Research and Evaluation Consulting (RaECon) was established to meet the growing and diverse needs of organizations for quality research and evaluation services. The scope of our work ranges from Program Development and Evaluation to Organization Development and Applied Social Research. Much of our work in the public sector is in Program Evaluation, and much of our work in the corporate and non-profit sectors is in Organization Development, including credentialing/testing program development and evaluation.
 

 
Projects are managed and led by the Principal Consultant, Dr. A. Sidiq (Sid) Ali and are resourced by the Principal and a team of highly qualified associate consultants. Dr. Ali is an evaluator with a psychometric background and uses these skill sets to bring about uncompromised levels of client satisfaction.

News

Dr. Ali will be speaking to current OISE / U of T graduate students about career opportunities in Education Research at a Human Development and Applied Psychology information night in October, 2011.

Dr. Ali will be part of an expert panel on the evaluation of complex community-based programs involving immigrant populations at a Canadian Evaluation Society – Ontario Chapter session in November, 2011.

Dr. Ali presented workshops on Logic Models at the York Institute for Health Research in October, 2010.

A. Sidiq Ali: Biographical Sketch

RaECon‘s Principal Consultant, A. Sidiq (Sid) Ali earned a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Measurement and Evaluation from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UofT). Dr. Ali has an extensive background in applied social research and program/process evaluation. Sid has been project manager and/or lead analyst on many large-scale program evaluations from the province-wide Manitoba School Improvement Program (MSIP) to school district-scale projects in one of Canada’s largest school boards.  At the school-board level, he developed, implemented and managed an accountability framework for special programs for which the combined operating budgets exceeded $100 million.  Sid is renown as an educational evaluation expert.

As a project manager and lead evaluator, Sid has successfully completed large, complex, multi-site evaluations, involving many professionally-regulated stakeholder groups, by using collaborative evaluation approaches.  Sid has a wide range of evaluation experience: in the K to 12 education setting through his work with the MSIP, Peel District School Board and the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and Learning Environment Branch; at the post-secondary education level through work with York University’s School of Nursing and the Ontario Colleges network (CONNECT);  in business and industry through work with a major Canadian bank and a prestigious professional organization in the financial sector; in the not-for-profit sector with Junior Achievement; and in social programming with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and the Associated Youth Services of Peel (AYSP).

Dr. Ali is also an educator. After completing a B.A. (Honours) at McMaster University, he earned a B.Ed. from York University and an M.Ed. from OISE/UofT. He has spent over a decade in classrooms, teaching a number of subjects in both mainstream and special education programs, holding an Ontario Ministry of Education Specialists’ designation in Special Education.  Dr. Ali has taught graduate courses in research methods, statistics, and assessment and evaluation at the Humber College School of Business, OISE/UofT, and the Faculty of Education at Brock University. He has presented at local, provincial, national and international conferences and symposia on the topics of program evaluation and performance measurement and has published research articles in academic journals.

Along with strengths in oral and written communications, Sid has strong analytical skills with both quantitative and qualitative data, and expertise in the broad area of research design. Involved in research and evaluation for well over a decade, he has demonstrated relevant skills in a number of program evaluation, organization development and applied research projects, including:

• designing, developing, delivering and managing evaluation frameworks;
• developing and validating data collection tools and training/testing materials;
• conducting multi-site evaluations, case studies, needs assessments, interviews, literature reviews, document reviews and content analyses;
• designing and utilizing web-based evaluation tools;
• writing terms of references, technical reports, executive summaries, research bulletins, professional magazine and academic journal articles;
• facilitating group discussions and focus groups; and
• collecting, analyzing and reporting on quantitative and qualitative data.

Dr. Ali is a life-long learner, and enjoys travel, photography and sports.  He sponsors minor hockey and soccer teams in the community.

Professional Networks

Sid is an active member in each of the following professional associations:

Canadian Evaluation Society
American Evaluation Association
American Educational Research Association
National Council for Measurement in Education (U.S.)
Canadian Society for the Study of Education
Ontario College of Teachers

Publications

Though publishing is not a driving force behind Sid’s work, he has published the following research articles:

Ali, A.S. & Favaro, P. (2007). Developing a special education accountability framework using program evaluation. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 22(2), 93-125.

Ali, A.S. (2006). A special education program evaluation for accountability purposes: An in-depth case study. Alberta Journal of Educational Research 52(2), 195-197.

Earl, L.M., Ali, A.S., & Lee, L.E. (2005). Evaluating school improvement in Canada: A case example. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 20(3), 151-174.

Ali, A.S. (2001). Issues involved in the evaluation of gifted programs.Gifted Education International, 16(1), 79-91.

Zorzi, R., Favaro, P., Ali, A.S., & Gray, E. (2001, October). Stress in the workplace for newly appointed vice-principals. Ontario Principals’ Council Register,3, 36-38.

Selected Evaluation/Technical Reports

Ali, A.S., & Ram, A. (2011). ICHR Project Implementation Evaluation – Final Report. Toronto, ON: CONNECT Strategic Alliances.

Ali, A.S., & Ram, A. (2010). ICHR Project Implementation Evaluation – Literature Review. Toronto, ON: CONNECT Strategic Alliances.

Ali, A.S., & Singh, M. (2010). Evaluation of the (Professional Association’s) Accreditation Program: (Final Examination) Review. Mississauga, ON: A National Professional Association in the Financial Sector.

Ali, A.S., & Singh, M. (2009). Evaluation of the (Professional Association’s) Accreditation Program: Entrance Examination Review. Mississauga, ON: A National Professional Association in the Financial Sector.

Ali, A.S. (2009). Final Data Summary for the ‘Challenges’ Program Evaluation. Ottawa, ON: Centre of Excellence for Children and Youth Mental Health at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Ali, A.S. (2009). 2010 Corporate Mandatory Training and Testing Mastery Test Development. Toronto, ON: A Major Canadian Bank.

Gray, E., Ali, A.S., & Favaro, P. (2009). Evaluation of Programs for Gifted Students: Final Report. Mississauga, ON: Peel District School Board.

Ali, A.S., & Backlund, C. (2009). Program Review Final Report. Toronto, ON: Junior Achievement of Central Ontario.

Ali, A.S., & Emenogu, B.C. (2008). Schools Attuned® Implementation Pilot Study Final Report. Mississauga, ON: The Peel District School Board.

Ali, A.S. (2006). Communication Program Evaluation Final Report. Mississauga, ON: The Peel District School Board.

Ali, A.S., & Backlund, C. (2004). The Schools Attuned®- Based ISRC Referral Form Pilot Study Final Report. Mississauga, ON: The Peel District School Board.

Earl, L., Torrance, N., Sutherland, S., Fullan, M., & Ali, A.S. (2003). MSIP Final Evaluation Report . Toronto: The Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.

Awards and Distinctions

Sid has been the recipient of:

The Learning Consortium Scholarship by OISE/UofT
Doctoral Studies Completion Grant by OISE/UofT
The Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Departmental Scholarship by OISE/UofT
The Evaluators’ Institute Scholarship by the National Science Foundation (United States)

Sid served on the Executive Committee for the Association of Educational Researchers of Ontario (AERO) from 2006 to 2008.