Meghan McDoniel

Meghan McDoniel is a highly experienced research scientist specializing in early childhood education and social-emotional development. Currently at Child Trends since November 2022, Meghan has previously held roles as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and as an IES predoctoral fellow at Penn State University, where extensive work included analyzing educational data, writing peer-reviewed papers, and developing evaluation materials for social-emotional curricula. With additional experience in preschool program evaluation and conducting community-based participatory research, Meghan's background is further strengthened by earlier positions as a research assistant and lead preschool teacher. Meghan holds a PhD and MS in Psychology from Penn State University and a Master's degree in Elementary Education from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis.