Over the years, we have formally engaged the expertise, knowledge and resources of many groups, including our Board of Directors, local educators, NEA’s executive leadership, corporate and philanthropic partners, and others.
Guidance from our Senior Fellows will support further our local education reform projects that are co-developed by unions, districts, and communities and that are squarely focused on achieving equity and excellence. Partnerships like these are a signature feature of the NEA Foundation Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative and Institute for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, in which collaboration helps ensure a high-quality education for all students.
Drawing upon the unique talents and expertise of the fellows, the Foundation aims to bring critical thought leadership to deepen and accelerate improvement of systems to increase teaching effectiveness and the quality of academic and non-academic supports to students and their families. Senior Fellows, according to their area of expertise: provide critical review of current and proposed Foundation programs; assist in the effort to externally position Foundation programs and impact within the broader education reform community; and assist in the identification and development of new knowledge and resource partners.
Michael Fullan is Professor Emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Recognized as a worldwide authority on educational reform, Fullan led the team that evaluated the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy in England. This highly successful reform was designed to improve literacy and numeracy across 20,000 primary schools in England. Fullan is currently Special Advisor to the Premier and Minister of Education in Ontario. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh and from Nipissing University in Canada. His book, Turnaround Leadership in Higher Education (with Geoff Scott), won the Bellwether Book Award in 2009 and Change Wars (with Andy Hargreaves) was awarded the 2009 Book of the Year Award by Learning Forward. His latest book, Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School (with Andy Hargreaves), was published in March 2012.
Luke Merchlewitz is a second grade teacher in Winona, Minnesota and an adjunct faculty member at Winona State University. Serving in education for nearly 30 years, Merchlewitz was a 2010 top ten finalist for MN Teacher of the Year and Minnesota’s Teacher of Excellence in 2011. He also serves on a variety of non-profit organizations including the Foundation Board for Winona Area Public Schools as well as the Board of Directors for the 7 Rivers Region of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Merchlewitz is an NEA Foundation Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellow, a project designed to broaden the basic understanding of how educators navigate the global age and strengthen their global competencies and corresponding instructional practices. He is a recognized leader in public education for his commitment and teaching abilities.
Pedro Noguera is the Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University. Noguera is an urban sociologist whose scholarship and research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions in the urban environment. Noguera is also the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education and the co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Globalization and Education in Metropolitan Settings (IGEMS). In 2008, he was appointed by the Governor of New York to serve on the State University of New York Board of Trustees. A former classroom teacher in public schools in Providence, RI and Oakland, CA, he has published over one hundred and fifty research articles and reports on topics such as urban school reform, conditions that promote student achievement, youth violence, the potential impact of school choice and vouchers on urban public schools, and race and ethnic relations in American society. Noguera is the author of Unfinished Business: Closing the Achievement Gap in Our Nation’s Schools (Josey Bass, 2006) and The Trouble With Black Boys…and Other Reflections on Race, Equity and the Future of Public Education (Wiley and Sons, 2008).
Jerry D. Weast recently retired as Superintendent of the Montgomery County Public Schools, the largest and most diverse school system in Maryland and the 16th largest district in the nation. As superintendent from 1999-2011, Weast served during a period of great demographic change in Montgomery County and kept the focus on narrowing the achievement gap for the district’s nearly 145,000 students. Under his leadership, Montgomery County Public Schools earned national recognition for achieving the highest student graduation rate among the nation’s 50 largest school systems. In recognition of his innovative leadership, Weast has been named superintendent of the year in two states. He serves on the boards of various policy, educational, business and community organizations, including the Committee for Economic Development, Peabody College (Vanderbilt University) National Ed.D. Advisory Board, and Junior Achievement Worldwide Education Group.
Gloria J. Ladson-Billings
Kellner Family Professor of Urban Education University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Curriculum & Instruction Madison, WIGloria J. Ladson-Billings is the Kellner Family Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From 2005-2006, she served as president of the American Educational Research Association. Her research examines the pedagogical practices of teachers who are successful with African American students. Her work has won numerous scholarly awards, including the H.I. Romnes faculty fellowship, the Spencer Post-doctoral Fellowship, and the Palmer O. Johnson Outstanding research award. In 2002, Ladson-Billings was awarded an honorary doctorate from Umea University (Sweden), and in 2012, from University of Alicante, Spain. From 2003-2004, she was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Dr. Ladson-Billings is the author of the critically acclaimed books, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children and Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms.
Susan Moore Johnson
Jerome T. Murphy Professor in Education Harvard Graduate School of Education Cambridge, MASusan Moore Johnson is the Jerome T. Murphy Professor in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she served as academic dean from 1993 to 1999. Her research and teaching has focused on teacher policy, organizational change and administrative practice. A former high school teacher and administrator, Johnson has a continuing research interest in the work of teachers and the reform of schools. She has studied the leadership of superintendents, the effects of collective bargaining on schools, teacher evaluation, the use of incentive pay plans for teachers, and the school as a context for adult work. Since 1998, Johnson has directed a multi-year research study, The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers, which examines how best to recruit, support and retain a strong teaching force. In 2004, Johnson and her colleagues at the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers published Finders and Keepers: Helping New Teachers Survive and Thrive in Our Schools. Johnson is also the author of How Context Matters in High-Needs Schools: The Effects of Teachers’ Working Conditions on Their Professional Satisfaction and Their Students’ Achievement (with Matthew Kraft and John P. Papay) (2012).
Mary Pinkston is a high school math teacher in Brandywine School District in Delaware. An active member of several professional organizations, Pinkston participates frequently in professional development opportunities and is an active member of her community. She has been a part of the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Planning and Luminaria committees for the past several years, and is a member of the Moss Robertson VFW Auxiliary Post 6687. Pinkston is also an NEA Foundation Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellow, a project designed to broaden the basic understanding of how educators navigate the global age and strengthen their global competencies and corresponding instructional practices. In both 2002 and 2009, Pinkston was named the Brandywine High School Teacher of the Year, and Brandywine School District Teacher of the Year in April 2011. Other honors include the 2010 Delaware State Teacher of the Year award.
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