NEPC Topic Experts on Teacher Education, Quality, and Professional Development

Elena Aydarova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Aydarova was a faculty member at Auburn University for six years prior to joining UW. Her interdisciplinary scholarship lies at the intersections of comparative and international education, educational policy, and anthropology. She examines educational policies and their implications for equity, diversity, and social justice through the lens of theater. Rooted in critical theories, her research focuses on intermediary organizations’ advocacy and the ensuing technocratic reforms. She also explores educators’ policy advocacy as they work towards more equitable and just education for all. She is a recipient of a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship, American Fellowship from the American Association of University Women, the Concha Delgado Gaitan Presidential Fellowship from the Council of Anthropology and Education, a Global Teacher Education Fellowship from the Longview Foundation, as well as a Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship. She has authored over 30 publications, including the award-winning book Teacher Education Reform as Political Theater: Russian Policy Dramas (2019, with SUNY Press).

Email Elena Aydarova at: aydarova@wisc.edu

Bruce Baker is Professor and Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami. Professor Baker is widely recognized as the nation’s leading scholar on the financing of public elementary and secondary education systems. His research spans public education finance and policy, postsecondary education finance and policy, teacher and administrator labor markets and education law. Professor Baker is author of two recent books from Harvard Education Press: School Finance and Education Equity, Lessons from Kansas (2021), and Educational Inequality and School Finance, Why Money Matters for America's Students (2018). In addition, Professor Baker has authored and coauthored a multitude of peer-reviewed research articles and law review articles, as well as influential policy reports for organizations including the Economic Policy Institute, Learning Policy Institute and Center for American Progress. Professor Baker is co-principal investigator on the creation of the School Finance Indicators Database, a resource used by researchers, advocates and policymakers across the country. He has consulted with numerous state legislatures on the design and reform of their state school funding systems, and has testified as an expert witness in state and federal constitutional litigation over the equity and adequacy of school funding in several states. 

Email Bruce D. Baker at: bdb119@miami.edu 

Marilyn Cochran-Smith is the Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. She has written 10 books, 7 of which have won national awards and recognition, and more than 200 articles, chapters, and editorials on teacher education research, practice and policy, social justice, and practitioner research. Cochran-Smith, who received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, is an elected member of the National Academy of Education, an AERA fellow, and a former AERA President. Her most recent co-authored book, Reclaiming Accountability, won both AACTE’s Best Book Award for 2020 and AERA’s Division K award for Distinguished Research in 2019. Professor Cochran-Smith has honorary doctorates from the University of Glasgow (Scotland) and the University of Alicante (Spain). She has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway). 

Email Marilyn Cochran-Smith at: marilyn.cochran-smith@bc.edu

Sean P. Corcoran is Associate Professor of Public Policy & Education, and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Corcoran conducts research in applied microeconomics, specifically the economics of education and state and local public finance. His published papers have examined long-run trends in teacher quality, the impact of income inequality and school finance reform on education funding in the United States, the properties of “value-added” measures of teacher effectiveness, and the high school choices of middle school students in New York City. Together with colleagues at Princeton, Columbia, and Seton Hall, he recently fielded several large-scale randomized controlled trials of information supports for school choice in NYC.

Email Sean P. Corcoran at: sean.p.corcoran@vanderbilt.edu 

Amy Farley is an assistant professor in the Educational Leadership & Policy Studies program within the School of Education at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses broadly on equity in P-20 education systems and how consequential K-12 and postsecondary policies impact educational opportunity. She pays particular attention to school and university reform; high-stakes policies, including those regarding data use, measurement, and assessment; and the disparate impact of policies on minoritized student and teacher populations. Before becoming a faculty member, Amy worked as a K-12 educator and a Strategic Data Fellow through Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research, where she worked closely with state and local agencies to conduct research and provide technical assistance regarding the implementation of education policies and reforms related to standards, educator evaluation, and student assessment.

