Heather Schwartz

Dr. Heather Schwartz is an associate policy researcher at RAND.  Her research examines education and housing policies intended to reduce the negative effects of poverty on children and families. Her work falls in four policy areas intended to help close the income achievement gap: economically integrative housing and school programs, early childhood learning opportunities, school choice, and school accountability measures. She is interested in experimental and non-experimental methods to make causal inferences about the effects of public policies. She recently completed a study of the academic benefits during elementary school of economic integration in schools and neighborhoods for low-income students whose families were randomly assigned to affordable housing in Montgomery County, MD. She currently leads two studies of the effects of economically integrative housing on access to low-poverty schools and on children’s and adults social networks. She received a Ph.D. from Columbia University’s Teachers College in Education Policy and a B.A. from Swarthmore College in English.

RAND Corporation
650 Poydras Street, Suite 1400
New Orleans, LA 70130

Phone: 504-299-3404
Email: Heather_Schwartz@rand.org