Staff
Rosalie T. Torres, Ph.D. is the Principal of Torres Consulting Group, an evaluation and management consulting firm specializing in the feedback-based development of programs and organizations, in operation since 1992. Torres, an evaluation scholar-practitioner, began her career in evaluation in 1978. She earned her Ph.D. in research and evaluation in 1989 from the University of Illinois.
Formerly she was the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Organizational Learning at the Developmental Studies Center (DSC), an educational non-profit based in Oakland, CA, where she designed and managed multi-year, multi-site evaluations of school-based and after-school programs. Over the past 28 years, she has conducted more than 60 evaluations in education and nonprofit organizations. She has worked extensively with U.S. schools and districts (including those of Dallas, Chicago, Colorado Springs, CO; Philadelphia; San Juan, PR; and Riverside, CA) providing direct support to and/or evaluation of school reform efforts.
Drawing on her evaluation practice in both internal and external evaluator roles, she has authored/co-authored numerous books and articles articulating practice-based theories of evaluation use; the relationship between evaluation and individual, team, and organizational learning; and effective strategies for communicating and reporting evaluation findings. Among them are: Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting: Enhancing Learning in Organizations, 2nd edition (Sage, 2005), and Evaluative Inquiry for Learning in Organizations (Sage, 1999).
These publications reflect in detail the participatory and use-focused approach to evaluation developed from Torres’ practice over the past quarter-century. This approach also includes the use of: multi-level logic models as appropriate, qualitative and quantitative methods, and building each client’s capacity for conducting and learning from evaluation.
Torres is a recent past board member of the American Evaluation Association, serves on the editorial boards of major evaluation journals, and served as the staff director for the 1994 revision of the Joint Committee’s Program Evaluation Standards. She has taught graduate level research and evaluation courses at several universities, and routinely conducts workshops on various topics related to evaluation practice. Among Torres Consulting Group’s recent clients are the James Irvine Foundation, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, Fielding Graduate Institute, the Association for the Study and Development of Community, and Utah State University’s NSF-funded evaluation capacity building project. Currently, Torres Consulting Group is carrying out a research study, funded by NSF, to investigate the use of logic models in the design, implementation, and evaluation of math and science education reform efforts.
Jill Casey, Research Associate, has more than ten years of experience supporting public and non-profit organizations to conduct thoughtful evaluations relevant to existing programs and future development in ways that promote immediate utility and build capacity for continued reflection and learning.
Having worked as an internal evaluator for a mission-driven, non-profit K-8 educational curriculum developer and professional services provider for eight years, Casey brings experience in developing and carrying out plans for coordinated multi-site data collection, analysis, communication, and reporting that provide opportunities for participation across stakeholder groups and represent the broad range of perspectives and experiences within organizations. Working as part of an internal evaluation team also provided Casey experience in approaching evaluation activities as a means for strengthening learning and findings across multiple initiatives and programs to inform and support ongoing organizational learning and development. Earlier in her career Casey taught citizenship and GED preparation classes for adult education and family literacy programs. She holds a B.S. in political science from Arizona State University.
Stephanie Camus, Administrative Assistant, helps ensure the smooth functioning of Torres Consulting Group by providing project-specific support, including survey management and data entry, report preparation, Internet research, database management, audio transcription, and travel planning, as well as ongoing administrative support.
Formation of Research and Evaluation Teams
Torres Consulting Group maintains relationships with experts in fields that complement our own research and evaluation expertise. This enables us to build teams as appropriate to best serve our client’s needs. Additionally, we increase our personnel capacity as needed to support data collection, entry, management, and analysis.