Email Amy Farley at: farleyay@ucmail.uc.edu

Edward García Fierros (he, him, el), is Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Villanova University. Fierros is Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Education and Counseling at Villanova. Fierros, a first-generation college graduate completed his doctoral degree in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. His expertise includes testing and measurement, diversity and equity in assessment, multiple intelligences theory, and educational policy related to underrepresented students. Fierros has written numerous journal articles and co-authored Multiple Intelligences: Best Ideas from Research and Practice (2004; with Kornhaber and Veenema). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Email Edward García Fierros at: edward.fierros@villanova.edu

Eunice Han is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Utah. Dr. Han specializes on labor relations, educational inequality, and economic mobility. Her recent research focuses on workers’ well-being and the impact of unionism on labor market outcomes in both the private and public sectors. She is also interested in understanding gender differences in labor market conditions, as well as identifying tools to close the gender gap. She received a B.A. in Economics from UCLA, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. Before joining the University of Utah, Dr. Han taught econometrics and principles of economics at Harvard University, and principles of economics and Economics of Education at Wellesley College.

Email Eunice Han at: eunice.han@economics.utah.edu

Pat Hinchey is Professor Emerita of Education at Penn State. She is experienced in a wide variety of teaching situations and in conducting professional development for both in-service teachers and her faculty colleagues. Her research interests center on issues of equity and the undermining of education for democracy. Having written extensively on the translation of critical theory to classroom practice, more recently she has turned her attention to teacher assessment and proposals for restructuring the teaching profession.  Pat's most recent book, Getting to Where We Meant to Be: Working Toward the Educational World We Imagine/d, analyzes the common assumptions related to the various futures imagined for K-12 education. 

Email Patricia H. Hinchey at: pxh12@psu.edu

Linda Molner Kelley, co-director of the Schools of Opportunity project and co-editor of the book Schools of Opportunity: 10 Research-Based Models of Equity in Action, is the former Assistant Dean of Teacher Education and Partnerships and former Director for Outreach and Engagement at the University of Colorado Boulder. In those and other roles, she has developed numerous K-16 and community programs designed to strengthen learning opportunities for students and teachers in diverse settings. A former high school teacher and administrator in a Denver school district, Linda is a champion of high-quality induction programs for novice teachers, research-based professional development opportunities for practicing teachers, and the creation of mutually beneficial partnerships among K-12 schools, higher education and local communities.

Email Linda Molner Kelley at: Linda.Molner@colorado.edu

Dr. David Knight is Associate Professor and co-Director of the Education Policy Analytics Lab at the University of Washington. He also serves as Principal Investigator (PI) of a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, exploring teacher turnover during the COVID-19 era using statewide longitudinal data systems from Texas and Washington. He serves as co-PI of a grant from W. T. Grant Foundation exploring the impacts of school finance reforms and as co-PI of a Lyle Spencer Foundation grant examining the impacts and cost of dual credit education. Dr. Knight’s research focuses on the economics of education and school finance. He studies educational systems through the lens of economic theory and methodologies. His work emphasizes distributive justice, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic finance equity, and policies aimed at reducing inequality and addressing longstanding racial and income-based disparities in educational opportunity. He holds a Ph.D. in educational policy and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Southern California. Dr. Knight previously served as Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso College of Education and as Director of the Center for Education Research and Policy Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Email David Knight at: dsknight@uw.edu

Dr. Kevin Kumashiro (https://www.kevinkumashiro.com) is the founding chair of the national network, Education Deans for Justice and Equity (EDJE).  He is an internationally recognized expert on educational policy, school reform, teacher preparation, and educational equity and social justice, with a wide-ranging list of accomplishments and awards as a scholar, educator, leader, and advocate.  Dr. Kumashiro is the former Dean of the Schools of Education at the University of San Francisco and Hofstra University, and is the award-winning author or editor of ten books, including Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning toward Social Justice, and most recently, Surrendered: Why Progressives are Losing the Biggest Battles in Education. His recent awards include the 2016 Social Justice in Education Award from the American Educational Research Association, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling.

