Jizhi Zhang

Jizhi Zhang is an educational psychologist, and a principal research scientist at AIR. Dr. Zhang is currently working on a National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) research study on achievement gaps and previously she led a content research study to compare the 2011 Grade 8 NAEP and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). She also leads analytical efforts to produce digest tables which use multiple national datasets and surveys, including NHES, ACS, CPS, IPEDS, and OCR. In addition, she conducts task leader reviews for the Indicators of School Crime and Safety report. She also led an evaluation project for the African-American Young Men of Promise Initiative in Michigan. The goal of the initiative was to bridge the achievement gap in Michigan, with a specific focus on closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged African-American male students and white students. Dr. Zhang also led research studies in mortality and aging research—applying advanced survival analysis models to investigate the relationship among personality, cognitive ability, and mortality.

Prior to joining AIR in 2012, Dr. Zhang was a senior research analyst at the American Council on Education/GED Testing Service where she led a research team and initiated a national large-scale quantitative and qualitative study to investigate educational pathways and perceptions of GED graduates from secondary to postsecondary education.