Dr. Magda Chia

Advisor

she/her/hers

The work I do: I currently serve as Chief Strategy Officer for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium at the University of California Santa Cruz. I am a nationally and internationally recognized leader in issues of equity and accessibility within design, development, and administration of assessment systems, curriculum and instruction, professional development, and educational policy. Prior to returning to Smarter Balanced, where I was a founding staff member, I was the Director for Strategy, Impact and Policy—and acting Executive Director—at Stanford University’s Understanding Language Initiative (UL). There I developed and helped execute collaborations with states, districts, and other organizations to advance coherent education policy and practice.

Throughout my career, I have helped lead strategic project and organizational planning, product design and development, product implementation, and overseen work in psychometrics, data stewardship, professional learning, accessibility, and mixed-methods research. My work has been funded by numerous organizations, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, National Science Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.  

I received my doctorate at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I also hold a master’s from New York University, and was a Fulbright scholar in Peru.

My connection to the work of Student Achievement Partners: Student Achievement Partners has been a leader in the education space for over a decade. The SAP team supports work in literacy, standards understanding, instructional practices, and more—all with a lens towards equity, which is at the basis of my work. Given the breadth of their work and the scope of their reach, it is an honor to support SAP as an advisor.

The perspective I bring: As a first-generation immigrant and English learner, I am able to bring a unique lens to educational research and practice. Applying this lens to any work I do supports SAP’s focus on greater inclusion and equity for all students.