Erin Anderson – William and Sheila Konar Director
(Ph.D., University of Virginia)
Dr. Anderson is the William and Sheila Konar Director of the Center of Urban Education Success and an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester. She was an assistant and associate professor at the University of Denver for ten years. Her experience as a teacher and leader in middle and high schools in Virginia and New York initiated her interest in how to make schools more equitable and inclusive spaces for students historically marginalized by the education system. In partnership with Denver Public Schools, she has led a professional learning program for leadership teams to integrate improvement science and liberatory design into school improvement work. She researches school and district leadership practices, leadership preparation, planning and implementing equity-focused continuous school improvement, and university-district partnerships for preparation and improvement. View University profile.
Joanne Larson – Associate Director of Research
(Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles)
Dr. Larson is the Michael W. Scandling Professor of Education at the Margaret Warner School of Education and the Associate Director of Research at the Center for Urban Education Success. Her research examines how langauge and litearacy practices mediate social and power relations in literacy events in schools and communities. She has been part of the University of Rochester-East Educational Partnership Organizations (EPO) since the beginning. She was able to spend a full year doing participatory ethnography at East with teh support of a sabbatical and grant from the Spencer Foundation. View University profile.
Valerie Marsh – Assistant Director
(Ph.D., University of Rochester)
Dr. Marsh is Associate Professor at the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the University of Rochester and the Assistant Director for the University’s Center for Urban Education Success. She is responsible for the Center’s research on best practices in urban education, both to inform the University of Rochester’s Educational Partnership Organization (EPO) with East High School and to document the EPO implementation. Her research takes the challenges, experiences, and successes of urban schools and brings those into conversation with academic scholarship to provide resources to universities, urban secondary schools, and other organizations interested in pursuing best practices and innovations in urban education across the country. View University profile.
Steve Uebbing – Affiliated Faculty
(Ed.D., University of Buffalo)
Dr. Uebbing is Clinical Professor in Educational Leadership at the Warner Graduate School of Education at the University of Rochester. He is also the Project Director of the University of Rochester-East Educational Partnership Organization (EPO). He led the UR-EPO planning process and served as Superintendent for the East EPO for several months prior to the school opening under U of R supervision. Uebbing oversaw the collective bargaining process with the new East faculty and the hiring process for all faculty and staff. A former school superintendent, principal and high school teacher, Uebbing has extensive experience working with practicing administrators interested in whole school reform. View University profile.
Nahoko Kawakyu O’Connor – Affiliated Faculty
(Ph.D., University of Rochester)
Dr. Kawakyu O’Connor is Associate Professor at the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the University of Rochester and Director for Program Evaluation at the Center for Professional Development and Education Reform. Dr. Kawakyu O’Connor is coordinating a team of East/EPO staff in engaging in embedded program evaluation practices, with the goal of leveraging data already collected by staff to analyze and review for reflective practice and continuous improvement. View University profile.
Shaun Nelms – Affiliated Faculty
(Ed.D., University of Rochester)
Shaun Nelms is the vice president of community partnerships at the University of Rochester. He previously served as the superintendent of East Upper and Lower Schools, formerly East High School in Rochester, N.Y., a position created through a unique partnership between the New York State Education Department, Rochester City School District, and University of Rochester. As the Educational Partnership Organization (EPO) superintendent for East, Nelms was charged with creating a school reform model that can be replicated in urban settings throughout the United States.
In 2018, he was named the first William and Sheila Konar Director for the Center for Urban Education Success (CUES) at the Warner School. In this role, Nelms leads the center’s efforts to support the success of K-12 urban schools both locally and nationally through a combination of research, relationship building, and a commitment to pursue and share best practices.