About CIRIS
The Center for Institutional Research in Independent Schools at Maret (CIRIS) provides resources and support for institutional research practitioners. Supported by a 2020 Educational Leadership Grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation and matching gifts from the Maret community, CIRIS hosts networking events, facilitates expertise-sharing between schools, publishes useful information, and provides direct professional development in core institutional research competencies through our website and annual Summer Fellows Lab.
"I am so impressed by how much you have accomplished in a few years. I have been upskilled by this group and have found some lifelong friends and colleagues here. I cannot wait to see what the coming years bring. Thank you!"CIRIS Participant
Our Vision
In its first five years, CIRIS grew from a group of 25 data analysts and institutional researchers to a network connecting over 700 people from about 500 different schools and organizations across North America. Over the next five years, CIRIS aims to continue to grow its support of the institutional research community by:
- Organizing a structured and coherent curriculum for new institutional researchers organized around the foundational areas of data infrastructure and governance, survey design, data analysis and statistical techniques, data visualization tools, and Data Culture development.
- Designing professional development opportunities for more advanced techniques in the areas listed above, as well as topics relevant to specific areas of school operations (e.g. Enrollment Management, Academics, etc.)
- Continuing to publish high-quality documents and resources around institutional research best practices, similar to Data-Informed Leadership: A Guide to Institutional Research in Independent Schools.
- Growing live and asynchronous opportunities for CIRIS members to connect directly with each other through meetups and online communications
- Expanding the number and capacity of CIRIS webinars and Professional Learning Groups to accommodate our growing membership.
- Providing compensation to CIRIS PLG facilitators
- Leveraging the CIRIS Fellows Lab to create practical tools of use to the entire institutional research community
- Continuing our partnership with ATLIS to provide a track of institutional research sessions at the annual ATLIS conference.
About our Executive Director
After finishing an undergraduate degree in International Economics at Georgetown University, Eric went on to graduate school in economics at the University of Chicago where he earned a master’s degree. While at the University of Chicago, Eric worked on the research team of Nobel Prize winner James Heckman, focusing on microeconomic models of educational attainment.
Over the last fifteen years, Eric has worked in a variety of capacities in independent schools including middle and upper school math teacher, upper school grade dean, and institutional researcher. He is currently the Director of Institutional Research at Maret School in Washington, DC, where he develops and implements data-driven models supporting enrollment management, faculty development, DEIJ initiatives, and student wellness.
About Maret School
One of the pillars of Maret's 2017 Strategic Directions document was "Measurement and Evaluation," outlining a set of priorities to drive the school's data collection and analysis program. To help realize these goals, Maret created a part time position for an institutional researcher, initially filled by long-time Maret teacher Eric Heilman. Over the next several years, Maret completed a thorough data inventory, articulated goals for core data collection programs, instituted standing surveys of students, parents/guardians, and alumni, and designed new metrics like Maret's Thrive Index system to assess institutional performance in meeting the goals laid out in the School's mission statement.
In 2018, Maret began reaching out to institutional research practitioners in schools across the country to form a network to share ideas and exchange technical expertise. As the network grew, Maret began to host Zoom sessions and to offer a summer professional development workshop for institutional researchers known as the Summer Fellows Lab.
In the fall of 2020, Maret won an Educational Leadership Grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation to support ongoing research initiatives within the school and to formalize the existing network into the Center for Institutional Research in Independent Schools (CIRIS).