Rachel Abenavoli (she/her/hers) is a research scientist in the early childhood development program area at Child Trends. Rachel’s research aims to understand and strengthen the contexts, programs, and policies that foster children’s learning and social-emotional development, promote equity, and support educators’ well-being.

Prior to joining Child Trends, Rachel was a postdoctoral research associate and later a research assistant professor at NYU Steinhardt in the Institute of Human Development and Social Change. There, she and her colleagues engaged in a multi-year research-practice partnership with the NYC Department of Education to strengthen quality, impact, and equity within NYC’s universal Pre-K for All system. Through this partnership, Rachel worked with NYC district leaders to develop learning agendas and theories of change; use data and research to inform decision making; design and implement data collection tools for ongoing quality monitoring; and conduct policy-relevant studies focusing on the early childhood workforce, including a randomized controlled trial of the district’s pre-K teacher professional learning system and a mixed-methods study examining challenges and supports for educators during the pandemic. In addition to her work in early childhood, Rachel and her colleagues also partnered with a nonprofit organization to rigorously evaluate a youth mental health and suicide prevention program implemented in high schools across California.

Rachel is committed to research that is relevant, timely, and actionable through close partnership with policymakers, practitioners, and community members. In her work, she uses quantitative and mixed methods approaches and applies an interdisciplinary perspective informed by her background in developmental, education, and prevention sciences.

Rachel holds an MS and PhD in human development and family studies from Pennsylvania State University. Her work has been published in the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, Psychological Bulletin, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, The Future of Children, and other outlets for research, policy, and practitioner audiences.