Upcoming Events
Date: November 21, 2024
APPAM Policymaking at the Federal, State, and Local Levels
Optimal approaches its 25th anniversary in 2025. We are proud to be a leader in integrating research, technology and communications. Our work in program evaluation, technical assistance, data science and technical assistance has led us to develop products that increase quality, increase operational efficiencies and make results actionable. Optimal is an authorized partner of Revelo Software and has developed platforms enabling real-time, […]
Past Events
Date: July 27, 2018
2018 National Center for Education Statistics STATS-DC Conference
At this year’s NCES DC Stats Conference, “Visualizing the Future of Education Through Data,” Optimal Solutions shared its work on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and with state assessment data via a presentation and demonstration booth.
Date: March 28, 2018
Reducing the Barriers for Data Driven Policy Decisions: Examining the Role of Standardized Open Data in Empowering the Global South
Donor-funded education interventions are quite common in developing countries that use rigorous evaluation designs to empirically assess the effectiveness of the treatment. However, the data collected and analyzed to assess the intervention are not always published.
Date: February 24, 2018
Data Challenge: University of Maryland iSchool
In the coming weeks, the University of Maryland College of Information Studies (UMD iSchool) will host Data Challenge: a week-long event providing an opportunity for students to solve a challenging problem by using innovative and critical thinking paired with other aspects of their skill sets.
Date: September 28, 2017
Dr. Turner to Present “Open Data in the Public Sector” at UMD’s James Clark School of Engineering
The University of Maryland’s James Clark School of Engineering has partnered with Whiting-Turner Contracting Company to develop the Whiting-Turner Lecture Series.
Date: September 7, 2017
Maryland SAFE Center Visits Optimal
Laura Ardito is the Deputy Director of the University of Maryland SAFE Center For Human Trafficking Survivors. She has worked on human trafficking issues for over a decade from a direct services, programmatic, and policy perspective.
Date: August 2, 2017
2017 NCES DC Stats Conference: Using Tableau for Displaying Percentile and Regional Data Maps from NAEP Assessments
Dr. Brian Cramer and Rahul Rathi, along with Ebony Walton of NCES, presented on using Tableau for displaying percentile and regional data maps from NAEP assessments at the 2017 NCES DC-Stats in Washington, DC on August 2.
Date: July 13, 2017
APPAM International Conference
This year, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) will host the 2017 international conference in Brussels, Belgium, on July 13–14. Dr. Jennifer Auer, a senior research associate, will be a presenter.
Date: June 28, 2017
IPPA 3- Singapore 2017
The 3rd annual International Conference on Public Policy is around the corner, and this year Optimal will be a presenter at the three-day conference (June 28th-30th) in Singapore. The conference will include panels, networking, and workshops that feature talks on policy design, the political process of policymaking, policy instruments and more. Among the presenters will be Optimal’s CEO, Dr. Mark […]
Date: May 30, 2017
Beating the Odds: Studies in Federal Education Research
Former staffer, now associate professor, Mark A. Partridge, Ph.D. provided Optimal staffers an overview of the findings of the Beating the Odds (BTO) study in Federal Education Research. This study is an analysis of student performance in reading and mathematics on state assessments in big city schools. Dr. Partridge’s presentation focused on the BTO findings from South Carolina charter schools. […]
Date: May 25, 2017
UMD’s human-computer interaction lab launched 34th annual symposium
The Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) hosted its 34th Annual Symposium on May 25, 2017, at the University of Maryland, College Park. The HCIL symposium was founded in 1983 with a mission to transform the experience people have with new technologies. Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) has been a long-term sponsor for this gathering of innovative thinkers.