Senior Education Researcher, SRI Education
Carol Tate specializes in design, research, and evaluation projects with a focus on improving teaching quality in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Her expertise is in instrument development, qualitative data collection, analysis, and reporting. Tate’s primary research interest relates to how curriculum design and contextual factors interact to affect teaching quality and student learning. In recent work at SRI, she has evaluated professional development initiatives and efforts to broaden access to computer science education in K–12.
Tate leads the evaluation of eDGE, a University of Missouri project focused on integrating computational thinking with elementary mathematics through game design. She also co-leads the evaluation of the STEM Core Alliance, an NSF INCLUDES project focused on creating a pathway to bring underrepresented and underprepared community college students to a foundational skill level required for A.S., B.S., and industry employment in STEM fields. For the ASSIST project, Tate develops educative resources and teacher professional development for middle school teachers of computer science to support the use of formative assessment and progress toward standards. Tate recently led the implementation study portion of the multiyear evaluation of CoolThink@JC, a 32-school pilot of a new computational thinking curriculum for primary students in Hong Kong.
Tate holds a PhD in Education from Rutgers University Graduate School of Education, and an A.B. in History from Brown University.
Key projects
- eDGE eSTEM Deisgning Games for Education
- Evaluation of CoolThink@JC
- STEM Core – Evaluation of NSF INCLUDES Alliance Project
- PINC Promoting Inclusivity in Computing
Recent publications
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Collaborative Partnership to Teach Mathematical Reasoning Through Computer Programming (CPR2) Fall 2020 Findings Memo
This Collaborative Partnership to Teach Mathematical Reasoning Through Computer Programming (CPR2) memo includes recommendations and findings from the observations, teacher interviews, student surveys, and student assessments in fall 2020.
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Collaborative Partnership to Teach Mathematical Reasoning Through Computer Programming (CPR2) Summer 2022 Findings Memo
This memo includes initial efficacy study results of final year of the Collaborative Partnership to Teach Mathematical Reasoning Through Computer Programming (CPR2) study. It additionally includes implementation findings for this year of the study.
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Collaborative Partnership to Teach Mathematical Reasoning Through Computer Programming (CPR2) Fall 2021 Findings Memo
This memo includes results of data collection from the second cohort of Collaborative Partnership to Teach Mathematical Reasoning Through Computer Programming (CPR2) teachers from classroom implementation of CPR2 in fall 2021 and builds on the spring 2021 memo.
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Collaborative Partnership to Teach Mathematical Reasoning Through Computer Programming (CPR2) Spring 2021 Findings Memo
This memo includes results of data collection from classroom implementation of Collaborative Partnership to Teach Mathematical Reasoning Through Computer Programming (CPR2) content in spring 2021 (first cohort) and from Summer Institute 2021 (second cohort).
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Designing Virtual Internships in STEM Fields: Innovations and Lessons Learned from Summer 2020
This report offers a rich, cross-sector look at what STEM employers learned and conveys how they can improve their virtual internship programs in the future.
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Building Teacher Capacity in K–12 Computer Science by Promoting Formative Assessment Literacy
The rapid expansion of computer science (CS) instruction in primary and secondary education has highlighted the shortage of teachers qualified to teach the subject.