Research
Educational Administration faculty is a group of active scholars and researchers, addressing critical issues across the Pre-K-20 educational spectrum domestically and internationally. While contributing to theory and new knowledge, faculty research also seeks to inform policy and decision makers, and to improve practice. Our work, therefore, is disseminated in a wide array of venues including books, top-tier scholarly journals such as Educational Administrative Quarterly, The Review of Higher Education, and the Journal of College Student Development, broadly distributed practitioner-oriented journals and publications, policy briefs, monographs, technical reports. The faculty is also actively involved in scholarly and professional associations at the state, regional, national and international levels as conference session contributors and proposal reviewers, association leaders, and editorial board members.
Students in all the EAD degree programs are strongly encouraged to become similarly involved in professional associations through presentations; case study competitions; serving as conference participants, mentors or interns; attending special graduate student workshops; and assuming leadership roles. We support student involvement in these activities intellectually including mentoring and collaboration, and through travel awards if their work is accepted for presentation.
A very brief selection of some of the recent and on-going research and scholarship includes the following:
Jim Fairweather and Ann Austin served as co-PIs during the last five years for the National Science Foundation-sponsored Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) for five years. Along with other faculty and graduate students in HALE and at MSU, as well as the University of Wisconsin and Penn State, CIRTL examined strategies employed at different institutions for preparing future faculty in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [STEM] fields. The project continues in a new phase for the next three years, also funded by NSF, “The CIRTL Network—Shaping, Connecting, and Supporting the Future National STEM Faculty.” Austin is co-PI with Bob Matthew from the University of Wisconsin.
Susan Printy and BetsAnn Smith lead a research team, including students, funded by IES evaluating the Michigan Coalition of Essential Schools Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) in four school districts around the state. The SLC strives to enhance relationships, improve organizational arrangements and create new learning structures and opportunities to increase student success.
The Pre-Service Teacher Education Program (Pre-STEP) recently funded by the Academy of Educational Development is led by Reitu Mabokela and includes faculty and students from around the College. The fundamental goal of this 5 year project is to improve the quality of primary and secondary education in Pakistan through improved teacher education training, using key education reforms that, ultimately lead to university and school transformation.
Amita Chudgar was co-PI of an AERA funded project examining national income, income inequality, and the importance of schools and teachers. This hierarchical cross-national comparison used TIMSS data to explore how the distribution of school and teacher resources affect students of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds differently.
Evaluating charter schools across the country on factors such as student achievement, distribution of students and competitive effectiveness with public schools is part of on-going work for Ron Zimmer, in collaboration with the Rand Corporation.