Kylie Anglin

Dr. Kylie Anglin is an Assistant Professor in the Research Methods, Measurement, & Evaluation (RMME) program. Her research develops methods for efficiently monitoring program implementation in impact evaluations using natural language processing techniques, as well as methods for improving the causal validity and replicability of impact estimates. Her work has appeared in journals such as the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, Prevention Science, AERA Open, and Evaluation Review. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia where she participated in the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) Pre-doctoral Training Program and received an NAEd/Spencer dissertation fellowship.

Email:  kylie.anglin@uconn.edu

 

Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead

Dr. Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead is a Professor and the Program Coordinator of Research Methods, Measurement, & Evaluation (RMME) programs at the University of Connecticut. She teaches courses in research methods, assessment, and evaluation and is a member of the newly formed cross-departmental School Reform Research Cluster. She received her PhD in Psychology with a concentration in Evaluation and Applied Research Methods from Claremont Graduate University in 2009. She has previously served as an assistant professor of educational research at Western Carolina University, as a research and evaluation specialist at the Southeast Regional Educational Laboratory, and as a doctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Motivated by a deep-seated desire to promote student educational equity, her scholarship seeks to advance knowledge on the impact of K-12 policies, practices, and programs in chronically under-performing and under-served schools; to provide credible, relevant, and useful evidence to the policy community; and to contribute to the development of stronger evidence-based evaluation practices, models, and theories. Bianca is 2014's recipient of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) Marcia Guttentag Award (28th Annual American Evaluation Association Conference, October 15-18 Denver, CO). She joined the University of Connecticut in 2013.

Email:  bianca.montrosse-moorhead@uconn.edu

 

D. Betsy McCoach

Dr. Betsy McCoach is a Professor in the Research Methods, Measurement, & Evaluation (RMME) program at the University of Connecticut. She has extensive experience in structural equation modeling, longitudinal data analysis, hierarchical linear modeling, instrument design, and factor analysis. Betsy has published over 80 journal articles, book chapters, and books, including Multilevel Modeling of Educational Data with Ann O’Connell. Her newest book, Instrument Development in the Affective Domain (3rd edition), co-authored with Robert K. Gable and John P. Madura was released in 2013. Betsy served as the founding co-editor for the Journal of Advanced Academics, and she is the current co-editor of Gifted Child Quarterly. She is also an associate editor of Frontiers in Measurement and Quantitative Psychology. Betsy is the current Director of DATIC, where she teaches summer workshops in Hierarchical Linear Modeling and Structural Equation Modeling, and she is the founder and conference chair of the Modern Modeling Methods conference, held at UCONN every May. Dr. McCoach is also the current Project Director and Principal Investigator for Project PAPER, a U.S. Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) grant that funds fellowships for PhD students in measurement, evaluation, and assessment. Betsy currently serves as a Co-Principal Investigator and research methodologist on several federally funded research grants, including Project Early Vocabulary Intervention, funded by IES, and School Structure and Science Success: Organization and Leadership Influences on Student Success, funded by NSF.  In addition, she has served as the Research Methodologist for the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented for the last 7 years. Betsy is the current incoming program chair of the AERA Structural Equation Modeling SIG, the chair of the Educational Statisticians SIG, and the chair of the Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development SIG. She has also served as Chair of the AERA Hierarchical Linear Modeling SIG.

Email:  betsy.mccoach@uconn.edu

 

Christopher Rhoads

Dr. Christopher Rhoads is Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the Research Methods, Measurement, and Evaluation's (RMME) campus-based Master's and Doctoral programs at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Rhoads' research interests focus on methods for improving causal inference in educational research, particularly in the areas of experimental design and the analysis of multi-level data structures.

