Kara Finnigan
ProfessorEducational Leadership
LeChase Hall 414
(585) 275-9942
kfinnigan@warner.rochester.edu
Website: Click here for access to papers and CV on Academia
(585) 275-9942
kfinnigan@warner.rochester.edu
Website: Click here for access to papers and CV on Academia
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 and is director of the education policy program in the Warner School's Department of Educational Leadership. Her courses focus on contemporary issues in educational policy, state and federal policy, 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 20 years through her work at several prominent national research organizations, including the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, SRI International, RPP International, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
She has written extensively on the topics of low-performing schools and accountability policies; school choice, including charter schools and inter-district choice; social networks, trust, and school and district improvement; and principal leadership. Finnigan’s research blends perspectives in education, sociology, and political science; employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, including social network analysis; and focuses on schools serving low-income students and students of color in urban communities. 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 Educational Administration, Journal of School Choice, Urban Review, and Education Policy Analysis Archives. Her research also has been featured in practitioner-oriented publications, including School Business Affairs and District Administration magazines. Finnigan has published two edited books: Using Research Evidence in Education: From the Schoolhouse Door to Capitol Hill (Springer) and Thinking and Acting Systemically: Improving School Districts Under Pressure (American Educational Research Association).
Finnigan’s research focuses on low-performing schools and districts and organizational learning; school improvement under sanction; access, opportunity, and outcomes for students of color participating in inter-district choice; parents’ responses to and involvement in the governance of choice policies; district reform; accountability policies; and the role of districts and states in school improvement. Her current studies include:
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Understanding Social Network Structure in Schools Under Corrective Action: A Longitudinal Comparative Analysis of Research Use and Diffusion in Urban Districts (Funded by the William T. Grant Foundation)
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The Role of Social Networks in Organizational Learning in the Chicago Public Schools: Examining the Quantity and Quality of Educational Leaders’ Social Ties (Funded by the Spencer Foundation)
- Investigating the Potential of Regional Collaboratives to Address Inequality and Isolation in Education (Funded by the Ford Foundation).
Publications Available on the Web
- Thinking and Acting Systemically: Improving School Districts Under Pressure
- Thinking and Acting Systemically: Improving School Districts Under Pressure (Teachers College Record Book Review)
- What's the Use of Education Research?: Finnigan and Daly in the Wake of ESSA (Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy Book Review)
Reports Created for Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI)
Profile 1: Individuals At or Below the Poverty Level
Profile 2: Low Income (200% of Poverty Level)
Profile 3: Non-Working Poor (Below 100% of Poverty Level)
YouTube Videos
AERA Ed-Talk: Failing Systems, Complex Fix
New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Day 2 (Kara Finnigan's testimony begins at 1:03:33) - READ: Finnigan Written Testimony
Research Projects
Research Evidence in Struggling Schools
Urban-Suburban Student Transfer Program Study
Research Evidence in Struggling Schools
Urban-Suburban Student Transfer Program Study
In the News
- 11/19/2021Kara Finnigan discusses how administrative turnover impacts school districts on WXXI Connections
- 11/11/2021Study links K-12 leadership churn to decline in research use in districts
- 7/12/2021Professor Kara Finnigan named editor-chief of AERA Open
- 7/30/2020Virtual Lecture | Pursuing Equity in Education, Health, and Social Policy
- 3/17/2020CANCELED: Confronting the Impact of Segregated Schooling Through Policy and Curricular Change
- 3/03/2020From the University to the Community: Fostering an Inclusive Climate Around Community Engagement
- 10/30/2019Phelps Colloquium (Featuring Presenter Kara Finnigan): How Do We "Fix" Urban Schools? Moving Beyond Tests, Takeover, and Other Policy Tools
- 9/29/2019Kara Finnigan Writes About the Root Causes of a School District in Crisis in the Democrat & Chronicle
- 7/16/2019Kara Finnigan Testimony: Civil Rights Impact on Education Funding in New York
- 6/11/2019Kara Finnigan on Urban-Suburban Program in Democrat & Chronicle
