Holly Schindler

Dr. Holly S. Schindler is an Associate Professor in the areas of Early Childhood and Family Studies and Learning Sciences and Human Development. She is also a Fellow at Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.

Her research focuses on three interconnected areas of scholarship. In one line of research, she uses meta-analytic techniques to identify best practices in early childhood education and family support programs. In a second line of research, she investigates the nuances of fathers’ roles in families as a potential vehicle for boosting the impacts of family support programs. As part of this line of work, she was recently recognized as a Foundation for Child Development Young Scholar for research implementing and evaluating a video coaching program with Mexican American fathers and their young children. Her third line of scholarship focuses on advancing methodological approaches for designing, evaluating, and scaling effective programs and practices. At the national level, she has collaborated with a team of colleagues to define, design, and disseminate tools for a new flexible approach to program development and evaluation within the Frontiers of Innovation network. Locally, she works with Best Starts for Kids Prenatal to Five Innovation Fund, which includes 13 innovation teams who are seeking to implement new or adapted approaches to support the health and well-being of pregnant individuals, children birth to age five and their families, service providers, and communities. Across these areas, Dr. Schindler’s research is driven by a desire to promote equitable systems in support of children and families.

Her work has been supported by funders such as the National Institutes of Health, Institutes of Education Sciences, and the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network, and has been featured in top-tier journals, such as Child Development, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and Journal of Marriage and Family.