Stephen Ruffini, Senior Research Associate, has provided actionable information to decision-makers at all education levels for over 30 years. He provides leadership for monitoring the implementation of federal grants to charter management organizations. He leads the evaluation of a magnet school grant for a large district and an evaluation of deeper learning strategies for a school in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has completed numerous evaluations of district special education services and various school programs, including two projects funded by the National Science Foundation.
Ruffini has led the development of two Institute of Education Sciences (IES) papers, both implementation studies, one of which helped a school district understand implementation of an educational framework; the other helped a state understand implementation of teacher evaluation systems.
Previously, Ruffini was the GED Testing Service Research Director, which involved ensuring data accuracy and directing data analysis projects to improve the information value of tests. He also worked for the Baltimore City Schools, conducting numerous internal program evaluations. And he led a research office where he collaboratively improved data availability and usage to monitor progress on a federal consent decree. Ruffini began his professional career with the Connecticut State Department of Education, where he researched teacher hiring and salaries and organized meetings with superintendents to gauge interest in computer data systems.
Ruffini earned a PhD in educational administration, emphasis in applied social research methods, and an MS in educational psychology, emphasis in program evaluation, from Pennsylvania State University. His BA is from West Chester (PA) State College, in psychology.