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Michelle Woodbridge

Senior Research Analyst

Michelle Woodbridge, Ph.D., focuses on research about children’s systems of care. Currently, she is principal investigator of FIRST 5 Santa Clara County evaluation services, which is assessing the impact of the county’s comprehensive early childhood system of care for children ages birth through 5 and their families. She also co-directs the National Behavior Research Coordination Center, which supports randomized trials being conducted by four university partners to build the evidence base for interventions to improve the behavior and academic achievement of young students with severe emotional and behavior disorders. Additionally, Dr. Woodbridge co-directs the National Effectiveness Study of First Step to Success, a large-scale randomized trial of an early intervention that helps children who are at risk for developing or who demonstrate antisocial or aggressive behaviors. In 2008, she co-authored a What Works Clearinghouse practice guide, Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom, which aims to assist educators in implementing effective prevention and intervention strategies that promote positive behavior and reduce the frequency of behavior problems.

Dr. Woodbridge has more than 13 years of experience in research and evaluation of children’s systems of care services, including behavioral and mental health, education, juvenile justice, public health, social services, and other community-based services. She is the author or coauthor of numerous articles, book chapters, monographs, and presentations on research and evaluation in systems of care, family involvement in evaluation, educational outreach, inclusion of children with severe emotional and behavioral disturbances, and the use of evaluation data for program improvement and policy development.

Formerly, Dr. Woodbridge was a senior policy associate at Georgetown University’s Child Development Center in Washington, D.C., where she facilitated building the capacity of states and local communities in their evaluation of child and family services in systems of care as part of the National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health.

Dr. Woodbridge received her Ph.D. in education from the University of California, Santa Barbara.