She is also a research consultant at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. She studies policies aimed at improving the lives of children in poverty, including education, health, and income support policies. Her recent work has focused on tracing the impact of major public policies such as the Food Stamp Program and early childhood education on children’s long-term outcomes. Her recent paper with Susan Dynarski and Joshua Hyman on the impact of small classes in the early grades on college enrollment and completion won the Raymond Vernon Prize for the best article published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management in 2013.