Brandon Stratford, PhD, is a senior research scientist II in the education research area. He is a practitioner researcher who brings more than twenty-five years of experience ensuring schools are safe and supportive learning spaces and workplaces for all students and school staff. He understands that to achieve positive outcomes for all young people, it is critical to examine the ways in which federal, state, and local policies—and the implementation of those policies—affect the schools and communities where young people live, learn, and play. He also believes that young people, their families, and educators should be treated as experts whose insights are critical to translating research to practice. 

Dr. Stratford is a mixed methods researcher whose primary expertise is in survey design and qualitative data collection and analysis. Dr. Stratford also has expertise in developing technical assistance products and training for policymakers and practitioners. Since joining Child Trends, Dr. Stratford has led several technical assistance projects to engage state and local leaders in promoting student and staff well-being. Dr. Stratford implements strategies that engage community members —especially young people—in setting research priorities. His work has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Education, local governments, and university partners. 

Dr. Stratford has published in several prominent peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of School Health and School Mental Health. He has also co-authored book chapters in the Handbook of school mental health: Innovations in science and practice (3rd ed) and Measure, Use, Improve! Data Use in Out-of-School Time. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of School Health and regularly presents at the Annual Advancing School Mental Health and the American School Health Association Annual Meeting.   

Dr. Stratford has a BA in elementary education from Linfield College, an MSW from the University of Maryland, and a PhD in public health from Johns Hopkins University. He is fluent in Spanish after having studied abroad in Costa Rica in college and serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay.