Research
Peer-reviewed publications, manuscripts in review, and works in preparation. For policy reports and white papers, see Reports.
Peer-reviewed publications, newest first. Where available, links go to the journal or open-access version of record.
Giani, M. S., Andrews, M. E., & Ogden, K. (in press). Situated sugarcoating: How policy contexts moderate teachers' strategies for motivating student behavior. Educational Psychology for Policy and Practice.
Giani, M. S., Schudde, L., & Sultana, T. (in press). Credit loss shock: How the loss of credits relates to retention, persistence, and swirl among vertical transfer students. Review of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.0.a988388
Clarida, K., Graham, J., Giani, M. S., Kotok, S., & DeMatthews, D. (2026). Race at the top: How superintendent racial representation shapes principal diversity in Texas schools. Educational Administration Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X261422737
Giani, M. S., Schudde, L., & Sultana, T. (2026). Toward a comprehensive model predicting credit loss in vertical transfer. American Educational Research Journal. OnlineFirst. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312251409063
Giani, M. S., Schudde, L., & Sultana, T. (2026). New insights on sources of credit loss. Educational Researcher. OnlineFirst. Journal link
Andrews, M. A., Ogden, K., & Giani, M. S. (2026). Weighing the value of industry-based certifications against their costs. NASBE State Education Standard. Read the article
Schudde, L., Castillo, S., Conroy, K., & Giani, M. S. (2025). Institutional transfer logics among community college and university stakeholders. Educational Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048251339814
Giani, M. S., Khandekar, S., & Porter, J. (2025). Access, supports, and performance in dual enrollment: A COVID-19 case's implications for equity. AERA Open, 11. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584251327161
Hecht, C. A., Murphy, M. C., Dweck, C. S., Bryan, C. J., Trzesniewski, K. H., Medrano, F. N., Giani, M. S., Mhatre, P., & Yeager, D. S. (2023). Shifting the mindset culture to address global educational disparities. npj Science of Learning, 8(1), 29.
Giani, M. S., Krawietz, C. A., & Whittaker, T. A. (2023). The role of student beliefs in dual-enrollment courses. Research in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-023-09740-z
Giani, M. S. (2023). Industry-recognized certifications for college and career readiness. Kappan.
Attewell, P., Maggio, C., Tucker, F., Brooks, J., Giani, M. S., Hu, X., Massa, T., Raoking, F., Walling, D., & Wilson, N. (2022). Early indicators of student success: A multi-state analysis. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 1(4), 35–53. DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss130588
Dorimé-Williams, M., & Giani, M. S. (2022). The impact of race, class, and involvement on collegiate degree attainment. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, & Practice, 23(4), 989–1017. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025119885445
Giani, M. S., & Martin, A. (2021). Mobilizing development education: The causal effect of mobile apps on the outcomes of developmental education students. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 43(4), 668–687. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737211013782
Giani, M. S., Taylor, J. L., & Kauppila, S. (2021). Examining the educational and employment outcomes of reverse credit transfer. AERA Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858421989998
Giani, M. S., Attewell, P., & Walling, D. (2020). The value of an incomplete degree: Heterogeneity in the labor market benefits of college non-completion. Journal of Higher Education, 91(4), 514–539. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1653122
Giani, M. S., & Walling, D. (2020). Will I get in? Using predictive analytics to develop student-facing tools to estimate university admissions decisions. Journal of College Access, 5(1), 14–31. Read the article
Giani, M. S. (2019). The correlates of credit loss: How demographics, pre-transfer academics, and institutions relate to the loss of credits for vertical transfer students. Research in Higher Education, 60(8), 1113–1141. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-019-09548-w
Taylor, J. L., & Giani, M. S. (2019). Modeling the effect of the reverse credit transfer associate's degree: Evidence from two states. The Review of Higher Education, 42(2), 427–455. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0002
Giani, M. S. (2019). Does vocational still imply tracking? Examining the evolution of career and technical education policy in Texas. Educational Policy, 33(7), 1002–1046. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904817745375
D'Amico, M. M., & Giani, M. S. (Eds.) (2017). Special issue: Transfer matters. Community College Review, 45(4). Journal link
Giani, M. S., & Fox, H. L. (2016). Do stackable credentials promote social mobility or reinforce stratification? An analysis of health professions pathways reform in a community college consortium. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 69(1). DOI: 10.1080/13636820.2016.1238837
Giani, M. S. (2016). Are all colleges equally equalizing? How institutional selectivity impacts disparities in college graduates' labor outcomes. The Review of Higher Education, 39(3), 431–461.
