Thomas M. Geraghty, Ph.D.

Thomas M. Geraghty, Ph.D. has more than ten years’ experience conducting research in education policy, defense cost analysis, and economics. In education, Geraghty is currently working on a study investigating the impact of National Board Certification on teacher effectiveness using value-added models. He has also contributed to a study on the impact of omitted variables on teachers’ value-added estimates. From 2009-2011, Geraghty spent two years based in Charleston, WV, as the REL Appalachia field scientist to West Virginia. While there, he provided technical assistance to the West Virginia Department of Education on issues such as implementing value-added and growth models, measuring teacher effectiveness in non-tested subjects, and designing frameworks for program evaluation. Geraghty also served as co-principal investigator on two longer-term studies that used district-level data to assess how well educational programs serve diverse groups. One study estimated participation rates for four-year olds in the West Virginia’s universal prekindergarten program, both statewide and for subgroups such as low-income students, racial/ethnic minority students, and students living in rural areas. Another study used district-level data to investigate the degree of racial and ethnic proportionality in Virginia’s gifted education program. In other CNA work, Geraghty has contributed to studies for CNA’s Resource Analysis Division, including defense cost analyses that use regression methods to examine issues such as the degree of fixed costs in Navy flight training programs, the degree to which aircraft aging and utilization affect Navy budgets, and tradeoffs between operating and maintenance budgets. Prior to coming to CNA, Geraghty served as Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, teaching and conducting research in British and U.S. economic history.

Education

• Ph.D. Economics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 2002.
• M.S. Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 1993.
• B.S. Systems Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1991.

Work History

• Research Scientist. CNA Education and Resource Analysis Division, 2008-2009, 2011-present.
• Field Scientist to West Virginia, REL Appalachia at CNA, 2009-2011.
• Assistant Professor of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001-2008.
• Production Control Specialist, Lockheed Martin Corporation, 1991-1995.

Publications

• Geraghty, T., Holian, L., and Gyeke, A. (2012). Prekindergarten Participation Rates in West Virginia (REL Technical Brief, REL 2012–022). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Appalachia. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.
• Boning, W. and Geraghty, T. (2009). Budgeting for AVDLRs with Fixed Cost, December, 2009 (CNA CRM D0020940.A2).
• Birchler, D., Baldwin, G., and Geraghty, T. (2009). Environmental Readiness of Newly Acquired Systems, May, 2009 (CNA CRM D0020225.A2).
• Geraghty, T. and Wiseman, T. (2011). “Conflict and Compromise: Changes in U.S. Strike Outcomes, 1880-1945.” Explorations in Economic History 48, issue 4, 2011: 519-537.
• Geraghty, T. and Wiseman, T. (2008). “Wage Strikes in 1880s America: a Test of the War of Attrition Model” Explorations in Economic History 45, Issue 4, 2008: 303-326.
• Geraghty, T. (2007). “The Factory System in the British Industrial Revolution; Technology, Organization, and Complementarity” European Economic Journal 51, Issue 6, 2007: 1329-1351.