Chastity Mcfarlan, Phd Email & Phone Number

Sitting on the company's senior leadership team, I lead the strategy for ensuring our products are inclusive and equitable, and our content is appropriate and representative of the students we serve. Key highlights and projects:- Renaissance was awarded the SIIA CODiE Award for Excellence in DEI in EdTech for three consecutive years. - Successfully launched strategy to increase the quality and quantity of representation of historically marginalized populations in content across Renaissance’s product portfolio- Enabled the measurement and visualization of racial and gender representation in content across 80% of product portfolio. Identified representation gaps and subsequently revised content acquisition targets to ensure diverse representation of authors, characters, and topics. - Developed thematic analysis process, now adopted by customer success, to categorize user feedback related to product inclusion. Contributed to a 70% reduction in DEI-related customer support cases - Created data governance model and user analytic dashboard to monitor consumer engagement, which enabled product teams to make user-driven content development, acquisition, and retention decisions (Snowflake, Tableau) - Ensure appropriate representation of historically marginalized communities in content by assembling and chairing an advisory board of external stakeholders-Authored blog posts, participated in webinar presentations, interacted with media, and managed website pages to disseminate best practices. Participate in sales and marketing efforts to speak to company's process for DEI in content-Co-launched the Renaissance Black Employee Network, the company's first employee resource group

Principal consultant providing services in project management, research, data analysis, and academic program evaluation Key highlights and projects:- Conduct 1:1 interviews, focus groups, document reviews, and field observations as part of high-stakes qualitative evaluations of charter schools’ academic programs - Gather and analyze student enrollment and academic performance data of educational service providers operating charter schools across multiple states to inform due diligence reporting- Project managed a team of four consultants leading school turnaround efforts for a charter school seeking to improve academic and organizational performance

I project managed multiple cross-functional teams tasked with developing resources and training materials aligned to national best practices for authorizing charter schools. Additionally, I served as an educational consultant/field expert on a variety of client-driven projects, providing customized support to school districts, state education agencies, and other institutions that authorize charter schools across the country.Key projects:- Enabled the identification of schools at risk of closure by leading the development of a fiscal oversight dashboard- Improved clients’ school monitoring practices by uncovering areas for improvement based on interviews, field observations, and document reviews - Upskilled district and state education leaders across 10 states, impacting over 1,500 charter schools in two years. Evaluated client feedback using Qualtrics- Led the development of a charter school authorizing handbook on best practices for 20 Texas school districts serving over a half million students- Co-facilitated national convening of authorizers to discuss appropriate approaches to 2020 pandemics, including COVID-19 and racial injustices.- Managed cross-functional team producing over a dozen videos, blog posts, and podcasts in response to COVID pandemic

New York, Ny

I used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the education programs of SUNY-authorized charter schools. Methods for qualitative data collection included interviews, focus groups, classroom observations, and reviews of curriculum and assessment systems. Quantitative analyses largely entailed descriptive analyses of assessment performance, enrollment demographics, and discipline data. Key highlights and responsibilities:- Increased efficiency of visit preparation by developing data visualization dashboard (Tableau)- Conducted extensive qualitative evaluations of over 70 charter schools, including leading over 300 focus groups, one-on-one interviews, field observations, and document reviews. Debriefed school leaders and governing boards to inform them of school performance and the schools’ prospects for charter renewal.- Influenced the SUNY Board of Trustees’ renewal decision for each school by overseeing the production of evaluation reports outlining schools’ strengths and weaknesses

New York, Ny

Involved in all aspects of charter school program evaluation, including reviewing applications for new charters and charter renewal and leading evaluation visits to charter schools. Managed the production of written reports that included a thorough qualitative evaluation of charters schools’ academic programs (e.g., use of assessments, curriculum, organizational capacity) to inform renewal recommendations.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

My position at Capstone involved working on several research projects aimed at closing the academic achievement gap. I assisted in the development of observational tools for program evaluation, development of a content knowledge assessment tool for math and science teachers, and other research aimed at enhancing the learning outcomes of African American students and other students at risk of academic failure.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Held bi-weekly lab classes for undergraduate students enrolled in research methods and statistics courses. During the summer sessions, I was the main instructor of this course. I developed instructional materials and assessments and also supervised graduate students that led the labs. Topics include z-test, t-test, ANOVA, regression, and nonparametric analyses.

I was the lead graduate research assistant in a research lab focused on understanding the early development of preschool-aged children from low-income households. Research conducted in this lab had implications for education, including understanding the development of comprehension processes and using this information determine how instructional materials can be made developmentally appropriate. My later research sought to understand the impact of instructional practices (hypothesized to benefit ethnic minority students) on students' overall learning and interest in learning material.All research entailed mixed-methods designs, utilizing interviews, focus groups, surveys, norm-referenced cognitive assessments (e.g., WPPSI), criterion-referenced assessments, and more.

I supported the research team on a variety of projects aimed to understand the best practices of high performing public schools that serve high-poverty/high-minority populations.Other projects included an examination of NCES data to understand the appropriateness of the standards high schools set for "college-ready" versus "career-ready" as well as how well alternative and vocational schools are preparing students for post-secondary success.

Participated as a key member of the production team tasked with preparing surveys, briefings, and tabulated data reports for Department of Defense policy offices. Contributed to quality control review activities to ensure consistency within and across survey products.Conducted comment analyses reviewing individual responses to open ended questions, ensured anonymity, and coded responses, including the 2010 DoD Comprehensive Review Survey of Uniformed Active Duty and Reserve Members, contributing to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Conducted cognitive research on the sensitivity of human memory as it relates to specific survival conditionsDesigned the experiment using E-Prime programming software; collected and cleaned data using Excel, and analyzed data using SPSSData disseminated via numerous research conference presentations and in a peer-reviewed article

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Developmental/Experimental Psychology

Master'S Degree, Developmental/Experimental Psychology

Bachelor Of Arts, Psychology

Activities and Societies: Theta Phi Alpha, Student Psychological Association, Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program