Email Kevin K. Kumashiro at: kevin@kevinkumashiro.com

Gloria Ladson-Billings (PhD Stanford ’84) is the president of the National Academy of Education. She is Professor Emerita and the former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and faculty affiliate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was the 2005-2006 president of the American Educational Research Association. Ladson-Billings’ research examines the pedagogical practices of teachers who are successful with African American students. She also investigates Critical Race Theory applications to education.

Ladson-Billings is the author of the critically acclaimed books, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children, Crossing over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms, and Beyond the Big House: African American Educators on Teacher Education. She is editor of five other books and author of more than 90 journal articles and book chapters. She is the former editor of the American Educational Research Journal and a member of several editorial boards. Her work has won numerous scholarly awards, including the H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship, Spencer Post-doctoral Fellowship, and the Palmer O. Johnson outstanding research award. In spring 2005 she was elected to the National Academy of Education and the National Society for the Study of Education. In 2007 she was awarded the Hilldale Award, the highest faculty honor given to a professor at the University of Wisconsin for outstanding research, teaching, and service. She is the recipient of the 2008 Distinguished Service Award from Teachers College, Columbia University. Ladson-Billings holds honorary degrees from Umeå University (Umeå Sweden), University of Massachusetts-Lowell, the University of Alicante (Alicante, Spain), the Erickson Institute (Chicago), and Morgan State University (Baltimore).  She is a 2018 recipient of the AERA Distinguished Research Award, and she was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2018.

Email Gloria Ladson-Billings at: gjladson@gmail.com

Bethy Leonardi, PhD is codirector of A Queer Endeavor (aqueerendeavor.org) and an associate professor of Educational Foundations, Policy, & Practice at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education. In her research she focuses on the complex relationship between policy and practice, and specifically, policies that rub up against the status quo. 

Email Bethy Leonardi at: Bethy.Leonardi@colorado.edu

Francesca López, PhD is the Waterbury Chair in Equity Pedagogy at Penn State University, College of Education, Curriculum and Instruction Department. Her research focuses on the ways educational settings promote achievement for marginalized youth.  It has been funded by the American Educational Research Association Grants Program, the Division 15 American Psychological Association Early Career Award, and the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Email Francesca López at: falopez@psu.edu

Elizabeth J. Meyer is a Professor in Educational Foundations, Policy, and Practice in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is the author of three books: Queer Justice at School: A Guide for Youth Activists, Allies, and their Teachers (2025, Teachers College Press), Gender, Bullying, and Harassment: Strategies to End Sexism and Homophobia in Schools (2009, Teachers College Press), and Gender and Sexual Diversity in Schools (Springer). Dr. Meyer completed her M.A. at CU Boulder, and Ph.D. at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her recent research has focused on the First Amendment, Title IX implementation, and supports for trans and nonbinary youth. She has discussed her research on FOXNews, National Public Radio, CTV National News (Canada), and other regional media outlets. Professor Meyer received the American Educational Research Association's 2021 award for Distinguished Contributions to Gender Equity in Education Research. She maintains the Gender and Education blog for Psychology Today.

Email Elizabeth Meyer at: Elizabeth.J.Meyer@colorado.edu

H. Richard Milner IV (also known as Rich) is Cornelius Vanderbilt Distinguished Professor of Education and Professor of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. His research, teaching, and policy interests concern urban education, teacher education, African American literature, and the social context of education. Professor Milner’s research examines practices and policies that support teacher effectiveness in urban schools. Professor Milner is President of the American Educational Research Association, the largest educational research organization in the world. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. Professor Milner’s work has appeared in numerous journals, and he has published seven books. His most recent are: Start where you are but don’t stay there: Understanding diversity, opportunity gaps, and teaching in today’s classrooms (Harvard Education Press, 2010 and 2020, Second Edition), Rac(e)ing to class: Confronting poverty and race in schools and classrooms (Harvard Education Press, 2015) and These kids are out of control: Why we must reimagine classroom management for equity (Corwin Press, 2018).   

