Audrey Boochever

My transdisciplinary research draws on the economics and sociology of education to study and inform the ways that legislation, school boards, and school leaders address educational inequities. 

Before enrolling in Davis’s Ph.D. program in Education with a designated emphasis of Computational Social Science, I taught math at Overton High School, a Title 1 school in Memphis, TN, through Teach For America and was a senior data analyst at Aspire Public Schools, a network of 36 charter schools serving over 15,300 scholars in the Bay Area, Central Valley, and Los Angeles. My work at Aspire focused on analyzing data and evaluating interventions and programs to progress Aspire’s equity goals.

My current research interests concentrate on the relationship between school sector (i.e., charter vs. traditional public school), principal ethnicity, and racial representation in the classroom. Other projects include predicting college enrollment using student, classroom, and school characteristics, and examining local school board electability based on candidates’ treatment of racial equity. Other research interests include transformative and restorative justice in schools, career and technical education (CTE), alternative schools, the use of data and research in school systems, and the application of quantitative methods to critical race theory (QuantCrit). 

Education

University of California, Davis, Expected 2024
Ph.D., Education
Designated Emphasis (Minor): Computational Social Science

University of California, Davis, 2017
M.S., Agricultural and Resource Economics

Cornell University, 2013
B.S., cum laude, International Agriculture and Rural Development
(Economics concentration, Chinese minor)

Yunnan Minzu University – School of International Training (SIT), 2011
Field research thesis: The influence of family structure on women’s role in agriculture in two distinct societies of Southwest China.

Research in Progress

“Increasing Attendance with Text Nudges Targeting Family Beliefs about Student Absences” (with Chenny Ng)

“Predicting College Enrollment Using Student, Classroom, and School Characteristics” (with Sarah Robovsky)

“Student-Teacher and Student-Administrator Ethnicity Match in Traditional and Charter Schools in California” (with Heather Rose)

“The Impact of Classifying a Student as an English Learner on Academic and Non-Academic Outcomes”

Presentations

ResultsLab – presentation on QuantCrit, 2022

AEFP, 2022

International School Choice and Reform Conference (selected to present, unable to attend), 2022

AEFP, 2020

Sidwell Friends School ‘Let Your Life Speak’ Summit, 2019

Awards

Graduate Group in Education Fellowship ($1,500), 2022

AEFP Roe L. Johns Travel Grant ($170), 2022

Training Institute on Causal Research in CTE, conducted by AIR ($500), 2022

UC Davis Graduate Group in Education First-Year Fellowship Award ($27,542), 2020

Dell Foundation Ed-Fi Grant ($173,000), 2019

Read to be Ready Summer Grant ($60,000), 2017

Teach For America Education Award ($11,500), 2015

Whole Foods, Whole Kids Grant ($2,000), 2014

USAID, International Development Study in India ($6,000), 2013

Teaching Experience

Introduction to College – Mt. Tamalpais College, 2022
Instructor of Record

EDU 100: Introduction to Schools (Upper Undergraduate Level) – UC Davis, 2021
Teaching Assistant
Rating of 4.65/5

IAD 200N: Theory and Practice of Development (Graduate Level) – UC Davis, 2016
Teaching Assistant
Rating of 4.69/5

Teach For America – Memphis, TN, 2013 – 2016
Algebra and Geometry Teacher

Service

Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ), Policy Committee, 2016 – 2022
Organizer
Facilitate trainings on anti-racism, the legislative process, and transformative justice

Young Architects of Color 2020 – 2021
Founding Advisor

• Sparked the idea, initiated, and advised William Duff Architects, Inc. on building externship program for high-schoolers interested in architecture
• Conducted trainings on how to be an engaging and high quality instructor

East Bay College Fund 2017 – 2020
Mentor
Mentored Oakland first generation students navigating the transition to college

Professional Skills

• Teaching, facilitation, conflict mediation, quantitative and qualitative research methods, project management, data visualization, writing, presenting
• Software: Microsoft Suite, Stata, R, Python, SQL, Tableau, NVivo, Qualtrics, Latex
• English (native), Mandarin (proficent), Spanish (beginning)