Saroja Warner

Overview

Saroja Warner (she/her) is a national expert in increasing the diversity of the educator workforce and in culturally responsive, sustaining, and equitable teaching, leading, and school cultures. As Senior Director of the Culturally Responsive Systems team, Warner provides strategic leadership for WestEd’s technical assistance, research, and policy initiatives with state education agencies, district leaders, and educators, with a focus on developing and retaining a diverse, culturally responsive educator workforce and enhancing the use of policies and practices that promote equitable learning outcomes for all students.

Warner has extensive experience leading comprehensive centers as the former co-director of both the Region 2 Comprehensive Center (R2CC) and the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center. Since 2019, she has led WestEd’s efforts in Connecticut through the R2CC, supporting districts in developing strategic plans to increase educator diversity in compliance with Connecticut Public Act 23-167. The state has since reported increases in the number of educators of color. Warner also wrote a resource brief for the National Charter School Resource Center to promote educator diversity and authored two chapters in Transformational Leadership for Rapid School Improvement.

Prior to joining WestEd, Warner was Director of Educator Workforce Initiatives at the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), where she led the Network for Transforming Educator Preparation (NTEP), a collaborative effort among 15 states to enhance educator preparation. Participating states changed educator preparation policies and practices to ensure every teacher entered the profession learner ready. She also initiated a national program with 9 states to promote educator diversity and culturally responsive practices, authoring an anchor paper, A Vision and Guidance for a Diverse and Learner-Ready Teacher Workforce. Warner is a nationally board-certified social studies teacher.

Education

• PhD in teacher education and professional development, University of Maryland, College Park
• Graduate Certificate in administration and supervision, Johns Hopkins University
• MEd, with Secondary Social Studies Certification, University of Maryland, College Park 
• BA in history and Black studies, summa cum laude, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Select Publications

Warner, S. R. (2024). Culturally responsive schools start with culturally responsive leaders. In K. Perks (Ed.), Transformational leadership for rapid school improvement (pp. 23–35). Teachers College Press.

Warner, S., Jacobs, J., & Neri, R. C. (2023). Essential characteristics of math curriculum materials that advance culturally responsive and sustaining education. WestEd.

Warner, S. (2022). Going beyond the data in diversifying the teacher workforce. Comprehensive Center Network.

Warner, S., & Larbi-Cherif, A. (2022). Educator diversity matters: Strategies for charter leaders to recruit, hire, and sustain teachers of color. National Charter School Resource Center.

Warner, S. R., Allen, M., & Coble, C. (2020). Improving teacher preparation: The promise, challenges, and research needs of state accountability systems. In J. E. Carinci, C. Jackson, & S. J. Meyer, (Eds.), Linking teacher preparation program design and implementation to outcomes for teachers and students (pp. 1–31). Information Age Publishing.

Warner, S. R. (2019, April). Beyond Brown v. Board: Building culturally responsive schools. ASCD Express, 13(23).

Warner, S. R., & Duncan, E. (2019). A vision and guidance for a diverse and learner-ready teacher workforce. Council of Chief State School Officers.

Honors, Awards, and Affiliations

Member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ Certification Council (2019–Present)

Member of the CALDER Policy Council (2018–Present)

Member of Northwest Evaluation Association’s (NWEA) Assessment Literacy Taskforce (2015–2018)