Email Rich Milner at: rich.milner@vanderbilt.edu

Dr. Elizabeth Birr Moje is the George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor of Education, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and Dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan. She is also a faculty associate in the Institute for Social Research and in the Latino/a Studies program. Moje began her career teaching history, biology, and drama at high schools in Colorado and Michigan. In her current research and community engagement work, Moje uses an array of methods to study and support young people’s literacy learning in Detroit, Michigan. She is particularly interested in the intersections between disciplinary literacies of school and the literacy practices of youth outside of school studies how youth draw from home, community, ethnic, popular, and school cultures to make cultures and to enact identities. In related work focused on teacher learning, Moje developed and co-directs Teaching and Learning the Disciplines through Clinical Practice Rounds, with colleagues Robert Bain and Emily Rainey. The Rounds Project advances discipline-based literacy teacher education and was awarded the provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize at the University of Michigan in 2010. Moje is a member of the National Academy of Education and serves as AERA vice president for Division G (research on the social contexts of education).

Email Elizabeth Moje at: moje@umich.edu

Yongmei Ni is a professor and the chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Utah. She also serves as an Assistant Director at the Utah Education Policy Center. Her research examines educational policies related to school choice to improve education access, equity, and effectiveness for all students, and the importance of school leadership and leadership preparation programs. Her policy research has examined various issues related to the effects of charter school policies on racial/ethnic segregation and social stratification, effectiveness, resource allocation, teacher working conditions, teacher and principal labor markets. As part of the Initiative for Systemic Program Improvement through Research in Educational (INSPIRE) Leadership research collaborative team, her recent research explores the quality of leadership preparation programs and their impact on graduate learning and their leadership practices in schools.
 
She has published articles in journals such as Educational Administration Quarterly, American Journal of Education, Economics of Education Review, Teachers College Record, Educational Policy, Journal of Educational Administration, and Journal of Educational Finance. She was a 2012-2013 National Academy of Education (NAEd)/Spencer postdoctoral Fellow. In 2013, she received the William J. Davis Award for the most outstanding Educational Administration Quarterly article of the year. She obtained her Ph.D. in Education Policy and Master’s degree in Economics from Michigan State University.

Email Yongmei Ni at: yongmei.ni@utah.edu

Mark Paige is a professor at UMASS - Dartmouth. He researches legal issues in education and their educational policy dimensions, focusing In particular on how the law relates to teacher evaluation, collective bargaining, public school finance, as well as special education law. He received a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has practiced school law for several years and has published widely in the field, including several articles in law review journals. Prior to his career in academia, he was a public school teacher.

Email Mark Paige at: mpaige@umassd.edu

William R. Penuel is a Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research focuses on teacher learning and organizational processes that shape the implementation of educational policies, school curricula, and after-school programs. His research has appeared in the American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, the American Journal of Evaluation, Science Education, and the Journal of the Learning Sciences. He is on the editorial board for Teachers College Record, American Journal of Evaluation, and Cognition and Instruction. Prior to joining the faculty at CU Boulder, Penuel was Director of Evaluation Research at the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International for 13 years.

Email William R. Penuel at: william.penuel@colorado.edu

Thomas M. Philip is a Professor and Faculty Director of Teacher Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Philip’s research focuses on how teachers make sense of power and hierarchy in classrooms, schools, and society. He is interested in how teachers act on their sense of agency as they navigate and ultimately transform classrooms and institutions toward more equitable, just, and democratic practices and outcomes. His most recent scholarship explores the possibilities and tensions that emerge with the use of artificial intelligence and digital learning technologies in the classroom, particularly discourses about the promises of these tools with respect to the significance or dispensability of teacher pedagogy.

