Shelby Cosner, PhD

Shelby Cosner is a Professor of Educational Organization and Leadership in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and the Director of the UIC Center for Urban Education Leadership (CUEL). In 2018, this center received national recognition by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for its expertise with continuous improvement. Beginning in 2019-2020 CUEL established a research practice partnership with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) called C2. The goal of this partnership is to positively contribute to the 5-Year CPS Equity-oriented Vision. About the same time, CUEL collaborated with the UIC Learning Science Research Institute (LSRI) to form a research practice partnership with four other Illinois school districts for the improvement of mathematics instruction and student learning.

Cosner’s research interests focus on leadership for school improvement, activist and equity-oriented school leadership, and how school leaders cultivate capacities for improving schools/student learning with varied sorts of pursuits and challenges in mind. Cosner is also an expert on leadership preparation and development as well as the continuous improvement of programs that prepare and develop leaders. Cosner has expertise with the design and testing (cluster randomized trial; randomized controlled trial) of leadership learning designs. Two such projects are currently funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the William T. Grant Foundation.

Cosner is an applied qualitative researcher whose work draws heavily from the organizational sciences, sociology, social psychology, and management. Her work appears in such peer-reviewed journals as Educational Administration Quarterly, the Journal of Educational Administration, the Journal of School Leadership, Leadership and Policy in Schools, Urban Education, Educational Management Administration & Leadership, the Journal of Research on Leadership Education, and Planning and Changing. Working independently and with various colleagues, she has obtained over 14M in external funding from funders that are local, national, and international (e.g., National Science Foundation/NSF, US Department of Education, The Wallace Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Jeff Bezos Family Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, the Lyle Spencer Foundation, the Broad Foundation, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Finnegan Family Foundation, Children’s First Foundation, and the Qatar Foundation).

Prior to becoming the Director of UICs Center for Urban Education Leadership, she served as the Academic Program Director and Associate Program Coordinator for UICs Doctorate in Urban Educational Leadership. In these roles, she co-led program redesign and implementation over a multi-year time frame using improvement science/inquiry cycles. This program is nationally recognized as a model principal preparation program, and it has received national awards and recognitions for its program quality including UCEAs 2013 award as an Exemplary Leadership Preparation Program (one of two programs nationally to receive this designation in its inaugural year; only 7 such programs have been identified to date) and the 2012 Urban Impact Award from the Council of Great City Schools. Through 4-year funding from The Wallace Foundation as a part of their $48M University Principal Preparation Initiative that spanned 2016 to 2020, she led UICs efforts to mentor two universities (University of Connecticut and Western Kentucky University) as these institutions engaged in work to improve their principal preparation programs. In 2021, The Wallace Foundation again selected Cosner to mentor two universities (University of Texas-Austin and Portland State) as a part of the foundation’s 5-year $102M Equity-centered [Leadership] Pipeline Initiative project. In addition to supporting the continuous improvement of leadership preparation/development programs, she also evaluates principal preparation and development programs for state departments of education and universities.

Cosner is regularly sought to design curriculum materials and developmental resources for the development of school and system leaders as well as for the leadership coaches and principal supervisors who support school leader development. In this work, she has served as a curriculum developer and trainer of trainers for research/development centers, state departments of education, regional educational offices, state superintendent/principal associations, and national Ministries of Education. In Illinois she has served as the content expert for a series of federally funded projects (31M). These projects are supporting the design and testing (through quasi-experimental design) a school leader development intervention being enacted in six regions of Illinois. In the state of Wisconsin, she supported the design and pilot implementation of Wisconsin's state-wide principal evaluation system. She also consults with school districts throughout the US to provide development for school boards, senior/district-level leadership teams, senior leaders, school leadership teams, principals, and teacher leaders. Her work in these areas often focuses on leading cycles of inquiry and data use to inform organizational improvement and diagnosing/cultivating organizational resources that support improvement—such as teacher and leadership teams. Internationally, she is a part of the ALL IN network that supports school leadership development throughout the Global South and Middle East. She has worked with Qatar’s Ministry of Education and the Qatar Foundation to design and provide multiple year-long hybrid leadership team development experiences for school leadership teams in Qatar.

Cosner is currently serving in several elected national leadership roles in the US. She is currently in her second term on the Executive Committee of the University Council for Educational Administration. In this work she is co-facilitating the organization’s study and promotion of equity-oriented leadership preparation. She is also the chair for the AERA Special Interest Group, Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership (LTEL)

Cosner has received multiple awards for her teaching including UICs Council for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award in 2009 and UICs most prestigious career achievement in teaching award, the Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2016. In 2018, Cosner received national recognition by UCEA when she was selected for the organization's Master Professor Award. Cosner is a former principal and district-level leader.

Cosner, S., & De Voto, C. (2023). Strengthening the developmental opportunity of the clinical experience in principal preparation: Leadership coach as broker and third-party influencer. Educational Administration Quarterly, 59(1), 3-39. Access at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0013161X231153812.

