Snell is currently working on the Head Start CARES (Classroom Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social skill promotion) Project, a large national study of the effects and implementation of a set of evidence-based strategies to improve the social and emotional development of children in Head Start classrooms. She is also on the project team for the Design Options for the Home Visiting Evaluation. Prior to coming to MDRC, she received her PhD in human development and social policy from Northwestern University, where she studied the effects of poverty on children’s development using longitudinal, large-scale, national data sets, as well as biomarker techniques.