As the assistant vice chancellor for education and evaluation strategy, Jen Iriti helps large multidisciplinary research proposal teams build strong education designs, integrate pathways to the workforce, and understand how to build powerful evaluation designs. She builds teams and community at Pitt to strengthen our collective capacities around evaluation and constructing competitive training grant designs.
Iriti completed her PhD in developmental and educational psychology at Pitt, and, while a graduate student, began her more than 20-year career at the Learning Research and Development Center, first as a research associate and now as a research scientist. She leads two applied research teams, one focused on evaluating education programs, initiatives and organizations, and the other focused on providing research, evaluation and strategy support for improvement networks. Iriti has worked extensively with education organizations in the Western Pennsylvania region and nationally with organizations focused on improving postsecondary access and success.
Her publications include articles in journals such as the American Journal of Evaluation, Frontiers in Education, Educational Technology Research and Development, Education Finance and Policy and the International Journal of Educational Development as well as two book chapters and innumerable technical reports. Iriti is co-editor of the recently updated “Free College Handbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Promise Research” that translates nearly two decades of research to support policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels.
In addition to her role as a Research Scientist at LRDC, she is also the Associate Director for Applied Practice and Partnerships at the Learning Research and Development Center. In this capacity, she builds infrastructure and capacity for LRDC researchers to collaborate and co-design with practitioners and policymakers in PK-12 and higher education spaces. Jen is also a Faculty Fellow with the Center for Urban Education and a Research Affiliate with the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
