Project Director @ The Annenberg Institute at Brown University (Feb 2025 - present)
Manages Dr. Matthew Kraft's research portfolio and lab
Directs SustainableED, the Sustainable Education Research Initiative, managing ongoing projects and operations
Co-authors education policy research on topics ranging from teacher labor markets to the state of research at the intersection of education and climate change
Research Consultant @ Center for Education Data & Research, University of Washington (Oct 2023 - Feb 2025)
Supports education research efforts under the advisory of Dr. Dan Goldhaber and Dr. Roddy Theobald
Primarily contributes to data management, cleaning, documentation, analysis, and formal writing of academic papers
Currently engaged as a co-author on several studies validating the use of web-scraped school job postings as a more immediate measure of school hiring needs
Research Consultant @ The Annenberg Institute at Brown University (Aug 2021 - Feb 2025)
Supported ongoing, co-authored research with Dr. Matthew Kraft
Contributed to studies spanning the topics of substitute teacher supply and estimating policy-relevant impacts of tutoring
Graduate Student Research Assistant @ University of Washington (Sep 2021 - Sep 2023)
Authored a weekly newsletter for the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (September 2021 through 2022), communicating complex research findings from affiliate work into brief, digestible summaries
Assisted research at the Center for Education Data & Research (September 2022 to 2023), co-authoring two papers and leading the data cleaning and analytics on those projects
Research Program Associate @ The Annenberg Institute at Brown University (Sep 2019 - Aug 2021)
Direct report to and collaborator of Dr. Matthew Kraft; contributed to all stages of the research process including grant writing, ideating new projects, literature research, data cleaning and analyiss, writing and editing academic papers, and presenting work at conferences
Modeled regression discontinuity, difference-in-differences, and event study empirical designs
Co-authored two empirical articles and one literature review for a practitioner periodical
Financial Institution Specialist @ Federal Deposit Insurance Company (Jul 2018 - Aug 2019)
Examined banks for regulatory compliance and sound risk management practices
Wrote memorandums, reports, and commentary for formal examination documentation
Received top performance ratings for a variety of assignments in financial performance analysis, regulatory review granularity, and system architecture mapping; contributed across three divisions during a rotation program
M.S. in Public Policy and Management; GPA=3.87
B.A., Magna Cum Laude, Economics (Honors) and English Double Major; GPA=3.79
Thesis: "Wage Premium for Language: Effects of Linguistic Distance on Migrant Earnings"
Kraft, Matthew A., Sohil Malik, & Grace T. Falken. (July 14, 2025). "Education and Climate Change: Synthesizing the Evidence to Guide Future Research." EdWorkingPaper: 25-1238. The Annenberg Institute at Brown University. https://doi.org/10.26300/tgea-5e35
Kraft, Matthew A., Beth E. Schueler, & Grace T. Falken. (September 30, 2024). "What Impacts Should We Expect from Tutoring at Scale? Exploring Meta-Analytic Generalizability." EdWorkingPaper: 24-1031. The Annenberg Institute at Brown University. https://doi.org/10.26300/zygj-m525
Press: the74.
Goldhaber, Dan & Grace T. Falken. (June 26, 2024). "ESSER and Student Achievement: Assessing the Impacts of the Largest One-Time Federal Investment in K12 Schools." CALDER Working Paper No. 301-0624. https://caldercenter.org/publications/esser-and-student-achievement-assessing-impacts-largest-one-time-federal-investment-k12
Goldhaber, Dan, Grace T. Falken, & Roddy Theobald. (May 10, 2024). “What Do Teacher Job Postings Tell Us about School Hiring Needs and Equity?” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737241246548
Golhaber, Dan, Grace T. Falken, & Roddy Theobald. (April 1, 2024). "ESSER Funding and School System Jobs: Evidence from Job Posting Data" CALDER Working Paper No. 297-0424. https://caldercenter.org/publications/esser-funding-and-school-system-jobs-evidence-job-posting-data.
Press: CNN
Goldhaber, Dan, John Krieg, Roddy Theobald, & Grace T. Falken. (May 2, 2023). “National Board Certification as a Signal of Cooperating Teacher Quality” CALDER Working Paper No. 284-0523. https://caldercenter.org/publications/national-board-certification-signal-cooperating-teacher-quality
Kraft, Matthew A., Megan Conklin, & Grace T. Falken. (December 5, 2023). “Preferences, Inequities, and Incentives in the Substitute Teacher Labor Market.” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 30714. https://doi.org/ 10.3386/w30714
Press: the74.
Kraft, Matthew A. & Grace T. Falken. (September 9, 2021). “A Blueprint for Scaling Tutoring Across Public Schools.” AERA Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211042858
Press and references: The White House, The New York Times, Education Week, Chalkbeat, the74, Aspen Economic Strategy Group
Kraft, Matthew A. & Grace T. Falken. (May 18, 2020). “Why School Climate Matters for Teachers and Students.” The State Education Standard, Journal of the National Association of State Boards of Education: p33-35.
Falken, Grace T. (May 4, 2018). A Wage Premium for Language: The Effect of Linguistic Distance on Immigrant Earnings. Economics Honors Thesis, Davidson College Department of Economics. Advisors: Dr. Mark Foley & Dr. Shyam Gouri Suresh. Unpublished, available upon request.
The Front End of the CTE Teacher Pipeline: Characterizing the Prior Work Experiences of CTE Teachers
Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference; March 15, 2025
ESSER and Student Achievement: Assessing the Impacts of the Largest One-Time Federal Investment in K12 Schools
Eastern Economic Association Annual Conference; February 21, 2025
What Impacts Can We Expect from K-12 Tutoring at Scale? Exploring Meta-Analytic Generalizability
Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Annual Conference; September 21, 2024
CTE Teacher Licensure and Long-Term Outcomes for Students With and Without Disabilities in Washington
Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference; March 14, 2024
National Board Certification as a Signal of Cooperating Teacher Quality
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting -- Division L, Educational Polities and Politics; April 15, 2023
Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference; March 28, 2023
Classrooms Without Teachers: Addressing Inequity in Students' Exposure to Unfilled Teacher Absences
Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference; March 18, 2021
Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management Fall Research Conference; November 11, 2020
Statistical coding and data visualization expertise in STATA and R. Exposure to SAS, Python, SQL.
Highly skilled in data cleaning, organization, and structuring for statistical analysis. Experience with experimental, quasi-experimental, and descriptive empirical methods.
Technical skills using WordPress, Squarespace, and Google Sites for website design, development, and maintenance.
Skilled in Microsoft Office Suite.
Languages: English and intermediate Chinese
Unofficial world record holder for the fastest group reading of Ulysses.
Running QOM for San Luis Peak (South Ridge Route)