Faculty, Coaches & Staff
Support and leadership for the EdD program includes faculty in the Department of Educational Policy Studies, the leadership coaches mentoring resident and alumni principals, and the staff and researchers with the Center for Urban Education Leadership who support the EdD program.
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Lionel Allen, EdD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Leadership Coach
Dr. Lionel Allen, Jr. teaches a signature pedagogy course on cycles of inquiry, co-leads the full-year residency course for aspiring school leaders, and the second of two courses that are part of the instructional leadership sequence. Lionel has over twenty years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and chief academic officer. He is an education reform consultant, principal coach, and a frequently invited speaker.
Cynthia K. Barron, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Leadership Coach
Cynthia K. Barron is an award-winning former CPS principal, a leadership coach and an Education Policy Studies Faculty Affiliate with the EdD Urban Education Leadership program. She teaches, advises and coaches in new and currently-serving resident and full-time principals.
Shelby Cosner, PhD
Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Director of the UIC Center for Urban Education Leadership
Cosner is currently leading or collaborating with others to lead several externally funded research teams and research and development projects that focus in two areas: the work of school leaders to improve urban schools and the preparation and development of urban leaders (teachers, principals, leadership teams). Cosner received funding beginning in 2016 from the Wallace Foundation and is leading UICs efforts to help two universities transform their principal preparation programs. As a part of this project, she is also collaborating with others from these two institutions to conduct research about these principal preparation program redesign efforts.
Decoteau J. Irby, PhD
Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies
Decoteau Irby is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies where he teaches and advises in the College’s Urban Education Leadership program area. He researches equity-focused school leadership as a lever to improve Black children’s academic and socio-emotional experiences and outcomes.
David Mayrowetz, PhD
Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies
David Mayrowetz studies the ways in which organizational and institutional factors influence the creation and implementation of educational reforms. He is past Chair of Educational Policy Studies and was a founding member of the faculty of the Ed.D. program in Urban Education Leadership.
Jason Salisbury, PhD
Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies
Jason Salisbury is an Assistant Professior in the Department of Educational Policy Studies working in the College of Education’s Urban Education Leadership program where he teaches classes related to instructional leadership and organizational theory. His research focuses on understanding how school leaders are able to support teachers in engaging in culturally relevant or sustaining pedagogies and how school leaders are able to create spaces for marginalized youth to engage in transformative leadership in their schools.
Joseph Shoffner
Leadership Coach and Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies
Over his 13 years in school leadership, Dr. Shoffner earned a reputation as a principal who could develop and sustain an academic culture of continuous improvement. His leadership journey began as an assistant principal at Talman Elementary and also as a principal Intern at The Chicago Agricultural High School. However, Dr. Shoffner gained much of his leadership experience at McClellan, a school he served as principal for 9 years. When Shoffner took the principalship at McClellan, a neighborhood school, the school was given the lowest performance designation from CPS in the prior year. Within a few years, Shoffner and his colleagues helped move McClellan to the highest possible rating. Under Shoffner’s leadership, McClellan maintained the highest possible status over the last four years. He received his EdD from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Celina Sima, PhD
Visiting Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies
In addition to her role as an administrator, Dr. Sima conducts research on higher education planning and policy. Particular areas of interest include the examination of general education in the undergraduate curriculum, evaluation of strategies for the improvement of undergraduate student transfer and faculty retention strategies. Dr. Sima has taught research designs for policy, public sector strategic planning, organization and administration of higher education, history of higher education and student development theory.
Benjamin Superfine, JD, PhD
Professor of Educational Policy Studies
Ben Superfine is a Professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Superfine received his JD and PhD in Education Foundations and Policy from the University of Michigan. Dr. Superfine became Chair of Educational Policy Studies in 2014.
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Lionel Allen
Leadership Coach and Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies
Dr. Lionel Allen, Jr. teaches a signature pedagogy course on cycles of inquiry, co-leads the full-year residency course for aspiring school leaders, and the second of two courses that are part of the instructional leadership sequence. Lionel has over twenty years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and chief academic officer. He is an education reform consultant, principal coach, and a frequently invited speaker.
