July 02, 2013

Professor recognized for commitment to urban school reform

Sue Feldman, assistant professor of educational administration, has been recognized for advancing scholarship around accountability in urban schools.

Sue Feldman, assistant professor of educational administration, has been recognized for advancing scholarship around accountability in urban schools. Feldman’s paper, “Managing the intersection of internal and external accountability: Challenge for urban school leadership in the United States,” received the Emerald Literati Network 2013 Award for Excellence in May.

Her paper, co-authored by Michael S. Knapp, professor of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Washington, explores how school leaders can improve their internal accountability system to meet external accountability demands. Feldman and Knapp collected data from 15 schools in four urban districts across the U.S. They found that the most successful school leaders internalized external expectations and promoted accountability within the school culture, which led to conversations about how to improve instruction and made teaching and leadership practice more public. The research was supported by the Wallace Foundation.

“An honor like this is motivating,” Feldman said. “I take seriously the responsibility to conduct research and publish it. It is challenging to make a meaningful contribution to the field and it is wonderful to have the opportunity.”

Feldman’s current projects at Lewis & Clark focus on issues of equity in leadership and policy. She studies learning-focused leadership, urban school data practices, and the internal evaluation of schools.

Read more about Feldman’s work.

Zibby Pillote ’14 contributed to this story