Educational Psychology

Courtney Bell

Professor, Director of Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Learning Sciences Area

cabell4@wisc.edu



Bell, Courtney

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Dr. Courtney A. Bell serves as the Director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) and Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. A former high school science teacher, Courtney earned her doctorate at Michigan State University in Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy and a B.A. in Chemistry at Dartmouth College. Courtney is passionate about understanding and improving teaching for historically underserved children. Her inter-discipline, collaborative work, which spans issues of parental choice, international comparisons of teaching, teaching quality, teacher learning, and the measurement of teaching, is situated at the intersections of research, policy, and practice. She co-edited the 5th Edition of the American Educational Research Association’s Handbook of Research on Teaching and is currently working with colleagues to better understand how teachers learn in the early years of their careers. Courtney collaborated with global teaching experts as a PI on the OECD-organized TALIS Video Study (also called the Global Teaching InSights study). In that study she led the co-development of two observation systems to measure teaching quality in eight economies.

Education

  • PhD Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy, Michigan State University, 2004
  • BA Chemistry, Dartmouth College, 1996

Select Publications

  • Bell, C., Castellano, K. E., & Klieme, E. (2020). Classroom management. Global teaching insights study policy report (Ch. 3) Paris: OECD Online Publication/Abstract.
  • Bell, C., Schweig, J., Castellano, K. E., Klieme, E., & Stecher, B. M. (2020). Instruction. Global teaching insights study policy report (Ch. 5) Paris: OECD Online Publication/Abstract.
  • Bell, C., Klieme, E., & Castellano, K. E. (2020). Social-emotional support. Global teaching insights study policy report (Ch. 4) Paris: OECD Online Publication/Abstract.
  • Bell, C., Qi, Y., Witherspoon, M. W., Howell, H., & Torres, M. B. (2020). The TALIS Video Study observation system. Paris: OECD Online Publication/Abstract.
  • Bell, C., Gitomer, D. H., Savage, C., & McKenna, A. H. (2019). A synthesis of research on and measurement of STEM teacher preparation. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Online Publication/Abstract.
  • Liu, S., Bell, C., Jones, N., & McCaffrey, D. F. (2019). Classroom observation systems in context: A case for the validation of observation systems. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 31(1), 31-61.
  • Sykes, G., Bell, C., & Shukla, B. (2019). Quest for quality: An indicator system for teaching. Online Publication/Abstract.
  • Bell, C., Dobbelaer, M., Klette, K., & Visscher, A. (2018). Qualities of classroom observation systems. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 30(1), 3-29.
  • Bell, C., Jones, N. D., Qi, Y., & Lewis, J. M. (2018). Strategies for assessing classroom teaching: Examining administrator thinking as validity evidence. Educational Assessment, 23(4), 229-249.
  • Gitomer, D. H., & Bell, C. (2016). Handbook of Research on Teaching, 5th Edition. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

Select Presentations

  • Bell, C. (2019, July). Assessing teacher performance through portfolios: Rater training issues. Keynote/Plenary Address presented at the Measurement Center of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (MIDE UC), Santiago, Chile.
  • Bell, C. (2019, June). What we see depends on how we look: The assessment of teaching in socio-cultural context. Keynote/Plenary Address presented at the Quality in Nordic Teaching conference, Oslo, Norway.
  • Bell, C. (2019, April). The use of video. Oral Presentation presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada.
  • Bell, C. (2019, March). Observation system validity and utility. Keynote/Plenary Address presented at the Teaching Quality: Current Issues and Future Directions Conference, Tubingen, Germany.

Select Awards and Honors

  • Outstanding Young Researcher, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut, 2007
  • Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Measurement, American Educational Research Association and Educational Testing Service, 2007
  • Teachers for a New Era Fellowship, University of Connecticut, (2005, 2007)
  • E. Robert Stephens Research Award, Association of Educational Service Agencies, 2005
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award, American Educational Research Association, Div. L, 2005
  • Dissertation Fellowship, Spencer Foundation, (2003, 2004)