Kate Elizabeth Kennedy

Dr. Kate Kennedy (she/her) is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Cincinnati. She is also an affiliated researcher at RAND and holds the appointment of professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
 
Dr. Kennedy is a K–12 education policy and leadership scholar, with expertise in school leadership, politics, and policy. Kennedy’s research agenda is broadly focused on three interwoven strands of inquiry that explore organizational management and change in school systems, care, and the politics of education. In all of her work, she examines issues related to equity and access.
 
Dr. Kennedy uses qualitative methods to examine pressing education issues related to equity, politics, and change. She builds on decades of teaching and service to the education profession as a teacher, coach, and professional development expert. 

Ph.D.: University of Southern California 2022 (Urban Education Policy )

Ed.M.: Teachers College, Columbia University 2007 (Education Leadership, Concentration in Public School Leadership )

M.A.: Loyola Marymount University 2003 (Elementary Education )

B.A.: The Ohio State University 2001 (Women’s Studies )

Peer Reviewed Publications

Kennedy, K., & Walls, J. (2024. ) Social-emotional well-being for high school students: Guidance for School and System Policy and Practice .RAND, ,

Link to Research Report

Mulhern, C., Kennedy, K., & Okuda-Lim, Z. (2024. ) Implementation of Nevada’s Financial Literacy Mandate: A Mixed-Methods Study .RAND Corporation, ,

Link to Research Report

Mulhern, C., Kennedy, K., & Okuda-Lim, Z. (2024. ) Key Findings on the Implementation of Nevada’s Financial Literacy Mandate .RAND Corporation., ,

Research Brief

Berglund, T., Clay, I., Giglio, K., Gittens, A.D., Kaufman, J.H., Kennedy, K., Opfer, V.D., Pauketat, R., Polikoff, M, Schweig, J., Silver, D., Wang, E.L., & Woo, A. (2024. ) Coherence in K-12 Instructional Systems: What we Know and Where We Can Go .RAND Corporation., ,

Research Brief

Eisenlohr, A., Kennedy, K., Bulkley, K.E., & Marsh, J.A. (2024. ) A Tale of Two Systems: Choice and Equity in the District of Columbia’s Charter Schools .Educational Policy, ,

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Allbright, T.N., Dhaliwal, T.K., Alonso, J., Bridgeforth, J., Santander, M., & Kennedy, K.E. (2023. ) Schools as Solutions, Students as Problems: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Institutional Scripts in High School Websites .Educational Administration Quarterly., , 59 (4 ) ,845-878.

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Marianno, B.D., Woo, D.S., & Kennedy, K.E. (2023. ) Collective Bargaining Agreement Restrictiveness in Unionized Charter Schools .Educational Policy, ,

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Daramola, E.J., Allbright, T.N., Marsh, J.A., Jabbar, H., & Kennedy, K.E. Durability and Debate: How State-Level Policy Actors Frame School Choice .Educational Policy Analysis Archives, , 31 ,

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Park, V., Kennedy, K.E., Gallagher, A., Cottingham, B., & Gong, A. (2023. ) Weaving and Stacking: A Case Study of How Six Urban Districts Craft Coherence Towards Continuous Improvement .Journal of Educational Change, , 24 (4 ) ,919

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Bridgeforth, J., Kennedy, K., Alonso, J., & Enoch-Stevens, T. (2021. ) Conceptions of Choice, Equity, & Rurality in Educational Research .The Rural Educator., , 42 (2 ) ,1-15.

Link to open access paper

Marsh, J.A. & Kennedy, K.E. (2020). Possibilities and Challenges: Conditions Shaping Educators’ Use of Social-Emotional Learning Indicators .Teachers College Record, , 122 (14 ) ,1-28.

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Marsh, J.A., Allbright, T.N., Bulkley, K.E., Kennedy, K.E., & Dhaliwal, T.K. (2020. ) Institutional Logics in Los Angeles Schools: Do Multiple Models Disrupt the Grammar of Schooling? .American Journal of Education, , 126 (4 ) ,603-651.

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Kennedy, K. (2019. ) Centering Equity and Caring in Leadership for Social-Emotional Learning: Toward a Conceptual Framework for Diverse Learners .Journal of School Leadership, , 29 (6 ) ,473-492.

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Allbright, T. N., Marsh, J. A., Kennedy, K. E., Hough, H. J., & McKibben, S. (2019. ) Social-emotional learning practices: Insights from outlier schools .Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, , 12 (1 ) ,35–52.

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Other Publications

Alonso, J, Dhaliwal, T., Santander, M.A., Bridgeforth, J., Kennedy, K., & Allbright, T.N. (2022. ) Flipping the Script: Transformational Teamwork for Communicating Equity .AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 19 (3 ) ,52-62

Link to open access paper

Policy Issues in Teaching and Learning

Translating Research to Practice