Tran Dang Keys

B.A. in Political Science & Sociology, 1998; Ph.D. in Education, 2013
School of Education

Email: Tran.Keys@sausd.us

Biography

Tran Dang Keys is Executive Director of Research and Evaluation for the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD).

She was awarded her Ph.D. in Education on March 22, 2013. During her doctoral studies, she pursued a dual specialization in Educational Policy and Social Context (EPSC) and Learning, Cognition, and Development (LCD) with research interests in achievement gaps, early childhood education and K-12 policy, program evaluation, and student motivation. Her dissertation was titled Goal Orientation and Adolescent Mathematics Achievement.

Dr. Keys holds B.A. degrees in Sociology and Political Science and a M.A. degree in Social Sciences with a concentration in demographic and social analysis.

Dr. Key’s professional experience includes being an external evaluator of higher education, K-12, and community-based programs at WestEd; a research analyst for the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD); a program evaluator for the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE), and a research associate at the Instructional Research Group in Los Alamitos, California. She has conducted workshops to increase educators’ understanding of demographic and student achievement data, and the state and federal accountability systems, and has provided research and evaluation services and support to county staff and school districts throughout Orange County.

Publications

Keys, T. D., Farkas, G., Burchinal, M. R., Duncan, G.J ., Vandell, D., Li, W., Ruzek, E. A., & Howes, C. (Forthcoming). Preschool center quality and school readiness: Quality effects and variation by demographic and child characteristics. Child Development.

Keys, T. D., Conley, A. M., Duncan, G. J., & Domina, T. (2012). The role of goal orientations for adolescent mathematics achievement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 37, 47-54.

Presentations

Keys, T. D., Farkas, G., Duncan, G. J., Burchinal, M. R., Vandell, D. L., Li, W., et al. (2012, April). Effects of child care quality on children’s language and mathematics skills at kindergarten entry. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Keys, T. D., Farkas, G., Duncan, G. J., Burchinal, M. R., Vandell, D. L., Li, W., et al. (2012, March). Preschool center quality and socioemotional readiness for school. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, D.C.

Dang, T., Conley, A. M, & Duncan, G. J. (2011, April). Effects of goal orientations on adolescent mathematics achievement gains. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.

Dang, T., Farkas, G., Burchinal, M. R., Duncan, G. J., Vandell, D. L., Li, W., et al. (2011, March). Preschool center quality and school readiness: Quality main effects and variation by demographic and child characteristics. Poster presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, D.C. and the Society for Research in Child Development, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Dang, T., Farkas, G., Burchinal, M. R., Duncan, G. J., Vandell, D. L., Li, W., et al. (2010, November). Preschool center quality and school readiness: Quality main effects and variation by demographic and child characteristics. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Boston, MA.

Dang, T., Farkas, G., Duncan, G. J., Burchinal, M. R., Vandell, D. L., Li, W., et al. (2010, June). Child care quality and school readiness: A meta-analysis of variation by family and child characteristics. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Institute of Education Sciences Research Conference, National Harbor, MD.

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