Giani, M. S. (2015). The postsecondary resource trinity model: Exploring the interaction between socioeconomic, academic, and institutional resources. Research in Higher Education, 56(2), 105–126. DOI: 10.1007/s11162-014-9357-4
Giani, M. S., Alexander, C., & Reyes, P. (2014). Exploring variation in the impact of dual-credit coursework on postsecondary outcomes: A quasi-experimental analysis of Texas students. The High School Journal, 97(4), 200–218.
Manuscripts currently under peer review or revision.
Giani, M. S., Ogden, K., & Woulfin, S. L. (in review). CAPacity constraints: Advising program (in)coherence in district partnerships with college advising programs. Teachers College Record.
Giani, M. S., Childs, J., Lyle, R., & Kennedy, M. (accepted with revisions). The potential of professional learning networks in improving teaching effectiveness and college readiness. American Educational Research Journal.
Giani, M. S., Murphy, R., Flores, S. M., Barash, J., Dixon, B., & Bernal, J. M. (accepted with revisions). From passive promises to proactive guarantees: The efficacy of financial certainty interventions among automatically (in-)admissible students. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. EdWorkingPaper No. 25-1158. Working paper PDF
Giani, M. S., Andrews, M. E., & Ogden, K. (accepted with revisions). Curricular-credential decoupling: How schools respond to career and technical education policy. Social Forces. EdWorkingPaper No. 25-1128. https://doi.org/10.26300/he7x-3a63
Zepeda, C., Giani, M. S., & Butler, A. C. (in review). Students' use of motivational regulation strategies and their relation to course performance. Learning and Individual Differences.
Yeager, D. S., Hecht, C., Bryan, C., Giani, M. S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., Tipton, E., … & Dweck, C. S. (in review). A scalable, theory-based intervention to influence teachers' student engagement practices improves academic performance in a state-wide sample. Nature Human Behavior.
Sultana, T., Andrews, M. E., & Giani, M. S. (in review). Cheapskin effects? The heterogeneous value of industry-recognized certificates earned by high school students. Economics of Education Review. EdWorkingPaper No. 26-1412. https://doi.org/10.26300/evgq-re17
Giani, M. S., Andrews, M. E., & Agarwal, R. (in review). Dual-enrollment dosage design: Conceptualization and measurement of student profiles and school structures. American Educational Research Journal. Working paper PDF
Manuscripts currently in preparation.
Giani, M. S., Lyra, F., & Riegle-Crumb, C. (in preparation). The rise of statistics and effectively maintained inequality in advanced math pathways.
Giani, M. S., Andrews, M. E., & Ogden, K. (in preparation). Teaching to the technical test: How industry-recognized certification policy is perverting CTE pedagogy.
Giani, M. S., & Lyle, R. (in preparation). The role of gateway faculty in shaping college students' persistence and attainment in STEM.
Giani, M. S., & Gaertner, M. N. (in preparation). How middle school students' college and career knowledge shapes socioeconomic inequalities in high school curricular patterns.
Khandekar, S., Andrews, M., & Giani, M. S. (in preparation). Rigor, risk, and reward: Do STEM dual-enrollment courses promote or prevent equity in students' STEM aspirations? Teachers College Record.
Reports, white papers, and edited volumes prepared for foundations, government agencies, and policy organizations.
Giani, M. S., Lyra, F., & Tyner, A. (2025). Calculus or statistics: Does it matter? Washington, DC: Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Read the report
Giani, M. S., Woods, S., Gueguen, L., & Torres, J. (2023). From transactional to transformational: Unpacking and strengthening the multiple dimensions of advising capacity. Austin, TX: Texas College Access Network, Educate Texas. Available upon request.
