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| Dr. Silvia Ybarra |
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Dr. Silvia Ybarra
began her career in education as a physics and chemistry teacher at
Roosevelt High School in Fresno. Her grant writing efforts were instrumental in the
school being awarded a $4,000,000 grant to develop a laboratory school, with her as director,
with the goal of increasing student achievement. She next became principal of Wilson Middle
School in Exeter, which under her leadership became a prestigious Blue Ribbon School.
Silvia was then named Assistant Superintendent of Coalinga-Huron School District.
Her focus progressed from helping one classroom to helping one school to helping an
entire district.
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Silvia’s desire to do even more led her to co-found DataWORKS Educational Research with
the single focus of improving how students are taught,
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especially students from low income families. She believes the solution for
poverty is to educate low income students to turn them into high income
wage earners. Through Silvia’s commitment and strong work, the company expanded to 50 employees
working with teachers across the United States including California, Washington DC, Arizona, Alabama,
Texas, Arkansas, and South Carolina.
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Silvia played a crucial role in re-defining educational research. Under her guidance,
DataWORKS went where no educational research company had gone before…into the classroom.
Led by Silvia, DataWORKS uncovered what is now referred to throughout the field of education as the
Instructional Gap. The company’s unmatched analysis of 2 million student assignments and
observations of 25,000 teachers discovered that students, especially low-income students,
were being taught two to four grades below grade level. To combat the Instructional Gap, Silvia
developed techniques that analyze and improve teaching in the classroom to provide an equal opportunity
for success to all students.
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Silvia is in demand as a speaker and presents DataWORKS innovations that help students learn more
and learn faster to thousands of teachers every year.
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Silvia co-founded DataWORKS Educational Research, located Fowler, CA, to improve learning for
low-income and minority children. Each year, by helping thousands of teachers improve how they teach,
Silvia’s company is helping millions of students learn more and learn faster.
By giving all students an equal opportunity to learn, Silvia, through her company, is not only bridging
the Instructional Gap but she is narrowing the gap between poverty and middle class.
Through improving education, DataWORKS is breaking the cycle of poverty. Silvia is helping millions
of low-income students become high-income adults.
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Silvia has been recognized as one of the Top Ten Professional Business Women of the Year
by the Marjaree Mason Center, a local non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of
domestic violence and homelessness through prevention and intervention, including education,
counseling and shelter.
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Silvia has increased parent and community involvement in schools through the
implementation of the DataWORKS No Parent Left Behind Program. This program encourages
local businesses, community leaders, and parents to become more involved in schools so
students can become more successful in learning and in life.
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As co-founder of a business, it is also important to Silvia to ensure that her company
is involved in the local community. At the end of each year, DataWORKS purchases several
hundred toys for local low-income school children in the Fowler, Malaga, and Parlier area.
DataWORKS employees wrap the gifts and dress up as Santa to pass out the toys. Silvia also
collects food items for Christmas Gift Baskets and the Fowler Food Bank that her company
passes out to families in need.
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Although these charity efforts provide a toy or a meal to a child for one day,
Silvia’s real contribution is her relentless focus in improving the education of
low income children, benefits that last for a lifetime, not just one day.
Whether it’s her unmatched research, her cutting edge school reform programs, or her
generous heart, Silvia contributes to her community in every way she can.
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As a young girl growing up in El Salvador, Silvia saw first hand the differences in
opportunities between the well-off the less well-off. This early experience set in place her
ideals of using education as a method to provide equal opportunity for all.
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At the age of 11, when Silvia’s family arrived in the United States, she entered the
Los Angeles School system without being able to speak English. Through her self discipline and
desire to succeed, Silvia became one of the top students in her class. Silvia’s success
is a beacon to all English Learners, giving them hope and encouragement and showing them that
it is possible to climb over the language barrier.
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Though her family did not have the money to fund her schooling, Silvia did not let that stand in
the way of her education. She took out student loans and held a job, while caring for her infant son,
in order to attend college. Later on, she took out additional loans and attended school at night and
on weekends to earn her Doctorate in Education. Success was not handed to her. Silvia had to work
hard for it, and working hard has become a way of life for her.
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Not just a positive role model for women, not just a positive role model for minorities,
Silvia is a positive role model for anyone who has a vision or a goal or who dreams of making
life better for the less fortunate.
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