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Sena Sanjines is the owner and operator of S2D.

Dr. Sanjines has conducted program evaluations as an internal and external evaluator for government, private, and non-profit organizations in the state of Hawai’i since 2012. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sena completed her masters and doctorate in Hawai’i specializing in research on program evaluation, with a goal to improve how we communicate data. Drawing from this research, Sena regularly provides trainings to teach others how to create better data visualizations.

In addition to Dr. Sanjines’ interest in data visualization, she is an experienced qualitative and quantitative researcher and teaches graduate courses in program evaluation and research methods at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Sena is the former president of the Hawai’i-Pacific Evaluation Association and is an active member of local and national evaluation networks.”

see education, academic publications/presentations, selected projects and experience below

PhD Educational Psychology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI

  • Specialization in Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation
  • Dissertation: Does it make a difference? The relationship between data visualization in reports and use of report findings.

MA Second Language Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

  • Dual Specialization in Language teaching and Language Assessment, Measurement and Program Evaluation
  • Awarded the Harry S. Whitten award for scholarly excellence

BA Studio Art, Macalester College, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sanjines, S. P. (2018). Does design make a difference? The relationship between data visualization in reports and use of report findings (Dissertation)

Vallin, L.m., Philippoff, J., Pierce, S., & Brandon, P.R. (2015). A quantitative summary of research-on-evaluation: Articles published in the American Journal of Evaluation. New Direction for Evaluation, 148. 7-15

Pierce, S. (2015). Conducting Focus Groups. In J.D. Brown and C. Coombe (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Research in Language Teaching and Learning (pp 224-230). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press

Pierce, S. (2012). Evaluation for Development: Model of Utilization-Based Evaluation within a New Bachelor of Arts Second Language Teacher Education Program. Second Language Studies, 30(2):43-107. Available from www.Hawaiʻi.edu/sls/sls/wp-content/uploads/Pierce-Sena.pdf

Sanjines, S. P., Lloyd, M. & Pantumsinchi, P. (2021) Walk the tightrope: Balancing opportunities and risk in evaluation capacity building. American Evaluation Association Annual Conference. November 12, 2021.

Sanjines, S. P. & Lloyd, M. (2021) Lessons learned developing indigenous data visualizations. Hawaii-Pacific Evaluation Association Annual Conference. September 22, 2021.

Sanjines, S. P. (2019) Playing Goldilocks: Finding the right method to tell a culture-focused story. American Evaluation Association Annual Conference. November 19, 2019. Minneapolis, MN.

Sanjines, S.P. (2018) Does it make a difference? The impact (or not) of data visualization on evaluation use. American Evaluation Association Annual Confernece. November 1, 2018. Cleveland, OH.

Sanjines, S. P. (2018) Validation of the Data Visualization Checklist. American Evaluation Association Annual Conference. November 1, 2018. Cleveland, OH.

Pierce, S. (2016). Whoʻs ball is this? Adventures in Evaluation for Program Design. American Evaluation Association Annual Confernece. October 29, 2016. Atlanta, Georgia.

Pierce, S. & Atwood, N. (2016). From inception to proof: Data use within the Early College High School (ECHS) program grant. 2016 Data Summit: Hoʻokele: Navigating from Data to Action. April 8, 2016. Kaneʻohe, Hawaiʻi.

Pierce, S., Naguwa, J., Duser, K., & Ono, K. (2015). Is this what they need? Findings and recommendations for first year college support. 2015 NCCEP Annual Conference. July 20, 2015. San Franscico, CA.

Atwood, N., Naguwa, J., & Pierce, S. (2014). Using cross-sector data for program planning: Examples from GEAR UP Hawaiʻi. 2014 Data Summit: Linking Data to Hawaiʻi’s Future. October 7, 2014.

Pierce, S. (2013). Who and how long? Adventures in capturing participation and dosage data. Hawaiʻi-Pacific Evaluation Association Annual Conference. September 13, 2013. Kaneohe, HI.

Pierce, S. (2013). Missed opportunities to understand demographic and student achievement characteristics of target student populations. Comparative & International Education Society Annual Conference. March 13, 2013. New Orleans, LA.

Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations and Hawaiʻi Investment Ready
Analyzed and reported results of the 2020 Hawaiʻi Sector Pulse survey focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local nonprofits. Was asked to return to design, analyze and report the 2021 Hawaiʻi Sector Pulse survey focused on the continued impact of the pandemic and recovery. Presented key findings to funders and nonprofit leaders used to aid discussion and decisions for sector support.

NEST for Families
External evaluator for six-month implementation evaluation of the Breastfeeding Toolkit program piloted in partnership with three community health centers on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Islands. The project included evaluation capacity building for six members of the project planning committee. 

Hawaiʻi P-20 Partnerships for Education
Cohort study exploring relationships between General Learner Outcomes (GLOs) upon entry to elementary school and later academic performance and behavior. The population of interest were students who entered kindergarten in SY2007-08 and were the first cohort assessed using the GLO rubrics. The study included document analysis to examine rubric language and alignment to research on noncognitive factors and educational outcomes, as well as logistic and multiple regression. 

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning
External evaluator of a two-year pilot program in the US-affiliated Pacifc region, funded by the National Science Foundation, designed to increase leadership in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The project included but was not limited to design and implementation of a comparative case study including development of culturally and contextually appropriate data collection tools, as well as virtual interviews. 

    • Hawaiʻi-Pacific Evaluation Association, member since 2011 (President, 2015-2017)
    • American Evaluation Association, member since 2011
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