Cecilia Xuning Zhang

Cecilia Xuning Zhang is an interdisciplinary researcher with years of mixed-methods research experience and a wide breadth of content knowledge in the areas of Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Technology-Based Learning Supports. She has rich technical expertise in collecting and analyzing extant data to inform enrollment trends and population estimates, leading user experience research, conducting state and local needs assessments in ECE and learning technologies, managing recruitment and survey data collection for large-scale impact studies, facilitating stakeholder engagement, and conducting geographic mapping to understand community needs. She is also a certified Project Management Professional with three years of experience managing diverse clients, contracts, and teams.   

Prior to joining AIR, Zhang conducted comparative early childhood education research domestically and internationally. She received the highest honors in Psychology and Human Development for her work on children’s early motor development at Vanderbilt University’s Infant Learning Lab. She has also worked as an early childhood education consultant with clients in China, Ghana, and India, including Sesame Workshop International (India) and the Chinese Society of Education. She is a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese and is a certified Chinese language teacher.