Professional Summary
Amota is an international doctoral student advised by Dr Ben Kelcey (Professor of Quantitative Methods) at the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services at the University of Cincinnati. Amota is interested in causal evaluation and machine learning in education and social sciences. His research focuses on the design and analysis of individual and cluster (fully and partially-nested) randomized trials, optimal allocation, and power analysis. These are research areas that are well developed and relatively straightforward in natural science and pharmaceutical fields but young and complex in social sciences where there are contextual and latent factors to capture. Amota is currently exploring ways to apply Machine Learning (neural networks, explainable boosting, shapley values etc.) in multilevel and high-dimensional data structures in education and psychotherapy settings. He is also working with Australian researchers on developing a new, more nuaced and fair evaluation framework called Critical DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) that is based on QuantCrit (the integration of quantitative and critical inquiry methodologies). Amota has presented his research at national premier research conferences, American Evaluation Association (AEA), American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE), and the American Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management.
Education
Bachelor of Economics: University of Queensland Australia,
Master's of Public Administration (MPA): University of Hawaii USA,
Research Support
Grant: #1760884 Investigators:PIs: Benjamin Kelcey, Nianbo Dong National Science Foundation (NSF) Designing Multisite Mediation Studies to Track Teacher Development Processes in Mathematics Role:Collaborator $499,996.00 Completed Type:Grant
Grant: #1552535 Investigators:PIs: Benjamin Kelcey National Science Foundation (NSF) Multilevel Mediation Models to Study the Impact of Teacher Development on Student Achievement in Mathematics. Role:Contributor $679,105.00
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Bai, F., Xie, Y., Kelcey, B., Ataneka, A., McLean, L., Dong, N., & Phelps, G. (2024. ) Design Parameter Values for Planning Mediation Studies With Teacher and Student Mathematics Outcomes,.Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, , More Information
Ataneka, A., Bai, F., Xie, Y., Kelcey, B., McLean, L., Dong, N., & Phelps, G. Design Parameter Values for Planning Mediation Studies With Teacher and Student Literacy Outcomes, .Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, ,
Other Publications
Ataneka, A., Kelcey, B., Dong, N., Bulus, M., & Bai, F. (2023. ) Power-Up Shiny App User Guide 0.9 .https://www.causalevaluation.org/power-analysis.html,
Ataneka A., (2016. ) Evaluating the efficiency of public hospitals in the State of Hawaii .
Hawaii public Hospitals Efficiency
Book Chapter
Ataneka A., Kelcey B., (2025 ) Cluster Randomized Experiments Oxford Handbook for Impact Evaluations .Oxford Press
Presentations
Invited Presentations
Bai, F., Ataneka, A., Kelcey, B., & Xie, Y (2023. ) Designing Adequately Powered Multilevel Studies Cluster Randomized Trials to Detect Main Effects, Moderation, and Mediation .University of Connecticut, Trumbull, Connecticut, USA. Workshop. . Level:Regional
Colloquium
Ataneka, A., Xie, Y., Bai, F., Kelcey, B., & Dong, N. (04-2024). Design Parameter Values for Planning Mediation Studies With Teacher and Student Mathematics Outcomes. . Spring Conference, Louisville, Kentucky. Conference. Level:Regional
Ataneka, A., Xie, Y., Bai, F., Kelcey, B., & Dong, N. (10-2022). Design Parameter Values for Planning Mediation Studies With Teacher and Student Mathematics Outcomes. . American Evaluation Association , Indianapolis. Conference. Level:National
Paper Presentations
Ataneka, A., Xie, Y., Bai, F., Kelcey, B., & Dong, N. (05-2023. ) Design Parameter Values for Planning Mediation Studies With Teacher and Student Mathematics Outcomes. .Chicago. Conference. Level:National
Ataneka, A., (2017. ) Examining the Efficiency of Public Elementary Schools in the State of Hawaii: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis .California. Conference. Level:National
Bai, F., Xie, Y., Kelcey, B., Ataneka, A., McLean, L., Dong, N., & Phelps, G. (10-2023. ) Design Parameter Values for Multilevel Mediation Studies of Teacher Development. .Connecticut. Conference.
Ataneka, A., Xie, Y., Bai, F., Kelcey, B., & Dong, N. (09-2023. ) Design Parameter Values for Multilevel Mediation Studies of Teacher Development. .Arlington Virginia . Conference. Level:National
Symposium
Ataneka, A., Cox, K., Kelcey, B., Bai, F., Luce, Hannah., (10-2022. ) Detecting Moderation Effects in Cluster Randomized Trials with Partially Nested Data .Washington DC. Conference. Level:International
Ataneka, A., (Discussant) (11-2022. ) Principles of Estimation, Inference & Design in Partially Nested Regression Discontinuity Studies .New Orleans, Louisiana. Conference.
Professional Affiliation
2022 -2025: Official Member AERA (American Educational Research Association) , Washington DC
2022 -2025: Official Member AEA (American Evaluation Association), Washington DC
2022 -2025: Official Member APPAM (Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management), Washington DC
2022 -2025: Official Member SREE (Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness), Washington DC