Meet Our Experienced Team
Lee V. Stiff, Ph. D.
President
Lee Vernon Stiff PhD passed away Friday, March 19, 2021. He was a nationally recognized expert and scholar on equity and mathematics education who served as the president of Edstar Analytics, promoting equity through using data.
Dr. Lee Stiff is the Past President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and was a Professor of Mathematics Education at North Carolina State University, and was the 2019 NCTM Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient. He has served on NASA’s Inaugural Education Advisory Committee, the Mathematical Science Education Board of the National Research Council, and the Board of Directors of the Benjamin Banneker Association, among several other leadership activities. As a professor and co-author of K-12 mathematics textbooks, he has been innovative in the development of teaching strategies and tools that enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics in schools. Dr. Stiff was the associate dean of faculty and academic affairs and a professor of mathematics education. Dr. Stiff’s research and other professional activities have focused on teaching strategies, problem-solving, the mathematics education of African-American children, and the uses of instructional technologies in mathematics teaching.
Edstar Analytics has been promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Advanced Math for decades. Dr. Stiff has presented how Edstar Analytics uses data to promote access to opportunities. Click here.
Julie Johnson
Technical Writer
Julie Johnson coordinates writing activities and conducts literature reviews to determine what federal, state, and local policies and research findings are relevant for providing contexts for understanding programs and the interpretation of results. She is an award-winning writer and has the ability to take complicated data analyses and translate them into narratives for any audience.
Kenneth Gattis, Ph.D.
Quantitative Research
Before his retirement in 2017, Dr. Kenneth Gattis worked 12 years for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) as Senior Research and Evaluation Coordinator. In this role, Dr. Gattis was involved with a number of NCDPI research studies and had primary responsibility for the oversight of alternative learning programs, as well as the collection and reporting of state discipline and dropout data. Prior to 2005, Dr. Gattis directed college tutorial programs at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and Nova Southeastern University. A former industrial engineer and high school science teacher, he received a Master of Industrial Engineering degree in 1980 and a Ph.D. in Science Education in 1995, both from NCSU.
Janet Johnson Ph.D
CEO
Dr. Johnson oversees all activities and is responsible for quality control in program evaluations. Janet holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education with a Minor in Statistics from North Carolina State University. She received an M.S. in Mathematics from Northern Illinois University and a B.A. in Mathematics from Knox College. She also served on the Data and Service Quality Committees, and the Research and Evaluation Committees representing North Carolina on the national College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC). She has worked with school counselors to help them implement the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model for over a decade. She has extensive experience overseeing large program evaluations, including North Carolina After School programs, North Carolina Dropout Prevention programs, North Carolina GEAR UP, and Missippi GEAR UP.
Presentation at Best-NC Excellence in Education conference: Increasing Access to Advanced Math
Read what has inspired Dr. Johnson to promote equity and access to advanced courses.
John Wittle
Information Technology
John is a Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator with a background in web programming and Unix administration. He is skilled at writing in several interpreted programming languages including Python, PHP, and Ruby. He has managed the webserver stack for Edstar Analytics for over a decade, continuously updating the system as the relevant technology has improved. He has managed Edstar Analytics’ Debian-based server cluster since 2010, creating a secure environment for website development and integration with various education-focused web applications, such as integrating Edstar’s local Moodle with PowerSchool’s Learning Library and other similar technologies.
Jackie Alvarez
Director of Professional Development and Technical Resources
Jackie oversees the online professional development, including coordinating with PowerSchool and working with clients to meet their needs.
Jackie has experience creating client-facing data visualizations to ensure our clients can make data-driven decisions. She is certified in Data Visualization and Building Dashboards in Excel. Jackie works with clients to understand their online behaviors and needs to design easy-to-navigate websites that can grow without becoming cumbersome. She is skilled in SEO, CSS, html, php, and WordPress. She creates websites for use on evaluation projects, for school systems and non-profits to organize information for stakeholders.
Cindy Corcoran
Lead Data Analyst
Cindy has experience as a business analyst who enjoys discovering the hidden value of data through analysis, trending, charting, and creating data-dashboards to assist in solving problems. She is adept at methodologies that ensure accuracy, integrity, validation, and quality of data while saving time and money. Cindy was recruited from the business analyst world, as EDSTAR Analytics has seen the need for these technical skills in the world of education and social services. Cindy brings her expertise from her many years analyzing data for large corporations within the Research Triangle.
We Know What Works
Edstar Analytics has over 25 years of experience providing program evaluation services and professional development for using data to promote equity, access, and success, School Improvvement Plans, and using the ASCA National Model to educational organizations.