instructional leadership, school reform, school system transformation, education policy, research-practice partnerships

Dr. Christine M. Neumerski is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Educational Innovation and Improvement, and she is the Associate Director for the EdD in School System Leadership.  She began her career as a middle school teacher in Washington, DC, and then as a teacher educator in Detroit, MI.  These experiences led her to focus on understanding the systemic barriers that marginalized students face in accessing quality learning opportunities.  Her research and teaching focus on improving instruction for vulnerable student populations; instructional leadership as a lever for school reform; research-practice partnerships; and the relationship between public policies and classroom practices.  Prior to joining the faculty at 91大神, Christine worked at Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan, where she conducted several large-scale studies of school system improvement efforts.  She has also worked in urban teacher and leader education, and most recently, she has focused on deeper learning opportunities for neurodiverse children.  Christine received her PhD in Educational Administration and Policy from the University of Michigan.

Most Read Article | Educational Administration Quarterly

Dimond Dissertation Award | University of Michigan

Center for the Education of Women Scholar | University of Michigan

David L. Clark National Graduate Student Researcher | UCEA

Teacher of the Year Griffin Award | Washington, DC

Fulbright Scholar

Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude 

Select Publications

Neumerski, C.M., Goldring, E., Cox, A., Moyer, A., Rubin, M., & Rogers, L.K. (in press). Instructional leadership plus: Central office leaders rethink the principalship. Educational Administration Quarterly.

Rogers, L., Goldring, E., Rubin, M., Cox, A., Neumerski, C.M. (in press). School districts鈥 use of talent analytics: Barriers and possibilities. Journal of Education Human Resources.

Eubanks, S., Neumerski, C.M., Callahan, P., Snell, J., Anthony, D., & Liccione, L. (2024). Fostering improvement: A reflection on equity-centered improvement across three initiatives. Frontiers in Education.

Neumerski, C.M. & Yurkofsky, M. (2024). Dilemmas in district-university partnerships: Examining Network improvement communities as levers for systems change. Journal of Educational Administration.

Neumerski, C.M. (2023) The Tension Between Rigor and Relevance: Redesigning EdD applied research methods coursework within an R1 institution. Special Issue: Reimagining Research Methods Coursework for the Preparation of Scholar-Practitioners. Impacting Education Journal on Transforming Professional Practice.

Spillane, J., Blaushild, N., Neumerski, C.M., Peurach, D.J. Seelig, J. (2022). Striving for coherence, struggling with incoherence: A comparative study of six educational systems organizing for instruction. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 44(4),

Patrick, S.K., Rogers, L., Goldring, E., & Neumerski, C.M., Robinson, V. (2021). Opening the black box of leadership coaching: An examination of coaching behaviors. Journal of Educational Administration, 59(5), 549-563.

Goldring, E., Grissom, J.A., Neumerski, C.M., Blisset, R., Murphy, J. & Porter, A. (2020). Increasing principals鈥 time on instructional leadership: Exploring the SAM庐 process. Journal of Educational Administration, 58(1), 19-37.

Neumerski, C.M. & Cohen, D.K. (2019). The heart of the matter: How reforms unsettle organizational identity. Invited Essay. Education Policy, 33(6), 882-915.

Neumerski, C.M., Grissom, J.A., Goldring, E., Drake, T.A., Rubin, M. Cannata, M., & Schuermann, P. (2018). Restructuring instructional leadership: How multiple- measures teacher evaluation systems are redefining the roleof the school principal. Elementary School Journal, 119(2), 270-297.

Grissom, J. A., Rubin, M., Neumerski, C. M., Cannata, M., Drake, T. A., Goldring, E., & Schuermann, P. (2017). Central office supports for data-driven talent management decisions: Evidence from the implementation of new systems for measuring teacher effectiveness.

Educational Researcher, 46(1), 21-32.

Cannata, M., Rubin, M., Goldring, E., Grissom, J. A., Neumerski, C. M., Drake, T. A., & Schuermann, P. (2017).Using teacher effectiveness data for information-rich hiring. Invited Essay. Educational Administration Quarterly, 53(2), 180-222.

Murphy, J., Neumerski, C. M., Goldring, E., Grissom, J., & Porter, A. (2016). Bottling fog? The quest forinstructional management Cambridge Journal of Education, 46(4), 455- 471.

Peurach, D. J., & Neumerski, C. M. (2015). Mixing metaphors: Building infrastructure for large scale school turnaround. Journal of Educational Change, 16(4), 379-420.

Goldring, E., Grissom, J.A., Rubin, M., Neumerski, C.M., Cannata, M., Drake, T., & Schuermann, P. (2015). Makeroom value added: Principals鈥 human capital decisions and the emergence of teacher observation data. Educational Researcher, 44(2), 96-104.

Neumerski, C.M. (2013). Rethinking instructional leadership, a review: What do we know about principal, teacher, and coach instructional leadership, and where should we go from here? Educational Administration Quarterly, 49(2), 310-347.

Goddard, Y. L., Neumerski, C.M., Goddard, R. D., Salloum, S.J. & Berebitsky, D. (2010). A multilevel exploratory study of the relationship between teachers鈥 perceptions of principals鈥 instructional support and group norms for instruction in elementary schools. Elementary School Journal, 111(2), 336-35

  • Select Grants:
  • Grand Challenges Grant, University of Maryland, 鈥淩acial and Social Justice Research-Practice Partnership Collaborative鈥 (2023-2026),      $500,000.
  • 鈥淩esearch-Practice Partnerships: University-District Network Improvement Communities as a Lever for Reform鈥 (2022-2025).
  • Wallace Foundation, 鈥淧rincipal Pipeline Learning Community鈥 (2021- 2023), $599,000.
  • Spencer Foundation, 鈥淎 Comparative Study of School Systems: Infrastructure, Practice, and Instructional Improvement鈥 (2016-2018), $1,000,000.
  • Wallace Foundation, 鈥淓valuation and Analysis of the Principal Supervisor Initiative鈥 (2014-2019) $2,500,000
  • Wallace Foundation, 鈥淓xamining Updated SAM Process with Consideration of the Potential for a Randomized Control Trial (2014-2015) $125,000
  • The Gates Foundation, 鈥淪upporting Principals to Use Teacher Effectiveness Measures for HumanCapital Decisions鈥 (2013- 2014) $590,000
  • EDUC747 - Advanced Seminar for Instructional Improvement for Leaders
  • EDUC 701 -  Applied Research and Data Based Decision Making for School Leaders
  • EDUC 702 - Applied Research Design for Education Leaders
  • EDUC 888T -  Advanced Seminar in Improvement Science
  • EDUC703 - Conducting Library Research for Capstones
  • EDUC704 - Introduction to Writing for Education Leaders
  • EDUC829 - Doctoral Capstone