Senior Education Researcher, SRI Education
Adrienne D. Woods, PhD, is a senior education researcher in SRI’s Education Division. Woods is an expert at analyzing large-scale longitudinal data with advanced quantitative techniques, including through missing data analysis and quasi-experimental study designs. She uses these techniques to examine the developmental trajectories of children who receive special education services in U.S. schools.
Through her research, Woods looks to better identify points of intervention along the K–12 continuum that can be used to advance educational and societal opportunities for children with disabilities. Woods has investigated heterogeneity in the academic trajectories of children with disabilities as well as how different patterns of special education service receipt can be predicted by child characteristics when transitioning to elementary school
At SRI, Woods is applying her expertise with missing data and secondary data analysis to a series of studies evaluating the longitudinal impact of the Catherine Hershey Schools network in central Pennsylvania. She also provides technical assistance to grantees and staff of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs through the Center for Improving Program & Project Performance. She is conducting qualitative interviews in a Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program needs assessment for a large California county office of education. Recently, Woods extended her analytic expertise to the intersection of schooling and sleep health with funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institutes for Child Health and Development. Some current research projects evaluate the extent to which educational disparities may be related to sleep health disparities among vulnerable populations of children, including those with disabilities.
Prior to joining SRI, Woods was a postdoctoral scholar with the Center for Educational Disparities Research at Pennsylvania State University. She has received grant support from the National Science Foundation, the American Educational Research Association, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institutes for Child Health and Development, and the University of Michigan. She is currently an NSF fellow with the Summer Institute for Advanced Research Methods for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Research (SIARM for STEM).
Woods has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, handbook chapters and blog posts, and products to improve teaching and training in higher education. This work has been featured by several U.S. media outlets, including the Hechinger Report, CNN, NBC News, the Learning Disabilities Association of America, and Psychology Today.
Woods received her doctorate in education and psychology from the University of Michigan.
Key projects
- The Center to Improve Program & Project Performance (CIPP)
- Regional Educational Laboratory, Appalachia
- IDEAS 2: Inventing, Designing, and Engineering on the Autism Spectrum Expansion Project
- Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning Network Evaluation
Recent Publications
Socio-demographic disparities in ADHD over-diagnosis and -treatment during elementary school *
Selected Publications
Longitudinal trajectories of reading and mathematics achievement for students with learning disabilities. *
Educational implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on students with disabilities in Pennsylvania: Proactively preparing for returning students *
Longitudinal patterns of special education service receipt *
Additional Publications
View Woods’ publications on Google Scholar.
*Publication written prior to SRI employment.