Chrissy Y. Tillery, Ed.D.
Vice President of Research and Evaluation
Chrissy Tillery serves as the Vice President of Research and Evaluation at the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships. In that role, she leads national Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) research and evaluation initiatives including the College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium, a multi-state national evaluation focused on common indicators and evidence-based outcomes of college access programming. Dr. Tillery works with national constituents to promote best practices in research and evaluation focused on students in low-income schools as they pursue their college dreams. Her portfolio includes consulting, advising, and partnerships with national organizations including the American College Application Campaign at the American Council on Education, RTI International, ACT Inc., Pearson Education, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, Iowa College Student Aid Commission, Eastern Oklahoma State College, Lafayette Parish School System, Delaware State University, Appalachian State University, the National College Access Network, and the Robert and Janice McNair Educational Foundation.
Previously she served as the Research and Evaluation Specialist for GEAR UP North Carolina, a statewide GEAR UP grant at the University of North Carolina General Administration that served more than 16,000 students in low-income public schools. Dr. Tillery oversaw statewide research and evaluation for GEAR UP North Carolina and was instrumental in developing a statewide data collection and reporting system for GEAR UP and other pre-college programs that included college enrollment and graduation verification through the National Student Clearinghouse. This data system was recognized by Arne Duncan, former U.S. Secretary of Education, during GEAR UP Day 2010; Dr. Tillery presented the data system at the U.S. Department of Education in November 2010. She has also spent numerous years working in university research on federal grants and in the public-school sector.
Dr. Tillery has been providing research and evaluation leadership on U.S. Department of Education grants for more than twenty years. She has demonstrated leadership on many projects including a pilot study on the effects of the North Carolina Graduation Project with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Business Committee for Education. Additionally, she published an evaluation manual on the usage of North Carolina’s college planning web portal, CFNC.org, which was funded through Lumina Foundation for Education. She has published peer-reviewed journal articles in Remedial and Special Education and Teacher Education and Special Education. Most recently, she authored a chapter in Preparing Students for College and Careers. Dr. Tillery holds a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Appalachian State University.
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