Postdoctoral Scholar
Stanford University
Graduate School of Education
ABOUT ME
I am an applied research and measurement leader focused on improving how we understand and support children’s learning and development across diverse contexts.
My work bridges research, practice, and product. I design and evaluate measures of learning, executive function, curiosity, and creativity, and apply these tools to inform decisions about programs, policies, and learning technologies. I combine randomized evaluations, econometrics, and psychometrics with user-centered, contextually grounded design to ensure that measurement is both rigorous and practically useful.
I also develop approaches to cost-effectiveness analysis that help funders and organizations allocate resources toward interventions that generate meaningful impact. Across projects, I build data systems and evidence pipelines that support real-time learning, iteration, and scale.
Over the past 12 years, I have worked across Bangladesh, Ghana, Tanzania, and the United States with partners including J-PAL, IPA, and the Center for Global Development. My goal is to produce research that is analytically strong, accessible, and directly useful for decisions in policy, product development, and philanthropy.
PUBLICATIONS
Heterogeneity of item-treatment interactions masks complexity and generalizability in RCTs.
Ahmed, I., Bertling, M., Zhang, L., Ho, A. D., Loyalka, P., Xue, H., Rozelle, S., Domingue, B.W. (2024)
Principles for adapting assessments of executive function across cultural contexts.
Jukes, M. C. H., Ahmed, I., Baker, S., Draper, C. E., Howard, S. J., McCoy, D. C., Obradović, J., & Wolf, S. (2024).
Directly assessed and adult-reported executive functions: Associations with academic skills in Ghana
Ahmed, I., Steyer, L., Suntheimer, N.M., Wolf, S., Obradović, J. (2023)
Nutrition behavior change communication RCT improves neighbor knowledge and practice in Bangladesh.
Hoddinott, J., Ahmed, I., Ahmed, A., Roy, S. (2017)
Under Review
Impacts of cash, food, and nutrition behavior change communication on long-run child development.
Ahmed, I., Ahmed, A., Hoddinott, J., Roy, S. (2025)
A movement-based working memory measure rooted in observational learning.
Ahmed, I. & Obradović, J. (2025).
Connections between classroom quality and executive function development in middle childhood.
Finch, J.E., Ahmed, I., Bardack, S., Obradović, J. (2025).
WORKING PAPERS
Parental involvement and the differential effects of preschool on kindergarten readiness.
Ahmed, I., Pearman, A., Durkin, K. (2025).
Children’s executive function behaviors in rural Bangladesh: Alignment with direct assessments.
Ahmed, I. & Obradović, J. (2025).
Validation of a new play-based tablet assessment of curiosity and causal exploration.
Obradović, J., Ahmed, I., & Sulik, M.J. (2025).
The 'rug rat race'?: Early childhood community experts' perspectives on the skills children need.
Sabol, T., McCoy, D.C., Jeong, J., Ahmed, I., Honoroff, J., Noel, Z., & Ahun, M. (2025).