Kri Burkander
Senior Research Associate
Pronouns: She/Her
Degrees
- Ph.D. in Education Policy: Michigan State University
- M.S.W. in Interpersonal Practice with Children and Youth: University of Michigan
- B.A. in Psychology: Antioch College

About Kri Burkander
Dr. Kri Burkander currently serves as the Principal Investigator for RFA’s 5-year IES grant studying the implementation and impact of California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 705, a statewide developmental education reform initiative aimed at increasing equitable community college course placement. She also serves on the team conducting a national evaluation of a continuous quality improvement intervention in 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC) afterschool programs.
Burkander has extensive experience working with youth in classroom and out-of-school settings as an educator, mixed-methods researcher, clinician, and administrator. Burkander leverages this experience in support of her projects at RFA, including studying an afterschool arts initiative in six states, leading qualitative evaluations with four Philadelphia 21CCLC grantees, and directing the evaluation of an NSF-funded afterschool enrichment and mentoring program for low-income young women of color interested in STEM fields. Much of her research focuses on the transition from high school to college for low-income and first-generation college students, and she is broadly committed to improving educational pipelines and outcomes for marginalized and underserved students.