Superfine, B., De Voto, C., Castro-Superfine, A., Cosner, S., & Han, A. (2023). How research practice partnerships learn how to develop goals for math and identify problems of practice. In S. Hayes & E. Anderson (Eds.), Continuous improvement: A leadership process for school improvement (pp. 315-335). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Tozer, S., Martinez, P., Barron, C., Cosner, S., Hightower, Z.,  Jackson, J., Mayrowetz, D., Whalen, S., & Zavitkovsky, P. (2023). Preparing principals for urban schools: The challenge of equitable outcomes at scale. In L. Gomez & M. Biag (Eds.), District-university partnerships for continuous improvement (pp. 262-297). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Richard, M., & Cosner, S. (2023). Using cycles of inquiry to drive equity-oriented curricular improvement within one leadership preparation program.  In D. Fowler, J. Vasquez Heilig, S. Jouganatos, & A. Johnson (Eds.), Equity & access: An analysis of educational leadership preparation, policy & practice (pp 17-40). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Cosner, S. & Alfadala, A. (2023). Post-pandemic national educational investments: School leadership development through innovative learning designs. Qatar: WISE Research Report, Qatar Foundation.

Cosner, S., & Whalen, S. (2023). Supporting leadership preparation program improvement: Taking a deeper look at the design of improvement-oriented preparation program data systems. Chicago, IL: Center for Urban Education Leadership.

Cosner, S. (2022). Ongoing attention to teacher leadership and its development: Insights from the United States. In A. McKay, K. Redman, Z. Marzi, & A Miller (Eds.) Education reimagined: Leadership for transformation (pp. 40-43). Victoria: Center for Strategic Education. Access at: file:///Users/user/Desktop/cse-wise-education-reimagined-leadership-for-a-new-era.pdf

Cosner, S., Whalen, S., Richard, M., & Hebert, M. (2021). Exploring educational ecosystems through the lens of intermediary organizations: Insights for policy and practice. 2021 WISE Research Report. Qatar Foundation.

Richard, M., Cosner, S., & Salisbury, J. (2021). Social justice leadership in market contexts. In C. Mullen (Ed.), Handbook of social justice interventions in education (pp. 1-25). Switzerland. Springer International Handbook of Education.

Cosner, S. (2020). A deeper look into next generation active learning designs for educational leader preparation. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 15(3), 167-173. Access at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1942775120936301

Richard, M., Salisbury, J., & Cosner, S. (2020). The school-community connection: Social justice leaders’ community activism to promote justice for students. International Journal of Leadership in Education. Access at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603124.2020.1842506

Salisbury, J., Richard, M., & Cosner, S. (2020). Merging schools and communities: Engaging in activist leadership beyond your school walls. In J. Brooks, T. Watson, & A. Heffernan (Eds.), The school leadership survival guide: What to do when things go wrong, how to learn from mistakes, and why you should prepare for the worst (pp. 131-153). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Cosner, S., Leslie, D., & Shyjka, A. (2019). Supporting instructional transformation tied to standards-based reforms: Examining a learning focused approach to school-wide instructional improvement. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 19(2), 252-270. Access at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330156557_Supporting_Instructional_Transformation_Tied_to_Standards-Based_Reforms_Examining_a_Learning-Focused_Approach_to_Supporting_School-Wide_Implementation

Cosner, S. (2019). What makes a leadership preparation program exemplary? Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 14(1), 98-115. Access at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1942775118819661

Cosner, S. (2019). Assembling the right team for implementing a continuously improving principal preparation program: Lessons learned at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In E. Hunt, A. Haller, L. Hood, & M. Kincaid (Eds.), Reforming principal preparation at the state level: Perspectives on policy reform from Illinois (pp. 205-206). NY: Routledge.

Cosner, S., Walker, L., Swanson J., Hebert, M., & Whalen, S. (2018). Examining the architecture of leadership coaching: Considering developmental affordances from multifarious structuring. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(3), 364-380. Access at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JEA-05-2017-0049/full/html

Cosner, S., De Voto, C., & Andry Rah’man, A. (2018). Harnessing the school context as a learning resource in school leader development. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 13(3), 238-255. Access as: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1942775118763872

Korach, S., & Cosner, S. (2017). Developing the school leadership pipeline: Comprehensive leadership development. In. M. Young & G. Crow (Eds.), Handbook of research on the education of school leaders (pp. 262-282). NY: Routledge.

Cosner, S., Tozer, S., & Zavitkovky, P. (2016). Enacting a cycle of inquiry capstone research project in doctoral-level leadership preparation. In V. Storey & K. Hesbol (Eds.), Contemporary approaches to dissertation development and research methods (pp. 162-183). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Cosner, S., & Jones, M. F. (2016). Leading school-wide improvement in conditions of accountability: Key actions and considerations.  Journal of Educational Administration, 54(1), 41-57. Access at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JEA-08-2014-0098/full/html

Co-Lead Developer and Professional Development Provider, multi-year development series for Chicago Public School Principals in Priority and Progress Schools (Malott Fellows Program), 2023-2024.

