Amanda Danks

Amanda Danks is a Senior Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) with extensive experience supporting investigations aimed at enhancing equity and opportunity for learners of all backgrounds and abilities. Dr. Danks is a Co-Director of AIR's Center for Economic Evaluation, which supports rigorous economic evaluations across fields including education, health, international, and workforce development. The Center collaborates with leaders, organizations, and communities to analyze costs and outcomes to generate actionable, evidence-based insights. Dr. Danks also co-leads the Early Childhood Cost and Finance work at AIR, which aims to inform decisions about the true cost of high-quality early care and education, the systems that support it, and the revenue sources that can fund it. Dr. Danks is a thought leader in the development of cost study standards and best practices for a variety of content areas, such that methodological guidance can be realistically applied and useful findings presented to inform decisions at all levels.
Dr. Danks is adept at framing complex educational policies and programs in an effort to determine the resources they use, the corresponding costs, and their cost-effectiveness. Dr. Danks holds a B.S. in Psychology from Bethany College and a Masters in Leadership in Teaching with a Specialization in Special Education from the University of Notre Dame in Maryland. She completed her Ph.D. at North Carolina State University in the Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis program in 2021, where her training focused on the economics of education and methods of cost analysis.