Dr Reg Allen has over thirty-five years of experience in student assessment, including in his current role as a founding director of CACSA Pty Ltd and previous roles as Chief Executive Officer for the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority in Australia, Director of Statewide Assessment at the Minnesota Department of Education in the USA and Deputy Director of Testing and Analyses for the Queensland Board of Senior Secondary School Studies in Australia. Dr Allen has consulted to the DFID, the British Council, the World Bank under the Russia Education Aid for Development (READ) Trust Fund programme and the National Center for Assessment in Dover, New Hampshire. Reg’s most recent work included developing tests of learning outcomes for evaluation of a project in Sierra Leone and leading a team of consultants in the development of a roadmap to strengthen assessment and examinations in Uganda and in this capacity, Reg was a Keynote Speaker at the April 2017 Assessment Symposium in Uganda.

Reg’s technical skills include a systems approach to understanding practices in assessment, examinations, teaching, learning and achievement; developing approaches to year-to-year comparability of achievement; within school stratification of social inequities; developing and implementing new certificates of education, external assessment and examinations and he has led organisations responsible for quality regulation at secondary, technical and tertiary education. Reg brings decades of experience in leading assessment authorities around the world. Reg is able to lead others towards technical excellence and is able to build effective teams. Reg has extensive experience applying known techniques to new contexts in nuanced ways. He is the author of the World Bank ‘Developing the Enabling Context for School-Based Assessment’ for the System Approach for Better Education Results (SABER). Within his role as CEO of an Assessment and Certification authority, Reg directed a study to identify and assess comparability of standards assessed by different agencies with different assessment tools. Throughout his career, Reg has successfully led large teams of researchers and consultants engaged in the production and dissemination of high quality and innovative education research and data.

Reg has a PhD and Master of Educational Studies from the University of Queensland. He taught in secondary schools in a wide range of subjects, from mathematics to English and history. His first degree (BSc) was in pure mathematics, which has given him a foundation in which to explore a wide range of modern quantitative techniques in statistics, including modern psychometrics. He also has a substantial background in qualitative research techniques. His PhD reflected this, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches based on the ideas of hermeneutics.

His approach to assessment and examinations is grounded in experience and understanding of the practicalities, managerial, technical and leadership, of large-scale testing and examinations systems, which are subject to a wide range of pressures from the public, parents, students, employers and government. His practical experience is both informed by and informs theoretical insights.

School of Statistics and Planning, Makerere University, Kampala

Kizito is an Educator, Measurement Statistician, and M&E practitioner with over 6 years of experience in project evaluation studies, progressing from Educator, Statistics Consultant and Technical Advisor to Principal Investigator and over 10 years teaching statistical methods and psychometric theory and psychological testing.

Education

Dr. Omala holds BSc (Hons) in Mathematics & Physics with Education; Master of Statistics, and Doctor of Philosophy (Applied Statistics), all from Makerere University, Kampala.Trained in Measurement in Education and Social Sciences (by Prof. Mark Wilson) at University of California, Berkeley, USA in the Fall of 2015.

Experience

Lecturer (Part & full-time) February 2004 – present
Makerere University, Kampala Teaches statistical methods to graduate students, and Statistical Quality Control, Probability Theory, Statistical Inference to undergraduates at the Department of Statistical Methods and Actuarial Science; Taught modern psychometric theory and psychological testing to graduate students of Master of Business Psychology at the Makerere University Business School, Kampala.
Senior Examinations Officer (in charge of Data Management) January 2007 – Aug 2017
Uganda National Examinations Board, National Assessment of Progress in Education Section. Executed Test and Item Analysis of Pretest instruments using specialized psychometric software like Xcalibre and R environment; Implemented Complex survey statistical analysis using STATA and interpreted analyses reports.
Principal Investigator Sept 2015 - Present
“Incentivizing Teachers via Improved Transfer: Experimental Evidence from Uganda”: Collaborative research project between Makerere University, University of California-Berkley and Ministry of Education and Sports, Uganda. Co-PIs: Prof. Ernesto Dal Bo, Prof. Fredrico Finan, David Schonholzer, Isabella Cohen Masters - UC Berkeley.
Technical Advisor – Measurement Statistician Mar 2015 – Present
Luigi Giussani Institute of Higher Education, Kampala, Uganda Involved in development of measurement tool for soft skills, and conducted psychometric item and test analysis of the tool.