Email Thomas M. Philip at: tmp@berkeley.edu

Jennifer King Rice is Professor of Education Policy and Dean of Graduate Studies and Faculty Affairs in the College of Education at the University of Maryland. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University. Prior to joining the faculty at Maryland, she was a researcher at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, D.C. Dr. Rice’s research draws on the discipline of economics to explore education policy questions concerning the efficiency, equity, and adequacy of U.S. education systems. Her current work focuses on teachers as a critical resource in the education process. She has published more than 50 articles and book chapters. Her authored and edited books include Fiscal Policy in Urban Education; High Stakes Accountability: Implications for Resources and Capacity; and Teacher Quality: Understanding the Effectiveness of Teacher Attributes, winner of the 2005 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education book award. As a national expert in education finance and policy, Dr. Rice regularly consults with numerous policy research organizations and state and federal agencies. She was a National Academy of Education / Spencer Foundation post-doctoral fellow in 2002-03, and spent a recent sabbatical leave as a Visiting Fellow at the Urban Institute.  She is a past president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy. 

Email Jennifer King Rice at: jkr@umd.edu

Doris A. Santoro is a professor at Bowdoin College where she serves as chair of the Education Department. She teaches courses in educational studies and teacher education. Santoro serves as Senior Associate Editor for the American Journal of Education. She is the author of Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay (Harvard Education Press, 2018) and the co-editor of Principled Resistance: How Teachers Resolve Ethical Dilemmas (2018). 

Email Doris Santoro at: dsantoro@bowdoin.edu

Marisa Saunders is associate director for research at UCLA’s Center for Community Schooling. Her primary areas of research focus on K-12 transformation efforts aimed to address long-standing educational inequalities. She has conducted extensive research that explores the potential and challenges associated with college and career pathways. Marisa has authored a number of publications and books including Beyond Tracking: Multiple Pathways to College, Career, and Civic Participation and Learning Time: In Pursuit of Educational Equity.

Email Marisa Saunders at: m.saunders@ucla.edu

Ron Scapp is the founding director of the Graduate Program of Urban and Multicultural Education at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx where he is professor of humanities and teacher education. He is currently the director of program development at the College, and is President of the National Association for Ethnic Studies. He is also serving as a member of the International Committee for Kappa Delta Pi and a member of United Federation of Teachers policy board for the NYC Teachers Center.  He has written on a variety of topics—from popular culture to education, from social and political philosophy to art criticism. 

His recent books include, Managing to Be Different: Educational Leadership as Critical Practice (Routledge) and Living With Class: Philosophical Reflections on Identity and Material Culture, co-edited with Brian Seitz (Palgrave Macmillan). He has collaborated with others on different projects, most notably with cultural critic and author bell hooks [sic]. He is currently working on a book about education and the culture of reform and is co-editor with Kenneth J. Saltman of the Routledge series, Positions: Education, Politics and Culture. He is editor of the journal Ethnic Studies Review, and is a founding member of Group Thought, a philosophy collective based in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Email Ron Scapp at: ron.scapp@mountsaintvincent.edu

Kathy Schultz is Professor of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education and with the Renée Crown Wellness Institute. She was Dean of the School of Education from 2017-2023 following her appointment as Dean of the School of Education at Mills College in Oakland, California from 2010-2016. She served as professor and director of the teacher education program at the University of Pennsylvania from 1997-2010. During that time, she was the faculty director of the Philadelphia Writing Project and served on the Empowerment Board (School Board) of the Chester Upland School District. 

Her scholarly work has focused on the research, development, and dissemination of practices that support new and veteran teachers working with marginalized populations in high poverty areas. Her two books, Listening: A framework for teaching across differences and Rethinking classroom participation: Listening to silent voices address these issues. Her most recent book, Distrust and educational change: Overcoming barriers to just and lasting reform, about the role of distrust in educational reform, draws on her work in Oakland, as a school board member in Chester, PA, and leader of professional development in international settings. One of her current projects addresses dignity, teachers, and teaching.