Co-Lead Developer and Professional Development Provider, multi-year development series for Chicago Public Schools Network Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs, Chicago, IL, 2020-2024.

Program Designer/Curriculum Developer/Professional Development Provider, Qatar Ministry of Education and Qatar Foundation. Year-long school leader development program for school leadership teams in Qatar, 2020-2021; 2023-2024.

Curriculum Developer and Trainer of Professional Developers, Leadership Coaches, and District Leaders, Illinois State University’sCenter for the Study of Education Policy. Federally funded through $31 multi-year federal grant programs including Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) and Education Innovation Research (EIR); project impacts roughly 150 principals in high needs urban, rural, and suburban schools in IL and related school districts; development being examined through randomized control trial. Normal, IL. 2017 to 2024.

Professional Development Provider, UIC’s Center for Urban Education Leadership (CUEL). Summer institute provided to New Schools for Chicago Principals. Chicago, IL. Summer 2017.

Lead Curriculum Developer and Trainer of Training Team, Illinois State University’s Center for the Study of Education Policy. Year-long curriculum development and training of a team of professional developers who will be training school principals. Normal, IL. 2017-2018.

Executive Coach, Chicago Public Schools Academic Chiefs. Chicago, IL. 2017-2018. 

Lead Developer and Professional Development Provider, Year-long development series for Chicago Public Schools senior leadership team/academic chiefs and department leaders. Chicago, IL. 2016-2018. 

Co-Lead Developer and Professional Development Provider, Year-long development series for Chicago Public Schools network chiefs. Chicago, IL. 2016-2017.

Developer and Professional Development Provider, Grafton School District. Multi-year development of system- and school-level leadership teams. Grafton, WI. 2015-2017. 

Lead Curriculum Developer and Trainer of Training Team, DuPage Regional Office of Education (ROE). Year-long principal development institute. DuPage, IL. 2015-2016.

 Developer and Professional Development Provider, Green Bay School District, Multi-year redesign of central office administrative team, development of system-level leadership teams, and development of executive director/principal supervisors. Green Bay, WI. 2014-2016.

Lead Curriculum Developer and Trainer of State-wide Training Team, School Administrators’ Institute for Transformational Leadership (SAIL), Association of Wisconsin School Administrator. Madison, WI. 2014.

PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, 2005.

Member, National Center for School University Partnerships, 2023 to present.; previously Carnegie Foundations I-LEAD, 2021-2023.

Member, Improvement Scholars Network 2021-present.

Member, American Educational Research Association-Improvement Science SIG, Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership SIG, Leadership for School Improvement SIG, various years to present.

Professional Learning Community Member, Wallace Foundation’s Equity-centered Pipeline Initiative Wallace Foundation’s ECPI Project, 2021-present.

Academic Advisory Board Member, Global School Leaders (GSL), 2020-present.

Leadership Team Member, Agile Leaders for Learning Innovation Network (ALL-IN), international network of thought leaders advancing a school leader research and development agenda for the Global East and South, 2019-present.

Member, Educator Preparatory Lab, National principal and teacher preparation improvement community, 2019-present.

University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA) Podcast Series on Continuous Improvement of Educational Leader Preparation Programs, Episode #5, A Discussion with Dr. Shelby Cosner on Mentoring Preparation Programs for Continuous Improvement. (November 2023). Access the podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentoring-other-programs-with-shelby-cosner/id1711557592?i=1000636757701

Principal Investigator. Lead IDEA, National Technical Assistance Center for Supporting School Building Administrators to Effectively Implement IDEA, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, US Department of Education, ($800,972 subaward of 15M/funded). 2023-2028.

Principal Investigator. Examining Equity-oriented Enhancements to the Clinical Experiences of Aspiring Principals: Work of the C2 Research Practice Partnership, Institutional Challenge Grant, William T. Grant Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, and Spencer Foundation, ($650,000). 2023-2026. Co-PI Yue Yin and Kathryn Chval, University of Illinois Chicago; Devin Swartley and Allison Tingwall, Chicago Public Schools.

Principal Investigator. Strengthening School Leadership in High Churn Schools, The Chicago Public Education Fund, ($250,000/funded), 2023-2024.

Principal Investigator. Diagnosing and Addressing Network-level Leaders Learning Needs Through C2 Research Practice Partnership, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation and Anonymous Funder, ($1,200,000/funded), 2019-2026. Co-PI Cynthia Barron, University of Illinois Chicago.

Co-Principal Investigator. Developing Organizational Capacity to Improve K-8 Mathematics Instruction. DRK-12 Discovery Grant Level III Implementation Teaching, National Science Foundation ($4,730,433/funded), 2019-2024. PI is Allison Castro and additional Co-PIs include Ben Superfine and Yue Yin, University of Illinois Chicago.