Biography
Qing Zhang is a doctoral candidate in the Education Policy and Social Context (EPSC) specialization. Prior to her doctoral study, Qing worked as an early childhood home visitor serving disadvantaged immigrant children and families in Chicago. This firsthand experience was her primary motivation to pursue a Ph.D. and specialize in early education policy.
Qing's research sits at the intersection of education, economics, and developmental science and seeks to understand the challenges and unintended consequences of the scale-up of effective early education programs, and how to foster systematic changes to improve access, quality, and child outcomes. She uses a wide array of econometric methods and large-scale longitudinal data at the state, national, and international level to conduct causally-driven studies.
Specifically, her dissertation examines (1) the unintended benefits and consequences of the expansion of state pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs on Head Start, and (2) whether heightened competition in the mixed-delivery child care market improves center quality and student medium-term outcomes. Additional work includes a close examination of the impact of pre-k on Head Start in regards to serving children with disabilities. Another related strand of Qing's work focuses on identifying features in children’s developmental environments that help sustain early learning gains.
Currently, Qing is examining the peer environment (i.e., peer participation in preschool or preschool penetration) as a potential conducive environment to facilitate classroom learning.
Qing holds a Master of Social Work from Washington University of St. Louis and a Bachelor of Social Work from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.
March 2020
Qing Zhang is a doctoral candidate in the Education Policy and Social Context (EPSC) specialization. Prior to her doctoral study, Qing worked as an early childhood home visitor serving disadvantaged immigrant children and families in Chicago. This firsthand experience was her primary motivation to pursue a Ph.D. and specialize in early education policy.
Qing's research sits at the intersection of education, economics, and developmental science and seeks to understand the challenges and unintended consequences of the scale-up of effective early education programs, and how to foster systematic changes to improve access, quality, and child outcomes. She uses a wide array of econometric methods and large-scale longitudinal data at the state, national, and international level to conduct causally-driven studies.
Specifically, her dissertation examines (1) the unintended benefits and consequences of the expansion of state pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs on Head Start, and (2) whether heightened competition in the mixed-delivery child care market improves center quality and student medium-term outcomes. Additional work includes a close examination of the impact of pre-k on Head Start in regards to serving children with disabilities. Another related strand of Qing's work focuses on identifying features in children’s developmental environments that help sustain early learning gains.
Currently, Qing is examining the peer environment (i.e., peer participation in preschool or preschool penetration) as a potential conducive environment to facilitate classroom learning.
Qing holds a Master of Social Work from Washington University of St. Louis and a Bachelor of Social Work from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.
March 2020