Publications

Kizito has peer reviewed publications on education and health.

Research Awards

EASST Research grant: This research grant was awarded (June 3th, 2016) to fund the “Teacher Transfer” project implemented together with Ernesto Dal Bo, Fredrico Finan, David David Schonholzer and Isabella Cohen Masters, all of UC Berkeley-USA.

EASST Policy and Partnerships Grant: This competitive grant was awarded by Center for Effective Global Action at the University of California, Berkeley Up-Scaling of J-PAL’s TaRL Intervention

BITSS Catalyst Training grant jointly implemented with Dr. Jayne Byakika Tusiime, Busitema University-Uganda.

Conferences/Seminars

Presented research papers at the East African Social Science Translation (EASST) Annual Evidence Summits: 17-19 July 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 11-15 July 2016 at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and at symposia organised by the Kobe University's Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies (GSICS) and supported by JSPS Core-to-Core Program (Asia-Africa Science Platforms): 8 - 11 December 2014 in Kobe University, Japan; 8-9 February 2016 in Chiang Mai University, Thailand; 24-25 February 2017 in National University of Laos, Vientiane; 27 February 2017 in Souphanouvong University, Luang Prabang. Trainer on Research Transparency Tools and Impact Evaluation at the Summer Institute of Economics Research, African School of Economics, Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin: December 12th – 17th, 2016. Participant at Stanford Shared Prosperity and Health Conference, 29 October 2015 at Oberndorf Event Center, Stanford University, USA. Facilitator at the National Religious Education Conference on the ‘The Concept of Education’. 1 - 4 May 2008, Durban, South Africa.

Professional Affiliation

Member of the Uganda Statistical Society (USS); Fellow of the East Africa Social Scientists Translation(EASST), a collaboration with the Center for Effective Global Action(CEGA), University of California, Berkeley; Ambassador of the Open Science Research Collaborative Framework; Catalysts of Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS), UC Berkeley.

EDUCATION

Ph. D. (Measurement and Statistics), University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.

M. Ed. (Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability), University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.

P.G.C.E. (Education), University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast.

B. A. (Economics and Statistics), University of Ghana, Legon.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Classroom Assessment, Achievement Testing, Educational Measurement, Educational Evaluation, Research Methods in Education, Educational Statistics.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Currently Associate Professor in the Department of Education and Psychology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast. Teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Assessment, Educational Statistics, Measurement, Evaluation and Research Methods. Supervises graduate theses and dissertations.

Exchange Fellow :: I was an Association of African Universities (AAU) Staff Exchange Programme Exchange Fellow at the Department of Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. Led seminars and workshops on topics in Educational Statistics, Measurement, Evaluation and Research Methods.

Adjunct Lecturer :: I was an adjunct lecturer at The Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, USA. Taught graduate courses in Educational Statistics and Research Methods.

PUBLICATIONS

Over 25 publications in the area of assessment, achievement testing, educational measurement and evaluation.

MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS AND CONSULTANCY

Had consultancy services and involved in projects with Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service, DFID, UNICEF, The Mitchell Group, USA, Academy for International development (AED), USA and USAID.

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

Attended several workshops and conferences in Ghana, USA, England, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe where papers were presented in the areas of assessment, measurement and evaluation.

> HONOURS AND AWARDS

Franklin Stone International Student Award for Outstanding International Student in the College of Education, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA. Ghana Government Scholarship for Doctoral Study in Educational Measurement and Evaluation in The University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA. British Council Scholarship for Masters Study in Assessment, Evaluation and Accountalility in The University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.