Email Katherine Schultz at: Katherine.Schultz@colorado.edu

Paul Shaker is a career educator who has served as teacher, teacher educator, and dean in five of the United States, in Asia, and in Canada at Simon Fraser University of British Columbia where he is professor emeritus and immediate past dean. An alumnus of Ohio State, Shaker has sought to advance the progressive legacy in public schools and higher education through scholarship, leadership and media activism. He has developed and directed independently funded projects such as Friends of Simon, an outreach to immigrant and refugee children that provides university students as after-school tutors. Shaker also hosts Your Education Matters, a television program widely cablecast in British Columbia that is a venue for qualified educators to speak on a range of education topics (see www.youreducationmatters.ca). Scholarly recognition includes his appointment in Kuwait as a Fulbright Senior Scholar for evaluation; the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Outstanding Writing Award for the co-edited volume Teachers and Mentors; and in 2009 the American Educational Research Association Award for Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education for Reclaiming Education for Democracy: Thinking Beyond No Child Left Behind (co-author, Elizabeth Heilman.)

Email Paul Shaker at: pshaker@sfu.ca or see www.paulshaker.com

Robert Shand is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy and Leadership at American University and an affiliated researcher with the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. A former high school economics and government teacher, his interests lie at the intersection of research, policy and practice. His current research focuses on teacher improvement through collaboration and professional development and how schools and teachers use data from economic evaluation and accountability systems to make decisions and improve over time. Recent work at CBCSE has emphasized the unique opportunities and methodological challenges of evaluating complex partnership programs, including the university-school-community partnership Raising Educational Achievement Coalition of Harlem, and the comprehensive student support program, City Connects. He is a co-author of the third edition of Economic Evaluation in Education: Cost-Effectiveness and Benefit-Cost Analysis, and he has contributed to publications in the American Journal of Evaluation, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.

Email Robert Shand at: rshand@american.edu

Jamy Stillman is an Associate Professor of Education in the division of Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research explores the factors that shape teachers’ capacities to deliver equity-oriented, responsive instruction in high-poverty schools serving minoritized youth, especially Spanish-English bilingual students. Using qualitative methods, Jamy focuses primarily on two factors—education policy (e.g. high-stakes accountability policies and standards-based reform) and features of university teacher education—to generate understandings about pre-service and practicing teachers’ learning and work across contexts, and the implications of this work and learning for culturally and linguistically diverse students’ opportunities to learn. Jamy is also becoming increasingly interested in questions surrounding the preparation of urban teacher educators.

Email Jamy Stillman at: Jamy.Stillman@colorado.edu

Mark Weber is the Special Analyst for Education Policy at the New Jersey Policy Perspective, and a Lecturer at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he earned his PhD. Weber also works as a public school teacher in Warren Township, NJ. His research projects include the School Finance Indicators Database, the nation’s most comprehensive source of school finance data and analysis. In addition to many journal articles and book chapters, Weber has authored many education policy briefs, including works for the Shanker Institute, the Education Law Center, the Fordham Foundation, and others. Weber’s research concentrates on school choice, school finance, teacher preparation and quality, and arts education, with a particular focus on equity. 

Email Mark Weber at: mark.weber@gse.rutgers.edu

Jennie Whitcomb is the principal of Sacred Heart Preparatory, a Catholic, independent high school in Northern California. Prior to joining Sacred Heart in 2015, she was the Associate Dean of Teacher Education at CU Boulder (2002-2015) and Director of Teacher Education at the University of Denver (1997-2002). Committed to quality teaching and teacher education, her scholarship has focused on teacher learning and teacher education policy and program design. From 2005-2009 she co-edited the Journal of Teacher Education, and in 2014 she was elected to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education’s Board. Her turn from university teacher preparation to the daily life of a high school affords her opportunities to live her commitments to quality teaching and to fostering a vibrant, affirming school community focused on delivering powerful learning experiences that guide students to find their purpose and to serve their community.

Email Jennie Whitcomb at: jennie.whitcomb@outlook.com

Ken Zeichner is the Boeing Professor of Teacher Education Emeritus at the University of Washington-Seattle and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, and has received Lifetime Achievement awards from the Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and Division K of the American Educational Research Association. Ken’s work focuses on issues of teaching and teacher education in the U.S., and internationally in countries like Namibia, Canada, China, and Thailand where he has done research. He is the author of Teacher Education and the struggle for social justice (Rutledge, 2009) and The struggle for the soul of teaching and teacher education (Rutledge, 2017).

Email Ken Zeichner at: kenzeich@uw.edu