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Kara Finnigan

Kara Finnigan

Associate Professor and Director, Educational Policy
Educational Leadership

LeChase Hall 414
Office Phone: (585) 275-9942
Fax: 486-1159
kfinnigan@warner.rochester.edu

UR Research Page


Education:

PhD, University of Wisconsin - Madison (educational policy studies)
MA, Stanford University (education administration and policy analysis)
BA, Dartmouth College (English)
Kara Finnigan joined the Warner School in 2003. She teaches in the educational leadership program and is currently the director of the doctoral and master's programs in educational policy. Her courses focus on educational policy and politics, sociology of education, and research methods.

Finnigan began her work in education as a substitute teacher in Anchorage, Alaska. She has conducted research and evaluations of K-12 educational policies and programs at the local, state, and federal levels for nearly 20 years through her work at several prominent national research organizations, including SRI International, RPP International, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation. She has written extensively on the topics of low-performing schools and high-stakes accountability, principal leadership, teacher motivation, and charter schools. Finnigan’s research blends perspectives in education, sociology, and political science; employs both qualitative and quantitative methods; and focuses on urban school districts. She has published articles in the American Educational Research Journal, Journal of Educational Change, Educational Policy, Educational Administration Quarterly, Journal of School Leadership, Leadership and Policy in Schools, Journal of School Choice, Urban Review, and Education Policy Analysis Archives.

Finnigan’s current research focuses on social network analysis in low-performing schools and districts; school improvement under sanction; inter-district choice; district-wide reform; accountability policies; school closure; and the role of districts and states in school improvement. She is currently an associate editor of the Social and Institutional Analysis section of the American Educational Research Journal.

Research Projects

Urban-Suburban Student Transfer Program
Research Evidence in Struggling Schools

In the News



Courses

ED412 Sociology of Education
EDU413 Contemporary Issues in Education Policy
ED461 The Politics of Education
ED464 State and Federal Education Policy
ED523 Mixed Research Methods
ED524 Survey Design (1 credit)
ED525 Interview and Focus Group Techniques (1 credit)
ED531 Case Study Design and Analysis (1 credit)
EDE538 Educational Policy Seminar
ED540 Program Evaluation Dissertation Proposal Seminar
ED541 Program Evaluation Dissertation Seminar I
ED542 Program Evaluation Dissertation Seminar II

Publications:

A. Mind the gap: Organizational learning and improvement in an underperforming urban system. (2012)
B. Exploring the space between: Social networks, trust, and urban school district leaders. (2012)
C. Organizational learning in schools under sanction. (2012)
D. A political analysis of community influence over school closure. (2012)
E. The ebb and flow of network ties between district leaders: A case of structural inertia. (2011)
F. Principal leadership and teacher motivation under high-stakes accountability policies. (2010)
G. Entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors that can help prepare successful change-agents in education. (2010)
H. Leading change under pressure: An examination of principal leadership in low-performing schools. (2009)
I. Improving low-performing schools through external assistance: Lessons from Chicago and California. (2009)
J. A bridge between worlds: Understanding network structure to understand change strategy. (2009)
K. Financial management of New York’s charter schools: A normative, descriptive, and prescriptive analysis. (2009)
L. Charter school autonomy: The mismatch between theory and practice. (2007)
M. Do accountability policy sanctions influence teacher motivation? Lessons from Chicago’s low-performing schools. (2007)
N. The effects of organizational context on teacher expectancy. (2003)

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