Cynthia K. Barron, PhD
Leadership Coach and Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies
Cynthia K. Barron is an award-winning former CPS principal, a leadership coach and an Education Policy Studies Faculty Affiliate with the EdD Urban Education Leadership program. She teaches, advises and coaches in new and currently-serving resident and full-time principals.
Beverly LaCoste
Leadership Coach
Beverly LaCoste is a leadership coach with UIC’s EdD program and an award-winning former CPS high school and elementary school principal. She is an experienced school administrator with over 40 years as a teacher, counselor, assistant principal, principal, and district level leader. She has served as consultant in multiple school communities: Chicago Public Schools, Indianapolis Public Schools, Cleveland, Ohio ACCES Charter and Clayton County Public Schools. Her out of state experience also includes Special Assistant to the Deputy Superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools, Atlanta, GA, and Chief of Staff to the Superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools.
Kenya Mandeldove-Sadler
Leadership Coach
Kenya Mandeldove-Sadler served as a transformative district leader. Her professional experience includes work as a classroom teacher, Reading Specialist and District Literacy Coordinator in Chicago. Kenya was recognized for her outstanding service to Chicago Public Schools. Mandeldove-Sadler was the writer of the Chicago Public Schools Striving Readers Grant, which awarded twenty-five million dollars to Chicago Public Schools for creating instructional models to support struggling readers. She also served as an Assistant Principal in Evanston IL. then transitioned to a principal position at William H. Brown School of Technology. She converted Brown from a Math and Science Academy to a STEAM School. Mandeldove-Sadler then served as Deputy Chief of Transformation in Youngstown, Ohio, where she worked to transform teaching and learning in five elementary schools. As a former urban student and an urban leader, she is deeply committed to transforming teaching and learning in urban schools.
Stephen McClain, EdD
Leadership Coach
Stephen McClain served as Chief of Schools at a Chicago charter school network leading innovation, community engagement, and policy teams. Dr. McClain was also a Principal and Assistant Principal in Chicago Public Schools elevating student academic growth and substantial improvement in attainment.
Joseph Shoffner
Leadership Coach and Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies
Over his 13 years in school leadership, Dr. Shoffner earned a reputation as a principal who could develop and sustain an academic culture of continuous improvement. His leadership journey began as an assistant principal at Talman Elementary and also as a principal Intern at The Chicago Agricultural High School. However, Dr. Shoffner gained much of his leadership experience at McClellan, a school he served as principal for 9 years. When Shoffner took the principalship at McClellan, a neighborhood school, the school was given the lowest performance designation from CPS in the prior year. Within a few years, Shoffner and his colleagues helped move McClellan to the highest possible rating. Under Shoffner’s leadership, McClellan maintained the highest possible status over the last four years. He received his EdD from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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Martha Hebert, EdD
Senior Research Specialist, Center for Urban Education Leadership
Martha Hebert joined UIC’s College of Education in 2006, and continues to collaborate with the school’s EdD program while she serves as Senior Researcher for the Center. Before joining the College, Dr. Hebert had a distinguished career in professional development with Chicago Public Schools.
Maria Makkawi
Financial and Grant Management Assistant
Maria Makkawi has worked in the College of Education for over 20 years. She currently assists the Program Coordinator & Director with administrative processes within the program. She is integral in the programs funding, budgeting and scholarship processes.
Sharon Spears, EdD
Program Director, EdD Urban Education Leadership Program
Sharon Spears assists with the management and continuous improvement of the clinically intensive academic program for doctoral principal candidates in the Urban Education Leadership EdD Program. She has an extensive background in the development of school leaders and experience in facilitating academic programming. Dr. Spears has a passion for collaboration and engaging in the learning experience which drives her work in education.
Samuel P. Whalen, PhD
Director of Research, Center for Urban Education Leadership
Samuel P. Whalen, director of research for the Center, joined UIC’s College of Education in 2003. He is an award-winning co-author of Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure.
Ayana Wilson
Research Associate
Ayana Wilson is our chief editor for our monthly student, faculty and staff communications. She works closely with the data collection and analysis team for continuous improvement of the program. Ayana is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.