ULEAD Director

Utah Leading through Effective, Actionable, and Dynamic Education (ULEAD) Director

Background

Utah Code 53E-1-7 establishes Utah Leading through Effective, Actionable, and Dynamic Education (ULEAD), which is a collaborative effort in research and innovation between the ULEAD director, participating higher education institutions, and education leaders to:

• Initiate and disseminate research reports, as guided by the ULEAD Steering Committee, on innovative  and successful practices by Utah Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and education practitioners 

• Promote statewide innovation and collaboration by identifying experts in areas of practice, conducting conferences, webinars and online forums for practitioners, and facilitating direct collaboration between schools; and

• Gather and explain current education research in an electronic research clearinghouse for use by practitioners;

• Report on findings and propose policy changes to the Board, Legislature, and other policymakers.

Principal Duties

This position is selected for a four-year term by the ULEAD Director Selection Committee, as outlined in state statute (Utah Code Section 53E-10-703). The ULEAD Director may be appointed for multiple terms. Responsibilities include:

• Gather current research on innovative and effective practices in K-12 education for use by policymakers and practitioners, as directed by the ULEAD Steering Committee created in Utah Code Section 53E-10-706.

• Facilitate collaboration between LEAs, higher education researchers, and practitioners by:

  • sharing innovative and effective practices shown to improve student learning;

  • identifying experts in specific areas of practice; and

  • maintaining a research clearinghouse and directory of researchers.

• Analyze barriers to replication or adaption of innovative and successful practices studied by ULEAD or contributed to the ULEAD research clearinghouse.

• Identify Utah LEAs, or schools outside the public school system, that are innovative in specific areas of practice and those that are more effective or efficient than comparable LEAs in improving student learning.

• Prioritize reports and other research based on recommendations of the ULEAD Steering Committee, members of the Legislature responsible for public education, members of Utah professional education associations, including principals and school boards, and policy research centers based in Utah.

• Establish criteria and a report template for “Innovative Practice Reports” to be performed by participating higher education institutions and included in the research clearinghouse.

• Arrange with participating higher education institutions to generate Innovative Practice Reports on effective and innovative K-12 education practices, publish reports of ULEAD website, and disseminate reports to LEAs.

• Support federal and private research funding requests by a participating higher education institution for research that is in support of the director's duties and functions.

• Develop and maintain a research clearinghouse that is publicly available on the ULEAD website that contains:

  • research on K-12 education, including peer-reviewed research, and information on K-12 education innovation and best practices; 

  • an index and explanation of academic, state, federal, or other K-12 education research repositories; 

  • K-12 education research and policy briefs generated by Utah public and private institutions of higher education, including ULEAD-participating institutions, categorized and searchable by topic; 

  • access points to and explanation of currently available K-12 education data, including data managed by the Utah Data Research Center and data maintained by the State Board of Education; 

  • other K-12 education information as determined by the director, including information regarding efforts by institutions or other individuals to promote innovative and effective education practices in Utah; and 

  • each Innovative Practice Report prepared by ULEAD, categorized and searchable by topic, location of the studied LEA, and socioeconomic and demographic profile.

• Facilitate and conduct an annual conference on successful and innovative K-12 education practices, featuring Utah education leaders, practitioners, and researchers, to discuss the subjects of LEA and other ULEAD activities, or other innovative and successful education practices.

• Provide staff support to the ULEAD steering committee.

• Report on research and activities of ULEAD to the State Board of Education, legislative committees, and disseminate the report.

The Ideal Candidate

• Doctorate degree in education or an equivalent degree.

• Have demonstrated experience in research and dissemination of best practices in education.

• Previous successful leadership experience.

• Ability to work with various stakeholders, including elected officials and policymakers.