Dr. Matias Placencio-Castro
Senior Research Specialist

Dr. Matias Placencio-Castro works as Senior Research Specialist, Development and Reporting. He supports the activities of assessment development and context questionnaires staff, contributes to the development of research publications, and participates in managing project schedules for TIMSS and PIRLS projects and publications. In Chile, he has worked in governmental organizations, including the National Institute of Statistics and the Quality of Education Agency. In the U.S., he has worked for the Boston University Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston College Research Services, and the Boston Public Schools District. He has also served as a Consultant for the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Before joining the TIMSS and PIRLS Center, he served as Data Analysis Manager and Senior Research Data Analyst at the Boston College Research Program on Children and Adversity, where he was responsible for the integrity and security of datasets, along with providing support on research design, sampling, instrument development, data collection and survey programming, data management, and statistical modeling. His interests include early childhood development, educational inequality and achievement gaps, as well as quantitative research methods, with an emphasis on psychometrics and instrument development, experimental designs, and multilevel and structural equation modeling.