Dr. Spencer Dudley is a Senior Research Analyst who works with government agencies, nonprofits, and philanthropies to help them understand the real-world impact of efforts to improve educational, behavioral, and health outcomes for children and youth. Spencer believes that the thoughtful and collaborative incorporation of research methods—with particular attention to program theory, the challenge of causality, and outcome measurement—can enhance the impact of programs and services intended to improve quality of life and strengthen communities. This attention to methodological challenges was central to Spencer’s dissertation work, where he explored the use of quasi-experimental methods with data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study to better isolate the causal influence of childhood adversity on cognitive and brain development. Results were presented at the FLUX Congress for developmental cognitive neuroscience.
Spencer holds an interdisciplinary doctoral degree in Research and Evaluation Methodology / Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a master’s degree in International Education Development from Columbia University Teachers College, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Harvard University.