Giani, M. S. (2022). How attaining industry-recognized credentials in high school shapes education and employment outcomes. Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Read the report (PDF)
Giani, M. S. (2022). Dual-enrollment and career and technical education. In J. L. Taylor et al. (Eds.), Research priorities for advancing equitable dual enrollment policy and practice (pp. 63–69). Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah. Read the report (PDF)
Taylor, J. L., Allen, T. O., An, B. P., Denecker, C., Edmunds, J. A., Fink, J., Giani, M. S., Hodara, M., Hu, X., Tobolowsky, B. F., & Chen, W. (2022). Research priorities for advancing equitable dual enrollment policy and practice. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah. Read the report (PDF)
Giani, M. S. (2019). Bossier Parish Community College First in the World third-party evaluation: Final Annual Performance Report. Austin, TX: Giani Consulting & Evaluation, LLC. Available upon request.
Giani, M. S. (2019). Who is the modern CTE student? A descriptive portrait of career and technical education students in Texas. American Enterprise Institute. Read the report
Giani, M. S., Lippa, A., & Khandekar, S. C. (2018). The high school readiness report: A study of the landscape of middle school advising in Texas. Austin, TX: Texas OnCourse, The University of Texas at Austin. Read the report (PDF)
Giani, M. S., & Lippa, A. (2017). College and career advising in Texas: The Texas OnCourse survey report. Austin, TX: Texas OnCourse, The University of Texas at Austin. Read the report
Taylor, J. L., & Giani, M. S. (2016). Reverse transfer: Taking stock and moving forward. OCCRL Updates, Spring 2016, 24–27. Read the article (PDF)
Bragg, D. D., Giani, M. S., Fox, H. L., Bishop, C., & Bridges, K. (2015, July). Third party evaluation of the impact of the Health Professions Pathways (H2P) Consortium. Champaign, IL: Office of Community College Research and Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Read the report (PDF)
Giani, M. S., & Taylor, J. L. (2015). CWID DATA NOTE: Cumulative college credits and reverse transfer eligibility policies. Champaign, IL: Office of Community College Research and Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Giani, M. S., Alexander, C., & Shin, J. (2014). The Texas Reverse Transfer Initiative: Baseline report. Austin, TX: Texas Education Research Center. Available upon request.
Cumpton, G., & Giani, M. S. (2014). Texas school counselor study: Exploring the supply, demand, and evolving roles of school counselors. Austin, TX: Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources. Read the report (PDF)
Mikelson, K. S., Giani, M. S., King, C. T., & Khan, A. (2014). Estimating labor demand and supply in Texas: How planning tools and data are used. Report prepared for the Texas Workforce Investment Council. Austin, TX: Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources. Available upon request.
Reyes, P., Alexander, C., & Giani, M. S. (2012). Postsecondary access, persistence, and completion of Houston-area youth. Austin, TX: Texas Education Research Center. Read the report (PDF)
Alexander, C., Giani, M. S., & Reyes, P. (2011). High school persistence and completion of Houston-area youth. Austin, TX: Texas Education Research Center.
Giani, M. S., Alexander, C., & Reyes, P. (2011). A study of postsecondary access and preparedness of Houston-area youth. Austin, TX: Texas Education Research Center.
Alexander, C., Reyes, P., & Giani, M. S. (2011). Postsecondary persistence and completion of Houston-area youth. Austin, TX: Texas Education Research Center.
Giani, M. S., & O'Guinn, C. M. (2010). Weaving outside ideas into our school. In K. Geiser & C. O'Guinn (Eds.), Youth in the middle: Envisioning and implementing a whole-school youth development approach (pp. 81–89). Palo Alto, CA: John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities. Read the toolkit (PDF)
Giani, M. S., & O'Guinn, C. M. (2010). Building supportive relationships as a foundation for learning. In K. Geiser & C. O'Guinn (Eds.), Youth in the middle. Palo Alto, CA: John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities.
Giani, M. S., & O'Guinn, C. M. (2010). Motivation to learn: Igniting a love of learning in all students. In K. Geiser & C. O'Guinn (Eds.), Youth in the middle. Palo Alto, CA: John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities.
O'Guinn, C. M., Giani, M. S., & Geiser, K. (2010). Renewing school: Productive dialogue and difficult conversations. In K. Geiser & C. O'Guinn (Eds.), Youth in the middle. Palo Alto, CA: John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities.