Leadership Institute for School Change

Ellie Drago-Severson is Professor of Education Leadership and Adult Learning & Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. A developmental psychologist, Ellie teaches, conducts research, and consults to leaders and organizations on professional and personal growth and learning; leadership that supports principal, faculty, school, and leadership development; and coaching and mentoring in K–12 schools, university settings, and other adult education contexts. She is also an internationally certified developmental coach (Immunity to Change™) who works with leaders to build internal capacity and achieve individual and organizational goals. Her work is inspired by the idea that schools must be places where adults and children can grow, and she is dedicated to creating the conditions to achieve this and to helping leaders and educators of all kinds to do the same on behalf of supporting adults and youth. She served as lead researcher on the Adult Development Team of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) at Harvard.

At Teachers College, Ellie is director of the PhD Program in Education Leadership, teaches aspiring and practicing principals in Columbia University’s Summer Principal Academy and aspiring superintendents in the Urban Educators Leaders Program, and also coaches principals, assistant principals and teacher leaders in the Cahn Fellows Program for Distinguished Leaders. She is also faculty lead and co-facilitator with Dr. Jessica Blum-DeStefano for the Leadership for School Change developmental Institutes, which are offered at Teachers College to support internal and organizational capacity building.  

Ellie’s work explores the promise of practices that support adult development, leadership development, and capacity building, within schools and across systems. Ellie’s work has been recognized by and supported with awards from the Spencer Foundation, the Klingenstein Foundation, and Harvard Graduate School of Education where she served as Lecturer on Education for eight years. While serving on faculty at Harvard (1997—2005), Ellie was awarded the 2005 Morningstar Award for Excellence in Teaching and a teaching award for excellence at Harvard’s Extension school.  More recently, Ellie received three outstanding teaching awards from Teachers College.  

Ellie is author of the best-selling books Helping Teachers Learn: Principal Leadership for Adult Growth and Development (Corwin, 2004) and Leading Adult Learning: Supporting Adult Development in Our Schools (Corwin/The National Staff Development Council, 2009)—as well as Becoming Adult Learners: Principles and Practices for Effective Development (Teachers College Press, 2004) and Helping Educators Grow: Practices and Strategies for Supporting Leadership Development (Harvard Education Press, 2012). She is also a co-author of Learning for Leadership: Developmental Strategies for Building Capacity in Our Schools (Corwin, 2013), Learning Designs: Reach the Highest Standard of Professional Learning (Corwin, 2014) and Tell Me So I Can Hear You: A Developmental Approach to Feedback for Educators (Harvard Education Press, 2016). Her faculty profile can be found at: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/ed2222/ Her Wordpress: https://dragoseverson.wordpress.com/

Jessica Blum-DeStefano earned her PhD in Education Leadership Teachers College, Columbia University after nine rewarding years as a teacher and school leader in alternative education settings. She teaches at Bank Street College of Education and, for the past seven years, has co-taught adult development with Ellie in the Summer Principals Academy at Teachers College. She is a co-author of Learning for Leadership: Developmental Strategies for Building Capacity in Our Schools (Corwin, 2013) and Tell Me So I Can Hear You: A Developmental Approach to Feedback for Educators (Harvard Education Press, 2016).