Michael Vaden-Kiernan

Director

About

Director
Michael Vaden-Kiernan, PhD, a managing researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), serves as the director of REL Southwest. In this role, Vaden-Kiernan maintains connections with critical policymakers and education stakeholders in the region’s five states. He also coordinates and leads evidence-based efforts, including research, technical support, and engagement, to address high-leverage education needs to inform policies, programs, and practices. Vaden-Kiernan has more than 25 years of experience conducting education intervention and policy research in PK–12 settings. He also serves as principal investigator on an experimental study of the UTeach Computer Science Curriculum as part of a Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant and an Education, Innovation, and Research (EIR) grant, both funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Vaden-Kiernan received a doctorate in community psychology from the University of Virginia and has been published in a number of professional journals.

Associated IES Content

Blog

Celebrating five years of using research and data to support teaching and learning across the Southwest

Over the past five years, REL Southwest has partnered with states, districts, and schools to improve teaching and learning across our five-state region. Read on for highlights of our accomplishments.
Date published:
Dec 21, 2022
Blog

A message from our director: REL Southwest's COVID-19 response

I want to reach out to let you know that in these challenging times, REL Southwest continues to be hard at work on our mission to meaningfully improve outcomes for all learners...
Date published:
Apr 01, 2020
Blog

Research with impact: The RELs' field-initiated and high-leverage approach

REL Southwest's work focuses on education issues that are field-initiated and high leverage. But what does that mean? Learn more as we unpack the REL approach to research with impact...
Date published:
Jun 28, 2018
Grant

Exploratory Study of the UTeach STEM Preparation Program and the Effectiveness of UTeach Teachers

The purpose of this project is to explore features of pre-service training programs that are associated with improvements in teacher and student outcomes in mathematics. Previous research has shown that differences in teacher pre-service preparation are related to differences in teacher effectiveness. Little is known, however, about which features of pre-service programs are most effective in producing successful teachers. The current project will examine how and to what extent teacher prepa...
Federal funding program:
Education Research Grants
Award number:
R305A150156
Grant

National Randomized Control Trial of Everyday Mathematics

Given the importance of early mathematics instruction and curricula for preventing mathematics difficulties in later grades, it is necessary to identify effective mathematics curricula and instruction to ensure that children become proficient in early mathematics content and procedures. One widely used elementary mathematics curriculum, Everyday Mathematics, was reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse and is reported to have "potentially positive effects" on students' mathematics achievemen...
Federal funding program:
Education Research Grants
Award number:
R305A100116
Grant

National Randomized Controlled Trial Study of SRA/McGraw-Hill Open-Court Reading Program

Effective early reading instruction is critical for preventing later reading difficulties. With 67% of 4th grade students failing to achieve proficiency in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2007, the need to implement effective early reading programs is greatly apparent. The Open Court Reading (OCR) program published by SRA/McGraw-Hill and widely used for almost 40 years is a phonics-based core-reading program for students in kindergarten to 6th grade that incorpo...
Federal funding program:
Education Research Grants
Award number:
R305A090150