\nAfter teaching in both public and private schools for a number of years, Dr. Ingersoll obtained a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. From 1995 to 2000 he was a faculty member in the Sociology Department at...\nAfter teaching in both public and private schools for a number of years, Dr. Ingersoll obtained a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. From 1995 to 2000 he was a faculty member in the Sociology Department at the University of Georgia. Currently he is the Board of Overseers Professor of Education and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Areas of Expertise Dr. Ingersoll's research is concerned with the character of elementary and secondary schools as workplaces, teachers as employees and teaching as a job. He has published over 100 articles, reports, chapters, and essays on topics such as: the management and organization of schools; accountability and control in schools; teacher supply, demand, shortages and turnover; induction and mentoring for beginning teachers; teacher preparation and teacher quality; the problem of underqualified teachers; the status of teaching as a profession; and changes in the demographic character of the teaching force.
Awards Dr. Ingersoll has received a number of awards, including: the Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Teaching from the University of Georgia in 1999; the Harry Braverman Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems for his work on organizational control and accountability in schools in 1992; an American Educational Research Association Fellowship; the National Award of Distinction from the Penn Education Alumni Association in 2004; the Outstanding Writing Award from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education for his book, Who Controls Teachers’ Work? Power and Accountability in America’s Schools, published by Harvard University Press in 2003. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association in 2009. He was selected as Outstanding Researcher in 2012 by the Association of Teacher Educators, received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 from the Organizational Theory Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association, and was selected as the recipient of the Teacher-Powered Schools Initiative Advancements in Research Award in 2015 by Education Evolving -- a national organization devoted to reforming and redesigning public schools. In 2016, Dr. Ingersoll was inducted as a member of the Laureate Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education.
Public Recognition Dr. Ingersoll’s research is nationally recognized, was cited by President Clinton in a number of speeches announcing his teacher recruitment and training initiatives, influenced the No Child Left Behind Act, and has been featured in numerous major education reports, including those published by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, the Education Trust, the Alliance for Excellence in Education, the National Governors' Association, the international Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. From 2005 to 2007, Professor Ingersoll served on a National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee evaluating National Board teacher certification.
Dr. Ingersoll has given more than 250 keynote addresses, speeches and presentations to a wide variety of audiences - researchers, education officials, school teachers, and the public. He has also been interviewed for several hundred news media stories. In addition, Dr. Ingersoll has been invited to make numerous presentations to local, state and federal legislative and policymaking groups. These include: the Aspen Institute's Education Policy Program for Members of Congress; the Congressional Hearings on Teacher Preparation Initiatives held by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education and the Workforce; the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, chaired by Senator John Glenn; the Science and the Congress Briefing; the Congressional Research Service's seminar for new members of Congress, sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives; the Council of the City of New York; and official education commissions in dozens of states.\n
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