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Jorge Martinez

Director, Data Science

Houston ISD

Biography

I am the Director of Data Science at the Houston Independent School District. I lead a team of data scientists in the Division of Assessment, Accountability, and Compliance. We provide data analyses to support the District’s strategic goals in service of the children of the City of Houston. Although I am trained as a sociologist with a focus in deviance and social control, I leverage my skills in research design, statistics, and data visualization to tackle questions in education. When I am not playing with data or learning a new R package, you can find me cycling around Houston, visiting museums, or spending time with my pug.

Interests

  • Higher Education
  • Data Visualization
  • Statistics
  • Criminology

Education

  • MA in Sociology, 2010

    University of Washington - Seattle

  • BA in Sociology, 2007

    Texas A&M University - College Station

Skills

R

Statistics

Tableau

Affinity Designer

SAS

SQL

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Director of Data Science

Houston Independent School District

April 2024 – Present Houston, TX
Responsible for implementing best practices for educational data management across multiple domains and sets the district-wide standard for the communication of complex data through visualization. I Lead a team of 7 data scientists to support district-wide strategic initiatives through data analysis, modeling, and visualization.
 
 
 
 
 

Director of Research & Reporting

University of Houston

September 2021 – Present Houston, TX
Provide leadership, direction, and expertise in the analysis and reporting of Enrollment Services data to inform University policy and functions
 
 
 
 
 

Institutional Research Analyst II

Rice University

May 2021 – August 2021 Houston, TX
Institutional data analysis & reporting
 
 
 
 
 

Senior Research Analyst

University of Houston

September 2015 – April 2021 Houston, TX
Institutional data analysis & reporting; longitudinal ranking analysis; university strategic planning; predictive analytics to support student retention and graduation
 
 
 
 
 

Research Specialist

Houston Independent School District

July 2014 – September 2015 Houston, TX
District data analysis; Teacher Appraisal and Development System
 
 
 
 
 

Management Analyst 5

Washington State Department of Corrections

March 2013 – June 2013 Tumwater, WA
Program evaluation for Chemical Dependency Treatment Program
 
 
 
 
 

Sociology Doctoral Candidate (ABD)

University of Washington

September 2007 – July 2014 Seattle, WA
Major: Deviance & Social Control; Minor: Statistics

Projects

How Many Black Women Have Tenure On Your Campus?

A look at the number of black women tenured among AAU institutions.

National Science Foundation Research Expenditures

How does UH compare in Research & Development expenditures?

National University Rankings

How does UH rank among the Top National Universities?

Association of American Universities

What does it take to join the elite club of leading research universities?

Dropped Student Survey

What can we learn about student retention from students who leave UH?

Retention Analysis

What factors predict one-year retention for freshmen FTICs at UH?

Recent & Upcoming Talks

Above All Else Show The Data-Best Practices in Data Visualization

Using Tufte’s principles of graphical excellence to support effective data storytelling and to avoid chart junk.

Using Predictive Modeling to Increase Six-Year Graduation

Modeling time-to-graduation using survival analysis.

Using Predictive Modeling to Increase One-Year Retention Through Early Identification

How to construct, evaluate, and apply statistical models to predict one-year retention for FTICs.

UH Tableau User Group

University of Houston Tableau Users Group to support, share ideas, and learn from those who are working with Tableau on the UH campus.

Identifying Institutional Peers Through Cluster Analysis

Using K-means clustering to identify university comparable and aspirational peers.

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