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Faculty Fellow

Vivian Gadsden

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William T. Carter Professor of Child Development and Education

Co-Faculty Director, Penn Early Childhood and Family Research Center

Director, National Center on Fathers and Families

Associate Director, National Center on Adult Literacy

About

Vivian Gadsden is the William T. Carter Professor of Child Development and Education. Her research interests focus on cultural and social factors affecting learning and literacy across the life-course and within families, particularly those at the greatest risk for academic and social vulnerability and her writing focuses on intergenerational learning. Her current projects include a longitudinal study on intergenerational learning within African-American and Latino families; a study of parent engagement in children’s early literacy; a study with young fathers in urban settings; a study on literacy, education, and health; a policy study on incarcerated parents and their families; and a study of children of incarcerated parents. She is participating in an NICHD-funded project (Dr. John Fantuzzo, principal investigator) on the development of an integrated Head Start curriculum.

Selected Publications

Gadsden, Vivian L., and Ezekiel J. Dixon-Román. 2017. “’Urban’ Schooling and ‘Urban’ Families: The Role of Context and Place.” Urban Education 52(4).

Breiner, Heather, Morgan Ford, and Vivian L. Gadsden. 2016. Parenting Matters : Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Committee on Supporting the Parents of Young Children.

Southerland, Sherry A., Vivian L. Gadsden, Carolyn D. Herrington. 2014. “Editors’ Introduction: What Should Count as Quality Education Research?” Educational Researcher 43(1).

Fantuzzo, John W. , Vivian L. Gadsden, and Paul A. McDermott. 2011. “An Integrated Curriculum to Improve Mathematics, Language, and Literacy for Head Start Children.” American Educational Research Journal 48(3).

Faculty Fellow

Pam Grossman

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George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education

School/Department

Areas of Interest

    About

    Pam Grossman joined Penn as the Dean of the Graduate School of Education from January 2015 to July 2023. A distinguished scholar, she came to Penn from Stanford University’s School of Education, where she was the Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Education. At Stanford she founded and led the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching and established the Hollyhock Fellowship for early career teachers in underserved schools. Before joining Stanford, she was the Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Washington. She co-directs the Core Practice Consortium, a consortium of faculty from 11 different institutions that has been investigating pedagogies useful for helping novices learn to teach. She was elected to the National Academy of Education in 2009 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. In addition to chairing the Board for the Spencer Foundation, she currently serves on the Board of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

    Selected Publications

    Grossman, P., Cohen, J., Ronfeldt, M., & Brown, L. (2014).  The test matters: The relationship between classroom observation scores and teacher value added on multiple types of assessment. Educational Researcher, 43: 293-303

    Grossman, P., Cohen, J., & Brown, L. (2014).  Understanding instructional quality in English Language Arts: Variations in the relationship between PLATO and value-added by content and context.  In T. Kane, K. Kerr, & R. Pianta  (Eds.).  Designing teacher evaluation systems: New guidance from the  Measures of Effective Teaching project.  John Wiley & Sons.

    Grossman, P., Loeb, S., Cohen, J., & Wyckoff, J. (2013).  Measure for measure: The relationship between measures of instructional practice in middle school English Language Arts and teachers’ value-added scores.  American Journal of Education, 119(3), 445-470.

    Hill, H. & Grossman, P. (2013). Learning from teacher evaluations: Challenges and opportunities. Harvard Education Press, 371-384.

    Boyd, D, Grossman, P., Hammerness, K., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Ronfeldt, M. (2012). Recruiting effective math teachers: Evidence from New York City.  American Educational Research Journal. 49 (4), 1008-1047.

