His research focuses on understanding the long-run cognitive and behavioral effects of early interventions. His work examines whether educational policy can transform children's trajectories and spur meaningful change in the lives of children from under-served communities. Watts came to NYU after studying with Greg Duncan at the University of California, Irvine, where he learned to apply econometric methods to questions regarding children's long-run development. He is currently investigating the long-run effects of the CSRP program on children's neurocognitive and academic outcomes, and he also has projects evaluating the effects of several other large scale early childhood interventions. His Curriculum Vitae can be found here.