Description of Research Expertise

Areas of Expertise
Child development
Program design and evaluation

Professional Biography
Dr. Robin S. Ortiz is a developmental psychologist and professional program evaluator. She earned her Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from La Salle University and a Ph.D. from the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University.

She is a researcher and practitioner with a wide range of experience in universities and agencies devoted to supporting urban students. For more than a decade, she has worked within the Philadelphia children’s mental health system in a variety of roles, including as director of school-based services at a local human services provider. Dr. Ortiz has also served as a Children’s Intensive Case Manager at the Child Psychiatry Center and Director of Program Evaluation and Performance Improvement at the NorthEast Treatment Centers (NET). At NET, Dr. Ortiz develops outcome measurement plans for the children’s unit programs, designs and implements data collection strategies and tools, analyzes and reports on program outcomes, and builds program capacity for self-evaluation and outcome measurement.

In addition, she has served as a consultant for a number of non-profit organizations focused on health care services in the Boston area. She is a member of the Society for Research in Child Development and serves on the advisory board of the Philadelphia’s Children First Fund.

Research Interests and Current Projects
Dr. Ortiz brings to the Applied Psychology - Human Development programs her expertise in the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs for children and families. Her applied work and classroom teaching center on the use of developmentally appropriate practices across contexts. In addition, Dr. Ortiz is a lecturer in Penn GSE’s Teach for America Urban Teacher Program.