Email:  christopher.rhoads@uconn.edu

 

Sarah D. Newton

Dr. Sarah D. Newton is the Associate Director of Online Programs in Research Methods, Measurement, & Evaluation (RMME) program, as well as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the University of Connecticut’s Department of Educational Psychology. She provides research design, measurement, data collection/management, statistical analysis/modeling, cost analysis, and methodological support for multiple grant-funded research projects at UConn. She also teaches various courses in research methodology and quantitative methods/analysis. She earned her PhD and MA in Educational Psychology (with an RMME concentration) at the University of Connecticut. In addition, she holds an MS in Criminal Justice and a BA in Criminology, with completed course requirements in Psychology, from Central Connecticut State University. Her methodological research interests focus on model/data fit and model adequacy as complementary tools for multilevel model evaluation and selection; information criteria performance in multilevel modeling contexts; latent variable modeling; affective instrument design; reliability/validity theory; and economic evaluation (e.g., cost analysis).

Email: sarah.newton@uconn.edu

 

Sharon Loza

Dr. Sharon Loza has worked on multiple state, national, and global education initiatives focused on improving child outcomes, with a focus on children at risk for and with various disabilities. She has led federal, state and privately funded research and evaluation agendas for various programs aimed at improving student achievement. Dr. Loza has held such roles as a statewide Data Manager working with various federal indicators and Research Investigator on a statewide educational needs assessment in North Carolina. In addition, she has served as a Training and Technical Assistance provider to enhance the knowledge, skill and capacity of teachers and administrators to increase their capacity in applying principles of implementation science, social emotional learning, and practice-based coaching to improve student and teacher outcomes. Dr. Loza currently serves as the Branch Head and Part C Director for the North Carolina Early Intervention Program, a Fellow with the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Act Early Ambassador. She brings a wide range of experiences in the practical application of evaluation and research methods to support efforts related to continuous quality improvement, understanding the impact of programs and policy on children’s educational attainment and success. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development with an emphasis in Educational Research and Policy Analysis from North Carolina State University and served as a doctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Email:  sharon.loza@uconn.edu

 

Ismael E. Carreras

Dr. Ismael Carreras is the Associate Dean for Strategic Analysis within the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Harvard University. He previously served as Chief Data Strategist and Director at the University of Massachusetts Office of the President. Dr. Carreras has over two decades of applied research and statistical analysis experience for educational and industry clients, with particular interests in data visualization and communication. He has taught graduate level coursework at Boston College and Northern Illinois University in areas such as Introductory Statistics, Intermediate Statistics, Design of Experiments, and Attitude and Opinion Measurement. Dr. Carreras holds an M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, as well as a B.A. in Psychology from Bates College.

Email:  ismael.carreras@uconn.edu

 

Brenna Butler

Dr. Brenna Butler is an Evaluation Specialist for Penn State Extension, housed within the College of Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Butler’s primary responsibilities include designing, implementing, and analyzing the results of evaluations and assessments for educational programs and grants within Penn State Extension that deliver science-based information to Pennsylvanians. She also coaches Extension faculty and staff on best practices for conducting a wide range of evaluation skills across the evaluation life cycle (e.g., logic model development) to implement into their program development processes for their educational outreach programs. Dr. Butler’s research interests include best practices in data visualization and evaluation report writing for both technical and non-technical audiences. Dr. Butler received her Bachelor of Science from Penn State University in Psychology with a Quantitative Emphasis. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement.

Email: brenna.butler@uconn.edu

 

Scott Donaldson

Dr. Scott Donaldson is an Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and a core faculty member of the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies at Rutgers, the State University (“Rutgers”). He completed a Postdoctoral Scholarship in Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and earned his PhD in Psychology with a concentration in Evaluation and Applied Research Methods from Claremont Graduate University. He received his MS in Applied Psychology from the University of Southern California and his BA in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Donaldson's research leverages quantitative methodologies, such as psychometrics, meta-analysis, data science, and other advanced statistical approaches to research the intersection of digital media and health. He has published in top journals like JAMA Pediatrics, JAMA Network Open, and Tobacco Control. Additionally, his research at the intersection of tobacco control and social media has garnered national media attention from news and policy outlets, such as the U.S. News & World Report, NBC Los Angeles, and the World & Health Organization. His current research is focused on examining the different ways that corporations influence adolescent health, including identifying sources of exposure to tobacco marketing among adolescents and young adults.

Email: scott.donaldson@uconn.edu