    Faculty Fellow

    Kathleen Hall

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    Associate Professor of Education and Anthropology

    Chair, Literacy, Culture, and International Education Division

    About

    Kathleen Hall is Associate Professor of Education and Anthropology in the Education, Culture, and Society Division and Chair of the Literacy, Culture, and International Education Division in the Graduate School of Education with a secondary appointment in the Department of Anthropology. She is a member of the graduate groups in Sociology, Folklore, Social Policy & Practice, and South Asia Studies and is affiliated with the Urban Studies and Asian American Studies programs. She received the Michael Katz Excellence in Teaching Award in the Urban Studies Program in 2001 and the Provost’s Award for Distinguished Ph.D Teaching and Mentoring in 2009. Her research and publications focus on immigration, citizenship, racial and class inequality, and national incorporation in the United Kingdom and the United States; the politics of knowledge in public sector policy and governance; risk management, human rights, and anti-terrorism law in the United Kingdom; and concepts of “global citizenship” and related efforts to “internationalize” K-16 education in the U.S. and the U.K. Before joining the GSE faculty in 1995, Hall was a postdoctoral Fellow at Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, where she conducted research on community-based poverty initiatives. 

    Selected Publications

    Stambach, Amy and Kathleen D. Hall, eds. 2017. Anthropological Perspectives on Student Futures: Youth and the Politics of Possibility. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Hall, K. D. 2012. “Security and the Risk Management State: British Anti-Terrorism Policies After 7/7.” In Politics, Publics, Personhood: New Ethnographies at the Limits of Neoliberalism, edited by C. Greenhouse. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 

    Hall, K. D. 2009. British Sikh Lives Lived in Translation. Everyday Life in South Asia, 2nd Edition. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.

    McDermott, R., and K.D. Hall. 2007. “Scientifically Debased Research on Learning, 1854-2006.” Anthropology and Education Quarterly 38(11): 82-88.

    Affiliated PhD Student

    Elaine Leigh

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    Doctoral Candidate, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

    School/Department

    Areas of Interest

      About

      Elaine Leigh is a first-year Ph.D. Student in Higher Education at Penn GSE. Her research interests include college access and success, diversity in higher education, and K-16 state and federal policies impacting educational preparation pipelines. Previously, Elaine was Director of Support Services at Steppingstone Scholars, a Philadelphia nonprofit that prepares educationally underserved students for college and career success. In this role, Elaine developed and led several key initiatives including an annual citywide college conference, two summer academic learning programs, and school-year programming involving tutoring, mentoring, career development, college readiness, and individual college counseling. As a Teach For America alumna, Elaine began her career in education teaching middle school science in the School District of Philadelphia and also served as a college counselor for ASPIRA’s TRIO Talent Search program. Additionally, Elaine stays engaged in the Philadelphia community as a board member for SEAMAAC, an immigrant and refugee social service agency, and has previously served on the boards of PhilaSoup and The Spruce Foundation. A native of Seattle, WA, Elaine holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Washington and M.S.Ed. in Urban Education from the University of Pennsylvania.

       

      Affiliated PhD Student

      Julia McWilliams

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      Doctoral Student, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

      School/Department

        About

        Julie McWilliams is a 4th year PhD candidate at UPenn’s Graduate School of Education pursuing a joint-degree in education and cultural anthropology. Her research lies at the intersection of urban education reform, race, and immigration. She is currently writing a dissertation about the impact of the school closure policy on the social and organizational dynamics of a neighborhood high school slated for closure in Philadelphia. Alongside her dissertation, she is also studying the effects of education reform in Philadelphia on the academic transitions of recently resettled refugee populations. Prior to graduate school she received a BA in political economy from Princeton University and then spent several years teaching Lao youth in a small Australian college in Vientiane, Laos. 

         

        Selected Publications

        McWilliams, J. and Bonet, S. (2015) Continuums of Precarity: Refugee Youth in American High Schools. International Journal of Lifelong Education. (in press)

        McWilliams, J. and Bonet, S. (2015) Refugees in the City: The Neighborhood Effects of Institutional Presence and Flexibility. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies. (in press)

        McWilliams, J. (2015) Teaching amidst Precarity: Philadelphia Educators, Neighborhood Schools, and the Public Education Crisis. Workplace: Journal for Academic Labor. (in press)

        McWilliams, J. (2014) Educated for Change? Muslim Refugee Women in the West. Anthropology and Education Quarterly. Vol. 45

         

        Faculty Fellow

        Laura Perna

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        GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education

