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Chester Holland, Ph.D., M.P.A. is a Research Manager for the Council of the Great City Schools. A proud Philadelphia native and product of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), Chester brings years of training and experience in research on education policy, programs, and practice in service of Council districts. Chester joined the Council’s staff after having served in the SDP’s Office of Data Governance and the district’s Office of Research & Evaluation. While at the SDP, Chester also served as a policy lead in district efforts to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion. Chester has also served as a leading analyst in his work as a Public Administration Fellow at University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration in support of the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission.
Chester earned his bachelors degree in sociology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania, his Master of Public Administration degree and an accompanying graduate certificate in Nonprofit Administration from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and his Ph.D. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware’s Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration. Chester’s research interests include examination of barriers to academic success among minoritized populations; dimensions of equity in K-12 education policy and practice in urban school districts; the impact of urban development and inner-city demographic change on city school districts; big data, data use, data quality management, and data governance policy in urban school districts; application of geoanalytics in research and reporting on student outcomes; and the role of emergent technologies in public education policy and practice.
FUN FACTS: Chester loves video games, has seen every film and series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Sorting Hat placed him in Hufflepuff House… and #GoBirds
