Wing Yi Chan, Kathryn A. Edwards, Joy S. Moini, and Hanna Han, Developing Outcome Measures for the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, RAND Corporation (RR-A271-5), 2022
Wrabel, Stephani L., Susan Bush-Mecenas, and Ashley Woo, Seeking Balance in the Provision of Technical Assistance: Insights from the National Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety, RAND Corporation (RR-A1161-1), 2021
Wrabel, Stephani L., Laura S. Hamilton, Anamarie A. Whitaker, and Sean Grant, Investing in Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning: Companion Guide to Social and Emotional Learning Interventions Under the Every Student Succeeds Act: Evidence Review, (RR-2739), 2018
Schwartz, Heather L., Laura S. Hamilton, Susannah Faxon-Mills, Celia J. Gomez, Alice Huguet, Lisa H. Jaycox, Jennifer T. Leschitz, Andrea Prado Tuma, Katie Tosh, Anamarie A. Whitaker, and Stephani L. Wrabel, Early Lessons from Schools and Out-of-School Time Programs Implementing Social and Emotional Learning, RAND Corporation (RR-A379-1), 2020
Meadows, Sarah O., Stephanie B. Holliday, Wing Chan, Stephani L. Wrabel, Margaret Tankard, Dana Schultz, Chris M. Busque, Felix Knutson, Leslie A. Payne, and Laura L. Miller, Air Force Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Programs and Services: Contributions to Airman and Family Resilience and Readiness, (RR-2670), 2019
Grant, Sean, Laura S. Hamilton, Stephani L. Wrabel, Celia J. Gomez, Anamarie Whitaker, Jennifer T. Leschitz, Fatih Unlu, Emilio R. Chavez-Herrerias, Garrett Baker, Mark Barrett, Mark Harris, and Alyssa Ramos., Social and Emotional Learning Interventions Under the Every Student Succeeds Act: Evidence Review, (RR-2133), 2017
Wenger, Jennie W., Louay Constant, Linda Cottrell, Thomas E. Trail, Michael J. D. Vermeer, and Stephani L. Wrabel., National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2015–2016., (RR-1848), 2017
Herman, Rebecca, Susan M. Gates, Aziza Arifkhanova, Mark Barrett, Andriy Bega, Emilio R. Chavez-Herrerias, Eugeniu Han, Mark Harris, Katya Migacheva, Rachel Ross, Jennifer T. Leschitz, and Stephani L. Wrabel, School Leadership Interventions Under the Every Student Succeeds Act: Evidence Review: Updated and Expanded, (RR-1550-3), 2017