Illinois State Board of Education	Email: pooja@poojaagarwal.com
	100 North 1st Street	Website: www.poojaagarwal.com
	Springfield, Illinois 62777	Phone: (217) 782-4823

Pooja K. Agarwal is a public servant, dedicated to bridging the gaps between education, teaching, research, and policy. She currently serves as Division Administrator of Student Assessment at the Illinois State Board of Education.

In 2011, Pooja received a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, working with distinguished learning and memory scholar Henry L. Roediger, III. She graduated magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis in 2005 with B.A.s in Elementary Education (with Teaching Certification) and Cognitive Neuroscience, and in 2009 with a M.A. in Cognitive Psychology. Pooja has teaching experience at elementary, middle, high school, and university levels, and she also served as Research and Grant Coordinator for a $3 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, conducting learning and memory research at a local middle school.

Pooja has received numerous awards, including the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for leadership and commitment to public service, the American Psychological Association (APA) Early Graduate Student Researcher Award, and the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship.

Pooja has interned at the U.S. Department of Education (including the Institute of Education Sciences and the Office of Educational Technology) and also at The College Board in Washington, DC. She is a Past President of the Truman Scholars Association, representing more than 2,600 Truman Scholars. Pooja is a proud graduate of the Illinois Mathematics & Science Academy.

 

For Pooja's curriculum vitae (.pdf format), please click here.

 

Publications

Roediger, H. L., Agarwal, P. K., McDaniel, M. A., & McDermott, K. B. (in press). Test-enhanced learning in the classroom: Long-term improvements from quizzing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. [PDF]

Agarwal, P. K. (2011). Cognitive strategies improve fact learning and higher order skills. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Agarwal, P. K. (2011). Examining the relationship between fact learning and higher order learning via retrieval practice (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.

Agarwal, P. K., & Roediger, H. L. (2011). Expectancy of an open-book test decreases performance on a delayed closed-book test. Memory, 19, 836-852. [PDF]

Agarwal, P. K., Rose, N. S., & Roediger, H. L. (2011). The poorer get richer: Retrieval practice for students with low working memory span increases final recall to the level of high span students. Manuscript submitted for publication.

McDaniel, M. A., Thomas, R. C., Agarwal, P. K., McDermott, K. B., & Roediger, H. L. (2011). Quizzing promotes transfer of target principles in middle school science: Benefits on summative exams. Manuscript submitted for publication.

McDaniel, M. A., Agarwal, P. K., Huelser, B. J., McDermott, K. B., & Roediger, H. L. (2011). Test-enhanced learning in a middle school science classroom: The effects of quiz frequency and placement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103, 399-414. [PDF]

White, B. R., & Agarwal, P. K. (2011). The principal report: The state of school leadership in Illinois. Illinois Education Research Council, Edwardsville, IL. [PDF]

Fazio, L. K., Agarwal, P. K., Marsh, E. J., & Roediger, H. L. (2010). Memorial consequences of multiple-choice testing on immediate and delayed tests. Memory & Cognition, 38, 408-418. [PDF]

Roediger, H. L., Agarwal, P. K., Kang, S. H. K., & Marsh, E. J. (2010). Benefits of testing memory: Best practices and boundary conditions. In G. M. Davies & D. B. Wright (Eds.), New frontiers in applied memory (pp. 13-49). Brighton, U.K.: Psychology Press. [PDF]

Roediger, H. L., Weinstein, Y., & Agarwal, P. K. (2010). Forgetting: Preliminary considerations. In S. Della Sala (Ed.), Forgetting (pp. 1-22). Hove, U.K.: Psychology Press. [PDF]

Marsh, E. J., Agarwal, P. K., & Roediger, H. L. (2009). Memorial consequences of answering SAT II questions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 15, 1-11. [PDF]

Agarwal, P. K., Karpicke, J. D., Kang, S. H. K., Roediger, H. L., & McDermott, K. B. (2008). Examining the testing effect with open- and closed-book tests. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 861-876. [PDF]

Agarwal, P. K. (2005). Open-book and closed-book tests: Testing the testing effect. Apex (WU peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal, lead article), 2, 5-13.

Agarwal, P. K. (2003, October/November). College life in the Internet age. Upgrade, 14-15. [PDF]

Agarwal, P. K. (2001). If I could make a school. Learning & Leading with Technology, 29, 28-31. [PDF]