Director of Commercial and International Strategy, SRI Education
Linda Shear is the Director of Commercial and International Strategy in SRI Education. Shear’s research and consulting work focuses on systemic educational change and powerful uses of ICT (information and communications technology) to support deeper learning for all students. In her 20 years at SRI she has directed numerous evaluation studies of educational technology implementations and school/system reform, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Shear currently directs Apple and ConnectED Research, a large-scale study of the adoption of 1:1 technology in over 100 of the most economically challenged schools and communities in the United States. She is also leading a rigorous multi-year evaluation of the 32-school pilot of CoolThink@JC, a new computational thinking curriculum for primary grade students in Hong Kong.
Shear’s international work has included multinational studies designed and coordinated by SRI. For example, in Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) Research, leading researchers in seven diverse countries collaborated to investigate the factors that promote innovative teaching within and across local contexts. This work and other projects have also leveraged analysis of the learning activities that teachers assign and the work that students do in response as a powerful tool for professional development. Additional areas of specialty include strategic planning and program evaluations that help clients envision and maximize the implementation effectiveness and learning outcomes of the programs they deliver.
Education
- M.A., education in math, science, and technology, University of California, Berkeley, 1998
- A.B., sociology, Princeton University, 1984
Experience
- Director of International Studies, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (1998–present)
- Researcher/Consultant, University of California, Berkeley, CA (1996-1998)
- Senior Manager and Curriculum Architect, Lotus Development Corporation, San Francisco, CA (1993–1996)
- Senior Manager, Price Waterhouse, San Francisco, CA (1986–1992)
- Programmer/Analyst, Combustion Engineering, Windsor, CT (1984–1986)
Current projects
- ConnectED Research (Leader)
- Evaluation of CoolThink@JC (Leader)
- OER Degree Initiative
Past projects
- Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) Research (Leader)
- 21st Century Learning Design (Leader)
- Evaluation of the Microsoft Innovative Schools Program (Leader)
- Next Generation Learning Challenge Grant Evaluation
- Study of Online Learning
- Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILD) (Leader)
- College Success Foundation (CSF) evaluations (Leader) (ended 2009)
- Knowledge Management for Program Improvement: Evaluation of the San Diego County Office of Education’s Knowledge Management Systems (Leader) (ended 2007)
- Center for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT) (ended 2003)
- Educator’s Knowledge Network Evaluation (Leader) (ended 2007)
- Evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s National High School Program (Leader) (ended 2006)
- Evaluation of the GLOBE Program (ended 2006)
Recent publications
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Global Benchmarking of Computational Thinking Education in Primary Schools
This report offers a framework for reviewing CoolThink@JC’s accomplishments to date and computational thinking education (CTE) initiatives in other jurisdictions.
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Scaling Up Coolthink@JC Implementation Study Baseline Report
This report is the first in a series from an implementation study being conducted by SRI International (SRI).
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Maintaining Momentum of 1:1 Programs: Observations from the Apple and ConnectED Initiative
The Apple and ConnectED Initiative provides valuable lessons for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers about what it takes to sustain 1:1 programs in schools serving high concentrations of students facing socioeconomic barriers.
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Bridging the Digital Access and Use Divides in the Apple and ConnectED Initiative
This report focuses on implementation of the Apple and ConnectED Initiative with respect to the dual digital divides along socioeconomic lines in access to technology and its use in instruction.
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The Apple and ConnectED Initiative: Research Study Methods
This report describes the methodology of Apple and ConnectED Research, a six-year study of the Apple and ConnectED Initiative that uses a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to tell a comprehensive story of implementation and outcomes.
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1:1 Teaching and Learning in the Apple and ConnectED Initiative: Lessons from Early Implementation
This report asks the questions, what does a promising start look like and what types of support can enable conditions for success?