EDUCATION DIVYA VARIER Curriculum Vitae George Mason University College of Education and Human Development 4400 University Drive 2106 West Building Fairfax VA 22030 Phone: (703) 993-5047 Email: dvarier@gmu.edu Ph.D. Virginia Commonwealth University 2015 Major/Concentration: Education/ Educational Psychology B.S. Old Dominion University 2010 Major: Psychology B.A. Mount Carmel College, Bangalore University, India 2004 Major: Psychology, Economics and English Literature WORK EXPERIENCE Assistant Professor 2017 - Present Division of Educational Psychology, Research Methods, Education Policy George Mason University Research Assistant Professor 2016 2017 Department of Foundations of Education School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University Research Associate/ Project Coordinator 2015 2016 IES Researcher-Practitioner Partnership to Enhance Teachers Data Use Research & Evaluation Extern Summer 2013 Chesterfield County Public Schools, Virginia Graduate Research Assistant 2012 2014 School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University AFFILIATED PROJECTS Funded Projects Institute of Education Sciences: $399,017 2015-2017 Title: Researcher-Practitioner Partnership to Enhance Teachers Data Use PI: Abrams, L.M. & Dozier, T. Role: Co-Investigator & Project Coordinator Page 1 of 8
U.S Department of Education: $651,550 2015-2018 Richmond Teacher Residency Program Evaluation Extension PI: Abrams, L.M. & Senechal, J. Role: Co-Evaluator Virginia Department of Education: $95,625 2013 Title: Alignment Studies of Virginia s Science and Reading Learning Tests, Standards of Learning, and the Virginia Modified Achievement Standards Test and Virginia Grade Level Alternative Assessments PI: Abrams, L.M. Role: Graduate Research Assistant Virginia Department of Education: $47,350 2012 Title: Alignment Studies of Virginia s Mathematics Standards of Learning Tests, Standards of Learning, and the Virginia Modified Achievement Standards Test PI: Abrams, L.M. Role: Graduate Research Assistant Other Projects VCU Global Education Office 2012-2013 Title: Evaluation of the International Student Orientation Program Role: Lead Evaluator Department of Foundations of Education 2013-2014 Title: VCU/Chesterfield County Public Schools Partnership in Writing PI: Zumbrunn, S.K. Role: Graduate Research Assistant Metropolitan Education Research Consortium Title: Formative Assessment and Benchmark Assessments Phase II 2012 Role: Graduate Research Assistant Unfunded Research Proposals Azim Premji Foundation: $30,000 (unfunded) 2016 Title: A Comprehensive Examination of Assessment Literacy Needs of Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers in India Role: Principal Investigator PUBLICATIONS Refereed Publications Page 2 of 8
Book Chapter Varier, D., Dumke, E., Conklin, S., Abrams, L., Barnes, J., & Hoover, N. (2017). Potential of one-to-one computing in the classroom: Teachers and students weigh in. Educational Technology, Research & Development. DOI: 10.1007/s11423-017-9509-2 Abrams, L., Varier, D., & Jackson, L. (2017). Unpacking instructional alignment: The influence of teachers use of assessment data on teaching and learning. Perspectives in Education http://scholar.ufs.ac.za:8080/xmlui/handle/11660/5436 McMillan, J.H., Venable, J.C., & Varier, D. (2012). Studies of the effect of formative assessment on student achievement: So much more is needed. Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, http://pareonline.net/pdf/v18n2.pdf McMillan, J., Senechal, J. & Varier, D. (forthcoming). Grading and Reporting Student Performance. In J.H. Millan, Classroom assessment: Principles and practice for effective standards based instruction, 7 th edition. New York: Pearson Doctoral Dissertation Varier, D. (2015). A case study examining formative assessment in a postsecondary English Language Program. Available at: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4016/ Manuscripts in Progress Varier, D., Zumbrunn, S., & Conklin, S. (in preparation). What do you do when you get stuck in your writing? A mixed methods analysis of student responses in relation to their self-regulation scores. Varier, D. (in preparation). A sociocultural examination of formative assessment in a postsecondary ESL setting: Lessons learned from a dissertation study. Abrams, L.M. & Varier, D (in preparation). Alignment of Large Scale Assessments with Learning Objectives: Application and Adaptation of the Webb Model to Standard and Alternative Forms of Assessments. Zumbrunn, S.K., Broda, M., & Larsen, R., Varier, D., & Conklin, S. (in preparation). Predicting writing motivation: Contributions of grade level and writing climate. Technical Reports Abrams, L., Varier, D., Senechal, J., & Aschliman, C. (2013, December). Alignment Analysis of the Virginia Standards of Learning Tests, the Virginia Grade Level Page 3 of 8
Alternative Assessments, and the 2010 Standards of Learning in Science. Virginia Department of Education, Richmond, VA. Senechal, J., Varier, D., Abrams, L., & Aschliman, C. (2013, December). Alignment Analysis of the Virginia Standards of Learning Tests, the Virginia Modified Achievement Standards Tests, the Virginia Grade Level Alternative Assessments, and the 2010 Standards of Learning in Reading. Virginia Department of Education, Richmond, VA. Varier, D., & Abrams, L.M. (2013). Evaluation of the VCU international student orientation program. Global Education Office, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. Barnes, J. & Varier, D. (2013). CCPS Specialty Center Evaluation: Evaluation of Program Implementation and Results. Chesterfield County Public Schools, Chesterfield, VA. Abrams, L.M., Varier, D., & McMillan, J.H. (2012). Formative Assessment Practices with Benchmark Testing: Phase 2 Quantitative Results. Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium, Richmond, VA. Abrams, L.N., Dawson, H., & Varier, D. (2012). Alignment Analysis of the 2008 Virginia Standards of Learning in Mathematics. Virginia Department of Education, Richmond, VA. CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS Papers Varier, D. & Abrams, L.M. (2017). Teachers Data Use Practice: Findings from a Professional Development Program to Enhance Teachers Instructional Use of Data. Paper presented at NCES-STATS Data Conference Washington, D.C. Zumbrunn, S., Broda, M., Conklin, S., Varier, D., Larsen, R., Walsh, M., & Love, S. (2017). Examining the role of self-efficacy for writing on writing achievement and self-regulation. Paper presented at the Writing Research across Borders Conference, Bogotá, Colombia Abrams, L., Varier, D., Jackson, L., Hoover, N. (2016). The role of assessment data in learning and instruction: A qualitative case study of teachers data use practice. Page 4 of 8
