Pamela Grossman

Studying core practices for project-based learning

Abstract

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Image may contain: Necklace, Face, Head, Smile, Chin.About the author

Professor Pamela Grossman is the Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Grossman’s research focuses on the preparation of teachers and other professionals and issues of instructional quality, particularly in English Language Arts. Her most recent work focuses on practice-based teacher education and the role of core practices of teaching in teacher preparation and professional development. She co-directs the Core Practice Consortium, a consortium of faculty from 11 different institutions that has been investigating pedagogies useful for helping novices learn to teach. She was elected to the National Academy of Education in 2009 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. In addition to chairing the Board for the Spencer Foundation, she currently serves on the Board of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Research Interests 

Dr. Grossman studies teacher and professional education, teacher knowledge, and the teaching of English in secondary schools. Her widely cited articles have appeared in Teachers College RecordAmerican Educational Research JournalEducational Researcher, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, among others.

In one highly regarded study, she investigated how clergy, teachers, and clinical psychologists are prepared for the demands of professions that require establishing quality relationships with the people they serve. She also served as co-principal investigator of a five-year study of pathways into teaching in New York City schools, focusing on the features of preparation that affect student achievement.

Her more recent work considers the classroom practices of middle school English teachers that are associated with student achievement. As part of this research, she helped develop the Protocol for English Language Arts Teaching Observation (PLATO) instrument, which has been used in the Measures of Effective Teaching project. Her latest study, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, examines a professional development model that uses PLATO as a tool for instructional improvement.

Dr. Grossman’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation.

In addition to her research on teacher education, Dr. Grossman is a committed teacher educator and, across her career, has prepared prospective teachers for the many demands of their profession.  

Video - Professor Grossman's keynote presentation at QUINT Conference 2022

Published Feb. 4, 2022 2:38 PM - Last modified June 24, 2022 12:28 PM