Christopher Kolar Email and Phone Number

Support LISA's (LEAD Incubator and Startup Accelerator) cohorts of entrepreneurs by facilitating coaching for design thinking practices, taking their ideas to the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) stage

Serving as senior leadership on the Superintendent’s cabinet, I established, directed, and grew the Department of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment to implement data-informed decision making and informed resource allocations.• Serving as critical change leader working with 19 sites and all district departments to establish data collection and analysis workflows, to develop priority goal areas with measurable outcomes. This work drove the articulation of theories of change for programs across our 12,000 pre-K -12 population, including School Plans for Student Achievement and multi-tiered systems of support.• Key architect of district-level goals and performance metrics to inform high-stakes decision making as well as accountability.• Conducting equity field research to complete a design-thinking process to improve our college, career, and life readiness programming as a means of servicing under-served families alienated by assumptions in existing practices.• Created compliance measures for PAUSD’s resolution agreement with the Office of Civil Rights regarding Title IX compliance. Used results to drive iterative process to understand and improve reporting rates, identify prevention measures, and measure efficacy of institutional response. • Worked in partnership with the Department of Student Services and Wellness to collect and analyze data on student social and emotional well-being. Designed practices to begin collection of data on student physical and mental health.• Engaged PTA, Stanford, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, City of Palo Alto, and Santa Clara County Department of Public Health using data to identify youth risk and protective factors. Served as district data officer for CDC during EpiAid study of multiple suicide clusters in Santa Clara County.

As a strategic leader for the agency, I direct department and program leaders to develop operational models driven by outcomes-based budgets and specific accountability measures. Additionally, I represent IMSA at national forums on STEM education practices and policy, and make significant contributions to agency policy decisions as a member of both IMSA’s President’s Management Council and the Agency Leadership Team.• In response to recommendations by our accrediting body AdvancEd, I am accountable for goals in the School Improvement Plan related to student assessment and measurement.• I lead efforts with science and humanities faculty to improve student placement, to improve tracking of student progress, and to identify both academic and psycho-social measures that support individualized learning and student success.• I am responsible for the institutional reporting cycle to the State Comptroller's Office, and am signator for the annual Public Accountability Report.• To assure IMSA’s leadership in the STEM education community, I coordinate and manage multiple collaborative projects involving researchers from Harvard University, Purdue University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Virginia, Northwestern University, Indiana University/CEEP, Northern Illinois University, and the American Psychological Association.• I was recognized by colleagues with the Lederman Scholar Award, 2013, for scholarship contributing to the institutional mission.

I designed the IMSA Student Data Model which allowed the study of institutional outcomes spanning 30 years. The model enables the Academy to engage in national research projects and was the initial framework for the data collection model used in research funded by the National Science Foundation.• I continue to work with students providing advising and methodological support on 4-8 independent quantitative social science research projects annually. I have taught non-credit “Intersession” courses on quantitative social science methods and their application.• To inform our understanding of long-term student outcomes and report to the state about ROI, I redesigned the agency’s Longitudinal Cohort Study, collecting data from alumni up to 20 years post-graduation.• To promote successful student induction into the residential setting, I worked with counseling staff on the redesign of IMSA’s Sophomore Navigation course, which I also taught for 8 years.• I served on the institutional Strategic Planning Team 2006-7, rewriting the institutional mission and strategies, and developing five-year action plans for their implementation.

I was responsible for design, delivery, and assessment activities for the grant-funded 21st Century Information Fluency Project. Through June 2002 I was also responsible for working with faculty on the integration of technology into teaching and learning activities involving the residential student body. Serving all schools in the state, we delivered an online professional development environment in which participating teachers and librarians could interact, collaborate, publish, and perform research.

I was responsible for research and development, deployment, and oversight of technology integration into curricula across campus. I lead technology teams in five campus academic divisions and guided individual faculty members on developing technology components of their courses in nursing, social work, education, the humanities, and business.• I trained faculty in use of the Blackboard course management system and guided use across campus supporting 76 courses enrolling 990 students during the first year online.• I provided supporting materials for accreditation reviews in the schools of education, nursing, and social work.• I served on the steering committee for AU's First Year Experience course and planned the technology component of freshman induction.

• Taught Computer Science 110, Introduction to Microcomputers. Fall 1999.• Designed and taught Interdisciplinary Studies 181: Information Technology: Concepts, Skills, and Strategies. Winter 2000. Revised approach to class focusing on technology and society, technology in the workplace, and profession-specific technology skills.Designed and taught graduate courses in educational technology:• EDU 605: Technology and the School of the Future. Winter 1995, Spring 1996, Summer 1996, Summer 1997.• EDU 591: Applications of Educational Technology, graduate-level course developing curricular materials using applied technology. Summer 1996, Summer 1997.

I directed planning and operations of a start-up community network involving Aurora’s municipal government and services, multiple school districts, local not-for-profit institutions, and local businesses.

Served as networked technology leader for the fastest growing school district in the state of Illinois, my position served 24 schools, over 3000 staff, and 21,000 students.• As a member of the Curriculum Coordinators committee and the Elementary Technology Curriculum Committee, I authored the final version of the district’s first elementary technology curriculum. I authored materials to assist staff in integrating new curriculum guidelines into existing practices, and analyzed staff development needs.• To ease traffic load on the district planetarium, I designed and led development of the "Earthdome" online curriculum used by 1,900 fourth grade students annually.

As research assistant in the Education and Outreach group, I participated in the design of studies that looked at Internet adoption by community governments and businesses, as well as the impact of broadband (ISDN) on communications practices in small businesses. I also served as research assistant for the SuperQuest for Teachers program -- training teachers in computational science and supporting their use of the supercomputers and modeling tools.