Carrie E. Markovitz, Ph.D. is a Senior Research Scientist with NORC at the University of Chicago. Markovitz has extensive experience in project management, evaluation design, instrument development, site visits, interviewing, statistical analysis, and report writing. She is a statistician with 17 years of experience designing and directing both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of youth and community programs for foundations and government agencies. She specializes in research on youth development and programs that serve at-risk youth, and has evaluated numerous programs for at-risk youth, examining a number of important youth outcomes, including education, employment, safety, life skills, and avoidance of negative behaviors, including criminal activity.
Markovitz specializes in experimental evaluation designs and is currently directing and advising on several random assignment studies for NORC. Markovitz also lead the development of NORC’s web-based randomization tool for use by programs that participate in random assignment studies. Markovitz is the Principal Investigator for the Impact and Process Evaluation of the Minnesota Reading Corps Program, in which over 2,000 K-3rd grade students in over 20 elementary schools were randomly assignment to either be immediately enrolled in a supplemental tutoring program (treatment) or wait for services (control). She currently serves as a Senior Analyst on both the Opportunities for Youth and Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training Grants evaluations, for which she has major roles in the design and implementation of experimental evaluations of workforce programs for DOL. She also is a Senior Advisor for the AmeriCorps Grantee Evaluation and Monitoring Guidance project, in which she provides TA to grantees on experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations.
Prior to joining NORC, Markovitz worked for several federal research contractors designing and managing multi-million dollar projects, including the Study of 40 Years of VISTA’s Impact on Volunteers and the Random Assignment Evaluation of Youth Corps, where she oversaw the study design, instrument development, random assignment design and implementation, and analysis for the projects. Markovitz also has served as Project Director on several successful program evaluations, including the Helping Outreach Programs to Expand II: Faith-Based and Community Organization Program Evaluation Study for NIJ and two innovative process evaluations of community-wide collaborative efforts, in which the evaluator was a partner with the funding agent and local programs: an Evaluation of the Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative for the Community Foundation for the National Capitol Region and the Making Connections Evaluation for the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Markovitz has additional experience assisting collaborations as they define their strategic vision, conduct goal setting, and develop mechanisms for continuous feedback and improvement. These projects are important examples of Markovitz’s ability to advise and collaborate with partnerships focused on community and public policy changes for the benefit of youth. As Project Director for these studies, Markovitz was responsible for study direction, staff assignment and management, budget monitoring, and regular communications with Federal Project Officers.
In addition, Markovitz has experience in the design and implementation of rigorous impact evaluations involving local programs and has particular expertise in defining youth outcomes. She has had lead roles on several large-scale random assignment studies for the Federal government, including the Random Assignment Evaluation of Youth Corps and the Impact Evaluation of the Compassion Capitol Fund. Markovitz has specific statistical training in multivariate and logistic regression, survival analyses, structural equation modeling, cluster analyses, and latent class analyses.
In addition to conducting evaluation research, Markovitz started her career at the Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, where she provided technical assistance to communities and youth-serving organizations. Markovitz developed materials and tools to assist communities in providing comprehensive, integrated services for young people. While at the Center, she also developed and administered local surveys on attitudes and issues concerning youth, and developed a system for rating localities on their readiness to participate in various types of partnerships.
Markovitz has been the lead author on numerous reports and publications for the Federal government. Markovitz has been a member of the American Statistical Association and American Evaluation Association for more than a decade. Markovitz also serves on the Board of Directors for a local youth workforce program, the Montgomery County Conservation Corps in Rockville, MD. Markovitz received her Ph.D. in Appplied Statistics from the University of Maryland, College Park.