Casey D. Cobb

Neag Professor of Educational Policy

Expertise: Education Policy, Educational Leadership, School Reform, School Choice, Educational Accountability

Educational Leadership (EDLR)

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Titles:

Raymond Neag Endowed Professor of Educational Policy
National Education Policy Center (NEPC) Fellow

Academic Degrees:

Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Arizona State University, 1998
M.S. in Educational Leadership, University of Maine, 1995
A.B. in Economics, Harvard University, 1989

Areas of Expertise:

Education Policy
School Choice
Educational Leadership
Education Reform
Research Methodology
Evaluation

Biography:

Casey D. Cobb is the Raymond Neag Professor of Educational Policy at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Cobb is a National Education Policy Center Fellow and a member of the Research Advisory Panel for the National Coalition on School Diversity. His current research interests include policies on school choice, accountability, and school reform, where he examines the implications for equity and educational opportunity. Dr. Cobb was named among the top 200 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influencers in 2023. Dr. Cobb is former Editor of Educational Administration Quarterly and a former two-term member of UCEA Executive Council. He is a co-author of Public and Private Education in America (ABC-CLIO, Praeger), Fundamentals of Statistical Reasoning in Education (Wiley/Jossey Bass, 4th ed.), and Leading Dynamic Schools (Corwin Press). Dr. Cobb is a former member of Connecticut’s Region 19 School Board. He holds an A.B. from Harvard University, an M.S. from the University of Maine, and a Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

Selected Publications/Presentations:

Cobb, C. D., & Glass, G. V (Sept 2021). Public and private education in America. ABC-CLIO.

Cobb, C. D. (2021). Framing the implications of policy-relevant research for maximum impact. In A. Urick, D. DeMatthews, & T. Ford (Eds.), Maximizing the policy-relevance of research for school improvement. Charlotte: NC: Information Age Publishing.

Henry, W., & Cobb, C. D. (2020). Social justice leadership design: Reorienting university preparation programs. In C. A. Mullen (Ed.) Handbook of social justice interventions in education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29553-0_63-1

Cobb, C. D. (2020). Geospatial analysis: A new window into educational equity, access, and opportunity. Review of Research in Education, 44(1), 97–129. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X20907362

Cobb, C. D., & Irizarry, J. (2020). Private interests and the common good: Conflicting priorities in a school choice world. In R. Papa (Ed.), Handbook on Promoting Social Justice in Education. Springer International Publishing AG.

Cobb, C. D. (2019). A geographic account of economic, health, and educational disparities in Hartford’s Sheff Region. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 41, 84-100.

Orr, M., & Cobb, C. D. (2019). Epistemic drift: Theory-building and Research in Educational Leadership. In A. Danzig & W. Black (Eds.), Who Controls the Preparation of Education Administrators? Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Cobb, C. D., Weiner, J., & Gonzales, R. (2017). Historical trends and patterns in the scholarship on leadership preparation. In M. Young, & G. Crow (Eds.), Handbook of research on the education of school leaders (2nd edition). New York, NY: Routledge.

Donaldson, M. L., & Cobb, C. D. (2016). Implementing student learning objectives and classroom observations in Connecticut’s teacher evaluation system. In J. A. Grissom, & P. Youngs (Eds.) Improving teacher evaluation systems: Making the most of multiple measures. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Cobb, C. D., Donaldson, M., & Mayer, A. P. (2013). Creating high leverage policies: A new framework to support policy development. Berkeley Review of Education, 4(2), 265-284.

Honors/Awards:

Top 200 in 2023 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings

2020 UConn-AAUP Service Excellence Award

2017 UCEA Hanne Mawhinney Distinguished Service Award

2015 American Educational Research Association, Division L  Outstanding Policy Report Award

2014 William J. Davis Award (most outstanding article in volume 49 of EAQ)

Fellow, National Education Policy Center

2013 Outstanding Reviewer for AERA Journals

Associations/Committees/Outreach:

Editorial Board, Education Policy Analysis Archives

Research Advisory Panel, National Coalition on School Diversity

University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Jackson’s Scholar Mentor

Former Editor, Educational Administration Quarterly

Former Member, Executive Committee, University Council for Educational Administration

Curriculum Vitae

Casey Cobb CV

In the News:

Four Ways School Choice Worsens Segregation (National Education Policy Center)

The Conversation: More than masks and critical race theory – 3 tasks you should be prepared to do before you run for school board

How district leaders can seize an opportunity emerging from volatile school board races (District Administrator)

Quoted in Republican-American article on school segregation in Waterbury

Interview with NBC Connecticut TV on learning pods (1:53)

Professor Cobb on equity of learning pods Hartford Courant

Interviewed by Sharon Johnson of WFSB TV on synchronous learning series for K-12

Cobb quoted on New England Public Radio on Massachusetts school finance litigation

Neag Professor Dr. Casey Cobb quoted in Boston Globe article on a nationally ranked magnet school

Dr. Cobb’s magnet school research discussed in CT Mirror article

NEPC Fellow Dr. Casey Cobb reviews three research reports on voucher programs for the National Education Policy Center.

Cobb interviewed on WNPR on Connecticut education reform

Cobb named Editor-in-Chief of the ranked Sage and UCEA journal, Educational Administration Quarterly