About me
Dr. Andrea K. Rorrer is the Director of the UEPC and a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. Andrea, who has 35 years of experience in education, received her master’s degree at the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Before receiving her Ph.D., her professional experiences in education included serving as a policy analyst and a research associate in Texas, as a school administrator (i.e., principal and assistant principal), and as a teacher in Virginia. Her professional experience in the field was spent primarily working in high-need classrooms and schools, including alternative school settings. She has extensive experience (22 years) working with local and state leaders and decision makers, including the promotion and use of research to inform decisions and improvement and building research and practice partnerships to increase access to information and resources. Her professional areas of expertise include leadership; continuous improvement; policy development, implementation, analysis, and evaluation; research utilization; strategic planning; professional learning; and organizational and systems change. Her collaborative research and evaluation projects utilize both qualitative and quantitative methods. Her research, teaching, and mentoring, including her published scholarship in journal articles, book chapters, and policy reports, reflects her focus on educational transformation. Andrea’s research and practice has been recognized in the field for its rigor, relevance, and impact (e.g., American Education Research Association, Division A Education Administration 2001 Dissertation Award for dissertation Leadership and Equity: From Reproduction to Reconstruction: An Institutional Analysis; University Council for Educational Administration Jack A. Culbertson Award for outstanding contributions to the field as an early-career professor, the College of Education Research Award; 2020 UCEA Master Professor Award, 2024 University of Utah’s College of Education Faculty Teaching Award). In collaboration with Dr. Cori Groth, Andrea co-developed the leadership learning series within the UEPC to provide professional learning and coaching to educational leaders to ensure excellence and equity in education for all students and the educators who support them. She is also the co-director of the INSPIRE Leadership Collaborative, a national, multi-institutional research and development team that provides valid and reliable tools to support leadership preparation programs, districts, and schools to improve leadership learning and practice.
