Bich Thi Ngoc Tran

Research and Evaluation Associate

Center for Program Design and Evaluation

Dartmouth College

CV

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For the past six years, I have conducted empirical research at the local, state, and international levels. My research interests include program design and evaluation, gifted education and identification, virtual schooling, public opinion, educational leadership, and higher education. I have published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Journal for the Education for the Gifted, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Intelligence, Vietnam Journal of Education, Journal of Online Learning Research, Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, Computers and Education Open, and Phi Delta Kappan.

My career goal is to use my knowledge and skills to address inequality, alleviate poverty, and promote social justice by producing data-driven evidence to inform policy and practice. I joined The Dartmouth Institute in May 2022 as a research scientist at the Center for Program Design and Evaluation.

Dissertation work 

In my dissertation, I use Arkansas administrative data to study the identification process and evaluate the effectiveness of gifted services. This work was disseminated as policy briefs and reports with the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas and is currently under review in several academic journals. It also won first place in the 4th Annual Graduate-Professional Student Congress Research Colloquium at the University of Arkansas in 2021.  

• Tran, B. T. N., Wai, J., McKenzie, S., Mills, J. N., & Seaton, D. (2022). Expanding gifted identification to capture academically advanced low income and disadvantaged students: The case of Arkansas. Journal for the Education of the Gifted. https://doi.org/10.1177/01623532211063936
• Tran, B. T. N., Wai, J., McKenzie, S., Mills, J. N., & Seaton, D. (2020). What can we learn about improving gifted identification by studying how accurate the process is in Arkansas? Office for Education Policy, University of Arkansas, Arkansas Education Report, 18(2), 1-31.
• Tran, B. T. N., Wai, J., & McKenzie, S. A Longitudinal Study of Gifted Status and Academic Growth. (2021). Office for Education Policy, University of Arkansas, Arkansas Education Report, 18(7), 1-5.

Other work and interests

Derived from my interest in gifted education, public opinion, educational leadership, online schooling, and comparative studies, I have published the following papers on these topics: 

• Tran, B. T. N., Djita, R., Nguyen, T. M. N. & Wibawanta, B. (2022). The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on first-generation, low-income, and rural students in Indonesia and Vietnam: a cross-cultural comparative study. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v14i3%20(Part%201).4636 
• Wai. J., Tran, B. T. N. (2022). Student characteristics, institutional factors, and outcomes in higher education and beyond: An analysis of standardized test scores and other factors at the institutional level with school rankings and salary. Journal of Intelligence. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/10/2/22
• Wai, J., Bardach, L., & Tran, B. T. N. (2022). What longitudinal research and large-scale population representative studies can tell us about gifted students and education policy 50 years after the Marland Report. Journal for the Education of the Gifted. https://doi.org/10.1177/01623532211063942
• Beck, D., Tran, B. T. N., Maranto, R., & Clark, T. (2021).Why they come and go: Comparing special education and general education students in cyber schools. Journal of Online Learning Research. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/219618/
• Maranto, R., Beck, D., & Clark, T., Tran, B. T. N, Liu, F. (2021). How COVID-19 changed cyber charter schools. Phi Delta Kappan. https://kappanonline.org/choosing-cyber-during-covid-maranto-beck-clark-tran-liu/?fbclid=IwAR31PCfNwn_NlQsT9umlh5rhoxjmgkang8uWn_OuC9oUzzYC1DZilMrCvKE
• Tran, B. T. N. (2021). Which townships support charter schools? A study of the 2016 Massachusetts Charter Referendum. Social Science Quarterly, 102(2), 865-880. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12938
• Tran, B. T. N. (2021). Educational Leadership in the U.S. and Vietnam: A Cross-Culture Comparative Study. Vietnam Journal of Education, 5(3), 1–12. https://vje.vn/index.php/journal/article/view/54
• Tran, B. T. N., Lind, N. S. (2020) Encyclopedia entry: Laos and Vietnam. Gender and Identity Worldwide. California: ABC-CLIO.
• Lind, N.S., Tran, B. T. N. (2019). Encyclopedia entry: CODEPINK. Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Organizations that Shaped America: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection. California: ABC-CLIO.

Manuscripts under review

• Tran, B. T. N., Wai, J. N., McKenzie, S. C. Gifted Education in Arkansas: A Longitudinal Study of Gifted Status and Academic Achievement Among High Aptitude Students.

Honors and awards

• Mensa Education & Research Foundation Award for Excellence in Research, 2022-23
• Hayek Fund for Scholars 2019, 2022
• First Place in the 4th Annual Graduate-Professional Student Congress Research Colloquium, University of Arkansas 2021
• Best Conference Paper, Department of Education Reform, College of Education and Health Professions, University of Arkansas 2021
• Outstanding Graduate Student Service Award, Illinois State University 2018
• International Peace Scholarship, Philanthropic Educational Organization Sisterhood 2017, 2018
• Alice Ebel Scholarship, Illinois State University 2016, 2017, 2018
• IKEA Scholarship for Excellence in Leadership and Academic Performance, Asian University for Women 2011-2016
• Global Korean Scholarship from the National Institute for International Education 2015