Lekha is a senior research director in the Bridge at NORC. Her primary areas of expertise are in the design and management of both in-person and web-based studies. She has extensive experience working in early education and school based projects, including questionnaire design, recruitment, training, IT systems development, data collection management and data delivery.
She currently serves as a senior task lead on the 2024 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE), sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families. The 2024 NSECE is a large-scale, mixed mode data collection effort, which builds on findings from the 2012 and 2019 NSECE, to allow for comparisons of supply and demand of child care and early education over the 12 years that span data collection. In addition, she leads numerous smaller data collection projects, such as the Brilliant Baby survey, Getting on Track, and the Kindergarten Readiness Indicator. Lekha also serves as the project manager on multiple projects, helping to manage and forecast budgets as well as assisting with contract management.
Quick Links
Education
BA
University of Chicago
AM
University of Chicago
Project Contributions
Publications
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City-Funded Preschool Helps Alleviate Shortage, Improves Child & Family Outcomes
NORC Article | August 22, 2024
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Research Reveals Opportunities for Easing the Transition to Kindergarten
NORC Article | December 11, 2023
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"Understanding Cross-System Transitions from Head Start to Kindergarten: A Comparative Cross Case Study of Head Start and K-12 Partnerships"
Project Report | September 1, 2023
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Child Savings Accounts Make Parents with Low Income More Hopeful
NORC Article | August 23, 2023
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"City of Tempe Preschool Resource and Expansion"
Project Report | August 1, 2021
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opens in new tab"Young Children’s Early Care and Learning in Vermont."
Project Report | February 18, 2019
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opens in new tab"National Survey of Early Care and Education: Summary Data Collection and Sampling Methodology."
Project Report | March 17, 2013
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"Can the Dillman Method be Applied to Email Prompting with a Twenty-Something Population?"
Journal Article | August 26, 2007