RESUME
Professional
Information
Dr. Zárate holds a PhD in Education and MS in Statistics from Stanford University. She has 6+ years of experience as a data analyst and quantitative and qualitative researcher. During her time at Stanford, she completed 6 publications and contributed to over 10 projects. She led large-scale quantitative educational studies at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, leveraging big-data analytical tools, creating statistical models, and integrating national and institutional data sets consisting of 1000’s of variables. She has a proven track record of translating research findings to real world impact ranging from policy to institutional change. She is able to clearly articulate complex problems and solutions to both academics and practitioners and has experience presenting and reporting model results and data insights to diverse audiences.
Previously, she was a Teaching Assistant for Stanford Doctoral Students in the "Intro to Statistical Methods In Education" course as well as a research assistant for Stanford's Gardner Center of Public Service and Stanford Graduate School of Business. She served as a research consultant for a large California Community College assessing factors that impact student enrollment and success. She is also doing additional work as a data analyst consultant for Forshay.
Competencies: Stata, R, Predictive Modeling, Data Mining Data Analysis, Causal Inference, Multilevel Modeling, Descriptive and Inferential Statistics, Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Languages
Languages:
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English (speak, read, and write fluently)
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Spanish (speak, read, and write fluently)
Programming Language:
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STATA (Intermediate/ Advanced)
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R (Intermediate)
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Matlab (Beginner)
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Java (Beginner)
Work
Experience
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW/ADJUNCT ASSIST.PROFESSOR, Teachers College, Columbia University Sept 2018-Present
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Adjunct Assistant Professor. Designed and taught a data analysis, application, and data ethics course for graduate students in education policy, managed students’ research projects involving large secondary national datasets.
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Develop and implement research projects related to partnerships between postsecondary institutions and the workforce with the goal of increasing the number of underrepresented students in STEM industries.
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Supervise research assistants to ensure efficiency and productivity in research analysis.
CONSULTANT/DATA ANALYST, Diversity and Inclusion, Forshay June 2018-Present
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Addressing matters of diversity and inclusion by assessing survey data and providing statistical
(e.g., t-tests, regression analysis) and visual results.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University June 2018-Sept 2018
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Synthesized a report addressing the societal problems digital tutors are solving, identified
effective examples of digital tutors and areas where they face implementation challenges.
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Utilized market shaping to inform market design on digital tutors to improve low-income
American’s social mobility.
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Established partnerships with companies, created interview protocols, conducted and
transcribed interviews.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University Sept 2012-June 2018
Examining Students’ STEM Pathways at the High School and Community College Level, Dissertation
Designed research projects and leveraged data to address issues in education and translate results
into strategic policy recommendations. Interpreted and reported statistically, practically and theoretically
complex results in academic and practitioner settings.
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Implemented cutting edge causal methods, cleaned raw institutional and national data for over
50,000 students in Stata to assess community college student outcomes and degree attainment.
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Conducted 18, two-hour qualitative interviews, created a codebook and coded interviews in order
to investigate how in-and-out of school factors impact community college students’ STEM pathways.
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Examined the effect of school factors on 23,000+ high school students using longitudinal national
data sets with hundreds of variables, applied principal components analysis, and multilevel modeling
(across 940+ schools).
Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) Historical Trends since 1918 Jan 2017-June 2017
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Assessed how course themes changed over a century using text analysis (23,000 course
abstracts analyzed in R).
Mapping Digital Learning Resources for Families in a S.F. Neighborhood, Jan 2013-Aug 2014
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Performed qualitative research by developing interview questions, executing library observations, and conducting interviews of librarians.
Trajectories of Latina Undergraduate Women in STEM Dec 2013-Dec 2014
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Conducted qualitative research on trajectories of undergraduate Latina women in STEM fields. Developed interview questions, conducted interviews, transcribed and coded data.
TEACHING ASSISTANT, Stanford University Sept 2014-March 2018
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Prepared and taught statistics sections, facilitated team meetings with co-instructors.