- 6/10/2019Democrat & Chronicle Guest Essay on Desegregation of Monroe County Schools Features Kara Finnigan's Book
- 4/04/2019Warner School Takes Part in the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting in Toronto
- 3/13/2019Wednesday Lunch Hour - Strategies for Identifying (and Attaining) Funding to Support Educational Research
- 2/08/2019Kara Finnigan Writes about the Public Education Crisis in the Democrat & Chronicle
- 11/05/2018New Ed Policy book highlights a regional equity approach to tackling urban educational inequality
- 10/17/2018Wednesday Lunch Hour - Striving in Common: A Regional Equity Framework for Urban Schools
- 6/08/2018Kara Finnigan's Research on School Leadership Churn Highlighted in Democrat & Chronicle
- 12/20/2017Grant will support study on improving the use of research evidence in educational systems
- 6/14/2017Kara Finnigan on Leadership Churn in American Educator
- 3/01/2017Education Researchers from Warner Take a Look at Big Data
- 2/01/2017Wednesday Lunch Hour - Social Media 101 for Academics: Venturing Outside of the Comfort Zone to Access Information, Engage Students, and Communicate with Your Research
- 12/05/2016How 'Horton' is a Hook to Talk about Research
- 9/07/2016Ed-Talk by Kara Finnigan: Failing Systems, Complex Fix
- 8/17/2016New Equity Alliance Blog Post Co-Authored by Kara Finnigan
- 8/10/2016Kara Finnigan on Leadership Churn in the Democrat & Chronicle
- 3/21/2016New Book Focuses on the Role of Districts in Leading Complex Educational Reforms for Low-Performing Schools
- 2/02/2016Kara Finnigan on the Role of Segregation in School Failure on Shanker Blog
- 1/20/2016Wednesday Lunch Hour - Ties That Matter: Using Social Network Analysis to Examine the Relationship Between Informal Connections Between Educational Leaders and Research Use
- 1/13/2016Kara Finnigan Contributes to PBS NewsHour Story on Rochester's Urban-Suburban Program
- 10/16/2015Researchers Show How Leadership "Churn" Undermines School Reform
- 8/31/2015Warner Faculty Contribute Opinion Essay in District Administration
- 6/17/2015Warner Professors Take Part in Local Anti-Poverty Program
- 12/03/2014Wednesday Lunch Talk - Bridging the Divide Between Academia and the Rest of the World: Using Social Media, Popular Press, Twitter, and Other Avenues to Inform Policy and Practice
- 11/13/2014New Shanker Institute Blog Post Co-Authored by Kara Finnigan
- 10/28/2014AYPF Webinar with Kara Finnigan - Using Research Evidence in Education
- 8/19/2014Kara Finnigan on the Role of Social Relations in Teacher Evaluation on Shanker Institute Blog
- 7/07/2014Kara Finnigan on the Importance of Relationships in Educational Reform on Shanker Institute Blog
- 5/19/2014New Book Aims to Bridge the Gap Between Research, Policy, and Practice to Support Change in America’s Schools
- 2/05/2014Wednesday Lunch Talk — The Geography of Educational Opportunity: GIS Mapping and Interdistrict Choice
- 2/05/2014Presidential Symposium Tackles Challenges in Rochester City Schools
- 2/04/2014Presidential Symposium: Revitalizing K-12 Education in Rochester
- 10/31/2013Kara Finnigan on School Integration in Democrat and Chronicle
- 10/23/2013Kara Finnigan on the Role of School Boards in the Democrat & Chronicle
- 7/24/2013Bridge Webinar with Kara Finnigan - Organizational Learning and How District and School Leaders Can Use Data for Improvement
- 6/30/2013Kara Finnigan on Urban-Suburban Interdistrict Transfer Program in Democrat and Chronicle
- 2/11/2013Warner Professor Takes Research to Policymakers on Capitol Hill
- 1/09/2013Kara Finnigan Awarded Spencer Foundation Grant to Study Chicago Schools
- 5/31/2012Kara Finnigan on YNN on Low Performing Urban Schools
- 5/30/2012Improving Urban School Reform: Warner Professor Receives Second Award from William T. Grant Foundation
- 11/02/2011Warner Hosts National Research Conference on School District Reform
- 3/24/2011Master's Students Use Real-World Connections to Engage in Education Policy
- 2/07/2011New Academic Partnership Builds Understanding of Interdistrict Collaboratives
- 8/15/2010Warner Professor Earns Tenure and Promotion in 2010
- 11/16/2009Finnigan's Urban School Research Grant Featured in Rochester Business Journal
- 11/16/2009Educational Policy Expert Receives Urban School Improvement Research Grant
- 3/20/2009Warner School Offers New Educational Policy Master's Program
- 9/01/2006Leadership, Thought, and Policy Program Redesigned
- 4/01/2005Finnigan Co-Authors Controversial Charter School Report
- 8/01/2003Warner Welcomes New Faculty, Staff, and Students
Courses
ED541 Program Evaluation Dissertation Seminar I
ED542 Program Evaluation Dissertation Seminar II
ED540 Program Evaluation Dissertation Proposal Seminar
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)
ED412 Sociology of Education
EDE528 Advanced Applications of Qualitative Research Methods for Social Science Research
ED537 Introduction to Social Network Theory, Methods, and Research Applications