Meet the Exchange

Dr. Kate Tindle is the Director of Field Research at the EdTech Evidence Exchange.

At the EdTech Evidence Exchange, Kate works directly with school partners to gather contextual EdTech implementation data from teachers and administrators. This data tells the story of what is and is not working in their schools – and why. She builds strong research teams by recruiting and training highly qualified research assistants who support onsite data collection. The research team engages in collaborative data analysis in ways that value teacher voice into how and why EdTech implementation works or doesn’t work in their context.

Kate began as a middle school science teacher in public schools along the East coast. Over her 15 years, she worked in leadership roles to elevate teacher voice in school-based decisions. She worked with new teachers and student teachers to help them navigate their multifaceted responsibilities and understand the complex learning needs of students and how to meet them.

Kate left the K-12 classroom to prepare pre-service teachers for high-needs urban schools at The George Washington University. The teacher preparation program Kate directed involved developing a technology-infused literacy curriculum for high school students with low reading levels. There were computers for every student and other types of technology such as Whiteboards and literacy software. This allowed Kate to facilitate innovative integration of EdTech tools through the lessons pre-service teachers created and delivered to high school students.

As a researcher, Kate has conducted many educational program evaluations and studies involving teacher perceptions. When she directed urban teacher preparation at GW, she looked into what contextual factors influenced pre-service teachers’ instruction to make them effective with their students. She also researched teachers’ perceptions of when, during their preparation program, did they recognize themselves as teachers, and what factors contributed to that recognition. Kate is committed to learning about the how and why of teachers’ experiences directly from teachers, to elevate their voice in the research and to make their professional lives more transparent and understandable to them and to the field.

Amber Fowler is the Project Associate at EdTech Evidence Exchange.

She graduated from Morgan State University with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Biology. Before joining the team, she worked as a College Access Advisor in an inner-city public school, where she educated underserved communities about post-secondary opportunities. Amber is passionate about providing educational opportunities to underserved populations. As a Project Associate, she will continue to drive the effort to use technology to make a positive impact on education.

Brian Wright is currently an assistant professor and Director of Undergraduate Programs in the School of Data Science at the University of Virginia. Prior to this appointment he was the Director of George Washington University’s Graduate Data Science programs and served as a faculty member teaching Machine Learning, Introduction to Data Science, and Capstone courses on an annual basis.  Brian also co-founded George Washington University’s Data Science Institute. Prior to joining George Washington University, he organized and lead interdisciplinary teams of researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville as the Assistant Director of the National Defense Business Institute, a government-oriented institute that focused on applying advanced analytical techniques for federal clients. Brian also worked for the DoD as a consultant and federal employee for almost 10 years. His research focuses on the intersection between Data Science and Education with an emphasis on student success.  Throughout his work in both academia and the private sector, he has endeavored to promote a foundation of scientific research methodologies as best practices when approaching data-intensive problems.