Meghan McDoniel is a research scientist in the early childhood development program area at Child Trends. Meghan is passionate about ensuring that children’s social-emotional development is supported during their early years. Her research focuses on evaluating early childhood programs, with a particular emphasis on implementation and creating sustainable systems to support teachers, families, and children. She draws on her experience as an early childhood educator to build partnerships with practitioners and communities.

Prior to joining Child Trends, Meghan was a postdoctoral fellow with the Stanford University-San Francisco Unified School District Research Practice Partnership, where she helped evaluate the school district’s early education programs. She is also a former pre-doctoral fellow with the Society for Research in Child Development’s State Policy Fellowship, where she worked in the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning on their Preschool Development Grant.

Meghan earned her MEd from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and her MS and PhD from Pennsylvania State University.