Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

Department of Educational Leadership Research and Technology
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5283 USA
(269) 387-3897

Dr. Jianping Shen selected as a Distinguished Grant awardee

Feb. 28, 2017

Image of Dr. Shen
Dr. Jianping Shen, Professor of Education Leadership, Research, and Technology, has been selected as a Distinguished Grant Awardee by the Office of the Vice President of Research’s Research Recognition Committee. This award recognizes principal investigators or co-principal investigators who, in external funding as a PI or co-PI, received $5 million or more over a five-year span. The award was presented to Dr. Shen at the 2017 Spring Convocation which took place February 17.

Dr. Shen received his doctoral degree from University of Washington in Seattle. After his post-doctoral appointment at the University of Washington, he came to WMU in 1996. He is currently the John E. Sandberg Professor of Education and the Gwen Frostic Endowed Chair for Research and Innovation in the Department of Education Leadership, Research and Technology He also directs the Merze Tate Center for Grants and Innovation and the Center for Educational Leadership and Policy.

Shen has taught courses in leadership, theory, policy analysis, research methods, and dissertation seminar, among others. Thirty-two doctoral students have completed their dissertations under his direction and he has also served as a committee member for 39 completed dissertation studies.

His research has focused on leadership theory, data-informed decision making, teacher retention and attrition, alternative certification, and systemic change, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. He has published extensively in English, including six books, more than 80 articles, and about 20 book chapters. His research appears in prestigious journals such as the American Educational Research Journal, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and the American Journal of Education.

Shen has directed or co-directed externally funded projects totaling more that $13 million from the U.S. Department of Education, the Wallace Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Spencer Foundation, among others.