        Vice Provost for Faculty

        Executive Director, Penn AHEAD

        School/Department

        Areas of Interest

          About

          Laura Perna is Centennial Presidential Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education and Founding Executive Director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (Penn AHEAD). She is past chair of the Faculty Senate at the University of Pennsylvania, chair of the Higher Education Division of the Graduate School of Education, faculty fellow of the Institute for Urban Research, faculty affiliate of the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative, and member of the advisory board for the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. She holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and earned her master’s in public policy and Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan. She has held leadership positions in the primary national associations in the field of higher education administration. Dr. Perna served as President of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) from 2014 to 2015 and Vice President of the American Educational Research Association’s Division J (Postsecondary Education) from 2010 to 2013 and now is a member of the AERA Grants Governing Board. Her research examines the ways that social structures, educational practices, and public policies promote and limit college access and success, particularly for individuals from lower-income families and racial/ethnic minority groups.

          Selected Publications

          Perna, L.W., ed., 2018. Taking it to the streets: The role of scholarship in advocacy and advocacy in scholarship. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

          Perna, L.W., and N. Hillman, eds. 2017. Understanding student debt: Who borrows, the consequences of borrowing, and the implications for federal policyThe ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 671.

          Cahalan, M., L.W. Perna, M. Yamashita, R. Ruiz, and K. Franklin. 2017. Indicators of higher education equity in the United States: An historic trend report. Washington, DC: The Pell Institute of the Council for Opportunity in Education and the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy.

          Perna, L.W. and R. Ruiz. 2016. “Technology: The solution to higher education’s pressing problems?” In American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century, edited by P. Altbach, P. Gumport, and M. Bastedo.. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

          Perna, L.W. 2016. “Throwing down the gauntlet: Ten ways to ensure the future of our research.” Review of Higher Education: 319-338.

          Perna, Laura. 2012. Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Jobs in Metropolitan America: The Policy, Practice, and Research Issues. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. 

          Fellow

          Claire Robertson-Kraft

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          Founder and Director, ImpactED

          School/Department

          Areas of Interest

            About

            Claire Robertson-Kraft earned her Ph.D. in education policy and is currently the Founder and Director of ImpactED at The University of Pennsylvania. She is the co-editor of A Grand Bargain for Education Reform: New Rewards and Supports for New Accountability (Harvard Education Press, 2009), which provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating, compensating, and developing teachers. Her research focuses on how these policies influence teachers’ motivation, effectiveness, and retention.

            After graduating from undergrad at Penn in 2004, Claire worked with Teach For America in Houston, first as a third grade teacher and then as a program director supporting elementary and special education teachers. It was during her time as a classroom teacher that she built the passion she has today for working in urban education. Claire is also very active in the civic community. She is the Co-Founder and current President of PhillyCORE Leaders and serves on the boards of Youth Build Philadelphia, Leadership Philadelphia and WHYY. In 2011, she was selected as one of the New Faces of Philly by Philadelphia Magazine, and in 2013, she received the Forum Award for Emerging Executive Women. 

            Selected Publications

            Robertson-Kraft, C. (2014). Teachers’ motivational responses to new evaluation policies. Paper presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

            Robertson-Kraft, C., & Duckworth, A. L. (2014). True grit: Trait-level perseverance and passion for long-term goals predicts effectiveness and retention among novice teachers. Teachers College Record.

            Cucchiara, M., Rooney, E., & Robertson-Kraft, C. (2013). I’ve never seen people work so hard! Teachers’ working conditions in the early stages of school turnaround.  Urban Education Journal.

            Robertson-Kraft, C. (2013). Professional unionism: Redefining the role. In M. B. Katz, & M. Rose (Eds.), Public education under siege. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. 

            Hershberg, T., & Robertson-Kraft, C. (Eds.). (2009). A grand bargain for education reform: New rewards and supports for new accountability. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

            Affiliated PhD Student

            Kailey Spencer

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            Doctoral Candidate, Education Policy, Graduate School of Education

            School/Department

            Areas of Interest

              About

              Kailey Spencer is a PhD candidate in education policy at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education. She has broad research interests which span policies and practices that impact public education. Her dissertation research examines student mobility in public schools, with a particular focus on comparing student mobility in traditional public and charter schools. Prior to enrolling at UPenn, Kailey received her BA from Hunter College, of the City University of New York, with concentrations in Social Research in Education and Applied Statistics. 

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