Paper presented at the International Association of Educational Assessment Annual Conference 2016, Cape Town, South Africa. Abrams, L., Varier, D., & Aschliman, C., & Senechal, J. (2015). Application of a Validity Evidence Framework for Evaluating Alignment Studies of Standard and Alternative Forms of State Assessments. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. Abrams, L., Varier, D., Senechal, J., & Aschliman, C. (2014). Examining the Alignment of Large Scale Assessments with Learning Objectives: The Application and Adaptation of the Webb Model to Standard and Alternative Forms of Assessments. Paper presented at the 40 th Annual Conference of the International Association of Educational Assessment, Singapore. Varier, D, Dumke, E., Conklin, S, Abrams, L.A., Barnes, J.S., & Hoover, N. (2014). Use of one-to-one mobile technologies in the classroom: Teacher and student experiences in a pilot initiative. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. Abrams, L. M., Varier, D., & McMillan, J.H. (2013). Teachers use of benchmark assessment data to inform instruction and promote learning. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. Posters and Round Tables Varier, D., Zumbrunn, S., Conklin, S., Stringer, J.K., & Marrs, S. (2017). Exploring elementary student writing self-regulation strategies: A qualitative inquiry. Poster presentation at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX. Abrams, L. & Varier, D. (2017). Understanding the nature and context of data use practice: Developing data literacy for teaching. Round table presentation at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX. Abrams, L., Varier, D., & Hoover, N., Dozier, T. (2016). Collaborative research efforts to examine the nature and context of data use practice to develop capacitybuilding interventions. Poster presentation at the 2016 IES Principal Investigators Meeting, Washington, D.C. Abrams, L.M., Wetzel, A., & Varier, D. (2014). The development of an empiricallybased conceptual framework for formative interim assessment data use. Round Page 5 of 8
table presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. Varier, D., Abrams, L.M., & Davis-Velez, A. (2013). Evaluation of VCU international student orientation program. Poster presented at the American Evaluation Association Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. Zumbrunn, S., Conklin, S., & Varier, D. (2013). Predicting writing motivation: Contributions of grade level, writing climate, and writing discourse. Poster presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. Zumbrunn, S., Conklin, S., Varier, D., Turner, A., & Dumke, E. (2013). Self-efficacy is only part of the story: The role of feedback perceptions on student writing selfregulation. Poster presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. TEACHING AND MENTORSHIP Instructor Fall 2016 Research Methods in Education (Masters/Doctoral) Guest Lectures (Masters/Doctoral) Statistical Inference and Data Analysis April 2016 Course: Research Methods in Education Guest Lectures (Doctoral) Validating Surveys Nov 2014 Course: Educational Measurement Conducting Qualitative Interviews March 2014 Course: Qualitative Methods in Education Research Evaluating Higher Education Programs Sept 2013 Course: Program Evaluation Mentorship Graduate Student Mentor 2013-2014 VCU Graduate Student Association Page 6 of 8
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS American Educational Research Association (AERA) Div. D: Measurement and Research Methodology Div. H: Research, Evaluation, and Assessment in Schools SIG: Data-Driven Decision Making in Education SIG: Mixed Methods Research Mixed Methods International Research Association (MMIRA) American Evaluation Association (AEA) 2011- Present 2013- Present 2013- Present PROFESSIONAL SERVICE HONORS Conference Session Chair Division H American Educational Research Association 2017 Conference Proposal Reviewer AERA Annual Conference: 2017 Division H: Applied Research in Schools Division H: Assessment in Schools Division D: Educational Measurement SIG: Cognition and Assessment AERA Annual Conference: 2014 Division H: Applied Research in Schools Special Interest Group: Classroom Assessment Special Interest Group: Cognition and Assessment National Council of Measurement in Education Conference: 2013 Graduate Student Poster Session Committees International Student Representative 2013 2014 VCU Task Force for Comprehensive Internationalization Doctoral Student Representative 2014 Educational Psychology Track, Department of Foundations of Education Outstanding Poster Award 2017 Title: Exploring elementary student writing self-regulation strategies: A qualitative inquiry AERA SIG: Studying and Self-Regulated Learning Page 7 of 8
Finalist: Distinguished Dissertation Award 2015 Title: A case study examining formative assessment in a postsecondary English Language Program VCU School of Education ADVANCED TRAINING Sequential Multiple-Assignment Randomized Trials (SMART) June 2017 Research Training Institute, Institution of Education Sciences Washington, D.C. SOFTWARE SKILLS Advanced: SPSS, Atlas.ti, MS Office Intermediate: MPlus, SAS Basic: SQL, R, ArcGIS Page 8 of 8