Cathy Ringstaff is a Senior Research Associate in WestEd’s Science and Engineering content area team. She has decades of experience leading mixed-methods research funded by the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Education Sciences. Her research has included investigating literacy, teacher professional development in science, career education, and computational thinking. She has also worked extensively on educational evaluations for universities (e.g., University of California, North Carolina State University), districts and schools (e.g., San Joaquin County Office of Education, Loudoun County School District), informal education organizations (e.g., Frost Museum of Science, Glasgow Science Centre), businesses (e.g., Google, Wikipedia), and foundations (e.g., WGBH Education Foundation, World Science Foundation). Much of her work has focused on investigating the impact of various interventions on elementary students and their teachers, with significant attention on rural and underserved communities.
Prior to joining WestEd, Ringstaff worked for 10 years as lead evaluator for the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) project and was responsible for conducting and managing research related to technology integration.
Based on her work, Ringstaff has published numerous research papers and evaluation reports, presented at conferences, and co-authored Teaching With Technology: Creating Student-Centered Classrooms, published by Teachers College Press.
She received an EdS in evaluation, as well as a doctorate in educational psychology from Stanford University.