Dr. A. Sidiq Ali, CE – Managing Director

Biographical Sketch

Sid is a measurement scientist, focusing on the development, management and evaluation of education/training/credentialing programs. A renowned data-driven storyteller, data visualization expert and empowering leader, he founded RaECon in 2008.

Consulting for leading organizations across sectors, including international/national/provincial professional governing bodies/regulators in: accounting, business valuation, insolvency and restructuring, law, nursing, optometry, and sanctions/compliance, Sid is a trusted expert, and capable leader of client teams. He has also provided his expertise in legal matters involving high-stakes licensure/certification programs.

Some of his recent consulting roles include: Lead psychometrician on the CPA Canada Assessment Development Task Force, and has been engaged by CPA Canada and CPA Ontario for various measurement-based projects over the last several years; Lead psychometrician for  CAIRP CNIE Task Force, and retained psychometrician for CNIE development and standard-setting; Lead psychometrician for the development of, and standard-setting for the global Certified Sanctions Specialists Exam; and the lead measurement scientist for program approval/recognition systems for provincial nursing regulators in Ontario and British Columbia, with his measurement model used by nursing regulators in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. Sid was also the lead evaluator for the Law Society of Ontario’s Pathways to the Profession Program and Articling Experience Study, helping to drive policy change and governance decisions for lawyer licensing in Ontario. His consulting work for private corporations focused specifically on assessment system development for certification programs impacting thousands of employees at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Zebra Technologies.

Sid has a strong track record as a thought leader and key communicator on many large-scale, high-stakes and high-profile projects. As an assessment-focused Research Officer in Canada’s second largest public district school board, he developed and supervised an assessment and accountability framework for the board’s $100M+ special education programs.

Additionally, Sid is renowned for his engaging and visually-dominant, intentional presentations and award-winning reports. His strong writing ability has produced peer-reviewed academic papers, technical reports and results summaries that have guided policy and procedure development in his employer and client organizations.

As an M&E industry leader, he has earned the Canadian Evaluation Society’s (CES) designation of Credentialed Evaluator (CE), served on the CES National Board of Directors, regularly presents at conferences, is a reviewer on two scholarly journals. As a life-long learner and educator, he has taught research, statistics and assessment courses at Humber College, the University of Toronto and Brock University. He also frequently facilitates data visualization workshops for clients and as professional development for evaluators through the Canadian Evaluation Society.

Immersed in educational Measurement and Evaluation for 20+ years, Sid holds advanced degrees (Ph.D., M.Ed.) in Educational Measurement and Evaluation from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Education (B.Ed. – York University), and the Humanities (B.A. Hons – McMaster University).

Along with strengths in oral and written communications, Sid has expert analytical skills with both quantitative and qualitative data, and high-level proficiency in the broad areas of research design and credentialing program development, including:

• designing, developing, delivering and managing evaluation frameworks;
• developing, monitoring and evaluating high-stakes professional credentialing programs;
• 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;
• designing and conducting training, presentations, and workshops;
• facilitating group discussions and focus groups; and
• collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data.

Dr. Ali reads extensively on history and politics, enjoys travel – having been to all seven continents, is a photography enthusiast and an avid sports fan.