Christine Korbak

Research Social Scientist

Christine Korbak is a research social scientist who has contributed over several years to a number of evaluations differing in scale and approach.

Since joining SRI International, she has contributed to the evaluation of the GLOBE Program, conducting research in schools nationwide using interviews, surveys, site visits, and student performance assessments. This research provides formative evaluation to the Program, as SRI International works in partnership with GLOBE to continually improve its ability to meet its goals.

She is a research leader on the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded study of the use of social network analysis (SNA) methods in schools. The study examines the feasibility, validity, and utility of SNA in assessing a school's capacity to enact change. She led the field research team in conducting data collection and preliminary analyses for the feasibility and validation studies.

She was a senior contributor to the evaluation of the Department of Education's Community Technology Centers Program. Using the annual reports of program grantees, she lead a small team in compiling a summary of the data to assess grantees' progress in meeting goals of the program.

She participated in the evaluation of the Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project, designated an exemplary program by the Department of Education. She spent many hours in elementary school classrooms with students and their teachers, seeing firsthand the affordances technology can bring to learning. In addition to classroom observations and interviews, she assisted with data analysis and reporting.

She has conducted in-depth and longitudinal case studies in a few schools in Chicago for a Joyce Foundation-funded study examining the effective use of technology to meet the challenges typically faced in urban high schools. These case studies illustrate for schools with similar circumstances how they might utilize technology, and they highlight issues in educational technology use for policy-makers.

For her Masters degree, she specialized in cognitive science and conducted research on technology-supported knowledge building environments working with Drs. Carl Bereiter and Marlene Scardamalia on the CSILE (Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environment) project. Prior to graduate studies, Christine spent 10 years working in government and the voluntary sector in several communities in Ontario, Canada.

Education 

Professional Experience 

Research Areas at CTL

Evaluation

Current Projects at CTL

Past Projects at CTL

Publications