Dr. Jia Wang is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Education and a Senior Research Scientist and Project Director at UCLA CRESST. Her work focuses on applied educational measurement including designing and managing research studies to evaluate the effectiveness of multisite intervention programs; investigating how school, teacher, and student factors affect student achievement; and developing, validating, and evaluating assessment systems. Her scholarly interests center on real-world implementation challenges to education reform in the interrelated areas of school choice, teacher training and support, student access, and assessment quality. Currently, she is leading evaluation work on magnet schools across multiple school districts, two teacher training programs, a curriculum and inservice teacher professional development project, a Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant promoting college completion, and a standards alignment study. She led and completed projects on charter schools and the statewide evaluation of afterschool programs in California.

Dr. Wang publishes in professional journals and has authored numerous technical reports and book chapters. Additionally, Dr. Wang teaches graduate research and statistics courses at UCLA, including Survey Research, Experimental Design, and Linear Statistical Models. Dr. Wang received her Ph.D. from UCLA with a specialization in Social Research Methodology. Prior to her current position at UCLA, Dr. Wang was vice president of research at a nonprofit educational consulting firm, assistant director for the UCLA’s Global Center for Health and Education, and a statistics consultant for the World Bank and the World Health Organization.