CONSULTANT, Office of Institutional Research and Planning, De Anza College June 2017-Sept 2017
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Worked for the Director of Institutional Research. Produced a report and
recommendations to increase enrollment using regression analysis, and visuals for institutional officials.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT, John W. Gardner Center, Stanford University June 2015-Dec 2015
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Collaborated with policy/data analysts, examined student outcomes for 6 CA districts
to increase HS graduation rates.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER, Mathematical & Theoretical Biology Institute, REU-SUMS, June 2011-Aug 2011
Arizona State University,
Research Team Advisor Professor Erika Camacho, Program Director: Professor Carlos Castillo Chavez
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Conducted group research using mathematical modeling, co-Authored Paper /Presentation/Poster “My BIG Fat Math Model: β-Cell Compensation and Type 2 Diabetes.”
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Analyzed if Type 2 Diabetes could be reversed and if there exists a threshold where it can no longer be reversed using mathematical modeling and dynamical systems.
INTERN, White House Initiative on Educ. Excellence for Hispanics, June 2010-Aug 2010
U.S. Department of Educ.
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Consolidated best practices and funding programs into a database, detailed resources
that aid the Hispanic community.
Education
Stanford University.
Ph.D. Education, Stanford University, 2012-2018
Graduate School of Education
Quantitative Research in Education (QRE) Certificate
M.S. Statistics, Stanford University 2012-2018
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Written and verbal communication: 6 publications, 9 conference paper presentations, 8 poster presentations
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Designed research projects, established partnerships with high schools, colleges, business schools, companies, and organizations
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Collaborated with psychologist, economists, sociologists in quantitative and qualitative research analysis
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Develop advanced statistical analysis models to:
1) measure the impact of school level resources on students' high school STEM intent using PCA and multilevel modeling;
2) assess the effect of developmental math on the type of degree students earn using a regression discontinuity (RD) design.
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Created interview protocols, conducted interviews, transcribed, and coded qualitative data.
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Extracted data from private and publicly available databases; process, clean, and compile data files
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Created data visuals via R and Stata
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Reported statistical findings to principal investigators
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Explored inconsistencies in pilot data to ensure accuracy in data collection
Selected Graduate Coursework:
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Statistics & Probability: Statistical Modeling, Descriptive and Inferential Statistics, Multilevel Modeling Computational Statistics, Applied Multivariate Analysis, Data Mining, Regression Analysis, Theory of Probability, Categorical Data Analysis, Sampling, Hypothesis Testing, ANOVA, Data Visualization
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Causal Inference (e.g., regression discontinuity, difference-in-differences, propensity score matching)
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Machine Learning (decision trees, naive bayes, random forest), Statistical Modeling (lasso, ridge, AIC/BIC, PCA)
University of California, Santa Barbara.
B.S. Mathematical Sciences, 2008-2012
University of California, Santa Barbara
Activities and Societies:
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McNair Scholars Program ● Los Ingenieros - MESA/SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) ● SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science) ● Hermanas Unidas Inc.
Selected Coursework:
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Mathematics: Numerical Analysis, Linear Algebra, Ordinary Matrix Algebra and Differential Equations, Differential and Integral Calculus, Vector Calculus, Ordinary Differential Equations, Chaotic Dynamics and Bifurcation Theory, Group Theory, Methods of Analysis, Math Systems
Awards
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TELOS (Technology for Equity in Learning Opportunities) 2018-2019
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Karr Fellowship, Center of Education Policy Analysis, Stanford University 2017-2018
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Gates Millennium Scholar 2008-2017
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Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (honorable mention) 2017
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Summer Doctoral Fellowship, Gueron Fund Minority Scholars Program, MDRC 2016
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Institute for Education Sciences (IES) Fellow, Stanford Graduate School of Education 2012-2016
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McNair Scholar, UC Santa Barbara 2010-2012
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Paramount Agricultural Companies College Bound Scholarship Award 2008-2012
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Hispanic Heritage Youth Award in Education, Hispanic Heritage Foundation 2008
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California Regional Migrant Education Honoree 2008