Jay Jeffries
Jay Jeffries joined the Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System (NSWERS) on July 1, 2025, bringing five years of experience in educational research and evaluation.
Dr. Jeffries holds a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Social Science Education and a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Quantitative, Qualitative, and Psychometric Methods, both from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
As a postdoctoral researcher, Jay contributes to NSWERS’s research and evaluation program through the development of research briefs, special reports, and story products. He conducts analysis using the NSWERS research database and transforms results into clear, accessible reporting aligned with the NSWERS Information & Research Agenda. His work ensures that data insights are effectively disseminated to inform decision making, public policy, and educational practice across Nebraska. In addition to his role at NSWERS, Jay works as a postdoctoral research scientist at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center and the Nebraska Evaluation and Research Center.
Jeffries’ research and data visualization skills have been recognized nationally, earning him the LDBase Open Science Data Visualization People’s Choice Award and the American Psychological Association Assessment Community Poster Award. As someone who is partially color blind, Jay is particularly committed to creating color-blind inclusive data visualizations.
Originally from Grand Island, Nebraska, Jay brings both technical expertise and a passion for accessible, impactful research to the NSWERS team.
Get to Know Jay
What author, researcher, or scientist is most influential to you in your work at NSWERS?
I frequently return to Rex Kline’s “Principles and Practices of Structural Equation Modeling” textbook and enjoy the works of John J. (Jack) McArdle and Dan McNeish quite a bit.
What behavior or personality trait do you most attribute your success to, and why?
My proactiveness, conscientiousness, and (mild) perfectionism mesh well with my curiosity and relaxed nature, especially in a learning environment and under time constraints. I also might attribute some success to sheer stubbornness!
If I wasn’t in my field of work, I would probably be:
A social studies teacher or a ski patrolman.
What gets you up in the morning?
In more than one way, my dog, Princess Leia. 🙂
What’s the biggest misconception people have about your position?
That we are boring robots—we can be fun!