Christopher G. Kolar

Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Chris Kolar is responsible for auditing and reporting on the academic output of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. As a researcher he is currently in the fourth year of work on a national study of intermediate-term STEM-school graduate outcomes under the direction of Rena Subotnik at the APA and funded by the NSF. He has also been exploring opportunities for work in national STEM education policy and advocacy through the establishment and co-chairmanship of the Committee for the Advancement of STEM Specialty Schools, and working as a member on the leadership council of the STEM Education Coalition. Chris currently serves as the Membership co-Chair of the STEM Network of the National Association for Gifted Children. He continues to work on the organizational partnership between the NAGC and the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, where he served on the Board of Directors 2006-13.
Chris’s academic work includes projects involving student motivation and persistence, the assessment of learner-centered practices, at-risk students in gifted populations, as well as performance gap issues related to racioethnicity and gender. He is investigating the use of growth modeling and predictive analytics with the IMSA population, and considering its use with motivation constructs.