Tim Kautz

Tim Kautz is an economist whose work focuses on rigorous evaluations of education, employment, and human services programs, as well as the measurement of social-emotional and self-regulation skills. At Mathematica, he designs and leads impact evaluations and measurement studies, with expertise in randomized controlled trials, design-based methods, and Bayesian analysis.

Since joining Mathematica in 2015, Kautz has led and contributed to studies across education, employment, and human services. He is Principal Investigator for the Evaluation of Employment Coaching for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Related Populations & Long-Term Follow-Up Study and Deputy Project Director for the Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies Project. His recent work also includes studies of Grit Lab 101, a course designed to strengthen students’ social and emotional skills; after-school programs; algebra instruction; principal development; school climate measurement; and social and emotional learning measures for education agencies.

Kautz has published articles in journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Journal of Human Capital, Labour Economics, and The British Medical Journal. He is a coauthor of The Myth of Achievement Tests: The GED and the Role of Character in American Life, a book examining the importance of skills not fully captured by achievement tests. Outside Mathematica, he is a Senior Fellow at the Behavior Change for Good Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania and a Network Leader of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group. He previously served on the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development’s Council of Distinguished Scientists and holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.