Susan Mundry

Overview

Susan Mundry provides strategic leadership for a $160 million portfolio of educational research, development, and technical assistance services at WestEd. She has more than 30 years of experience in the education field leading research and development work addressing professional learning, systems change, educational opportunity for all, and leadership development. She is the author of several best-selling books and a national expert on the design of professional learning for educators.  

From 2017 through 2020, Mundry led a large team of staff and partners in conducting research and developing a comprehensive action plan for a landmark court case, Leandro v. State of North Carolina, which addresses the constitutional right of all North Carolina children to a sound basic education. Mundry and WestEd staff played a significant role in supporting the case, particularly through research, analysis, and policy recommendations. Since then, WestEd’s findings and recommendations have guided the creation of action plans, legislative proposals, and policy discussions across North Carolina, continuing to influence the steps the state takes toward education. 

Mundry is currently working in partnership with Learning Forward (LF) to develop a simulation game that demonstrates the implementation of high-quality professional learning aligned with LF’s Standards for Professional Learning. She also recently directed a subcontract for the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands (REL-NEI) that was responsible for conducting a randomized controlled trial of a math intervention in Massachusetts and data-coaching work in Puerto Rico. Prior to this, for REL-NEI, she directed two IES-published projects on teacher quality: (a) a study of the equitable distribution of teachers and (b) certification requirements for teachers. She also established and coled the Northeast Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance and the Teacher Preparation Research Alliance, a collaboration of states and districts promoting educator effectiveness and improved teacher preparation. 

Previously, Mundry directed the National Academy for Science and Mathematics Education Leadership and conducted several state leadership academies for Illinois, Maine, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, and Washington. Based on this work, she coauthored the award-winning book Leading Every Day: Actions for Effective Leadership, which was named a Learning Forward Book of the Year. Mundry also codeveloped Leading Professional Learning: Building Capacity for Sustained Practice, a simulation game for building communities of practice to improve learning, and coauthored the best-selling book Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics and many other publications. 

Education

• EdM in education leadership and training, Boston University 
• BA in communication studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 

Select Publications

Mandinach, E. B., & Mundry, S. E. (2020). Data-driven decision making and its alignment with educational psychology: Why data are more than student performance results. In S. L. Nichols & D. Varier (Eds.), Teaching on assessment. Information Age Publishing.  

WestEd. (2020). A Sound basic education for all: An action plan for North Carolina. WestEd.  

Kaser, J., Mundry, S., Stiles, K., & Loucks-Horsley, S. (2016). Leading every day: Actions for effective leadership (3rd ed.). Corwin Press   

Stiles, K., Mundry, S., & Bershad, C. (2016). Leading professional learning: Building capacity for sustained effective practice: A simulation game for educators. WestEd.  

Bocala, C., Henry, S. F., Mundry, S., & Morgan, C. (2014). Practitioner data use in schools: Workshop toolkit (REL 2015–043). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory, Northeast & Islands. http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs  

Honors and Awards

Learning Forward’s Susan Loucks-Horsley Award for instilling efficacy in others, collaborating across boundaries, and sustaining impact on the field of professional development.  

WestEd’s Paul D. Hood Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Field for conducting trailblazing work in effective leadership, data use, and professional learning. 

Corwin Press Million Dollar Author Award for exemplifying Corwin’s motto “Helping educators do their work better.” 

National Science Teachers Association recognized for service on NSTA’s professional learning committee.