Matthew Gaertner

Matthew Gaertner is the former director of research for the Standards, Assessment, and Accountability Services program at WestEd. There, he provided overall leadership for assessment research and development efforts across the agency, managing a team of researchers focused on advanced topics in measurement, including innovative assessments of career and college readiness. He was a previously a principal research scientist with SRI International and a research scientist with American Institutes for Research. He has also been a research assistant at Urban Institute and a senior research scientist with Pearson. His research focused on college and career readiness, and the effects of educational policies on access, persistence, achievement, and labor market outcomes for disadvantaged learners. A psychometrician by training, his methodological expertise included Item Response Theory, multilevel models, and categorical data analysis. Gaertner received his PhD in research and evaluation methodology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

updated 2024