Ellen Goldring - Biography

Biography

Ellen Goldring received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1985. Her research interests reside in two main areas. One strand centers on understanding and shaping school reform efforts that connect families, communities, and schools. She is co-author of Magnet Schools in Urban Districts: What's Our Choice (Teacher College Press), with Claire Smrekar, that focuses on questions of equity and community in urban school districts with extensive magnet school plans, and Principals of Dynamic Schools (Corwin Press) with Sharon Rallis.

Much of her other work focuses on the changing role of school leaders as the organizational contexts for schools become more complex and varied. Her research examines how principals play a pivotal and changing role as schools become re-embedded in their larger community structures. She studies the organizational features of schools and leadership that affect parent participation and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of understanding organizations and quantitative research methods. She is currently involved in a number of projects that are studying expertise in school leadership, new models for professional development for school leaders, and linking leading and learning.