Andrew Calvin Porter (born July 10, 1942) is the former
Dean
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* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
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of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
Graduate School of Education and also serves as Penn GSE's George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education. Porter is an
educational psychologist
An educational psychologist is a psychologist whose differentiating functions may include diagnostic and psycho-educational Psychological evaluation, assessment, psychological counseling in educational communities (students, teachers, parents, ...
and
psychometrician
Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally refers to specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and ...
who has made significant contributions to
education policy
Education policy consists of the principles and policy decisions that influence the field of education, as well as the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. Education governance may be shared between the local ...
and has published widely on educational assessment and accountability, teacher decisions on content and how curriculum policy effects those decisions, opportunities for students to learn and achievement indicators, measuring content and standards alignment, teacher professional development, educational research methodology, and leadership assessment. Porter's current work centers on the
VAL-ED project, a research-based evaluation tool that measures the effectiveness of school leaders by providing a detailed assessment of a principal's performance funded by the
US Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
/IES. Porter also works on two projects funded by the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
that focus on the effects of teacher professional development on improving teaching and learning.
Porter is a former president of the
American Educational Research Association
The American Educational Research Association (AERA, pronounced "A-E-R-A") is a professional organization representing education researchers in the United States and around the world. AERA's mission is to advance knowledge about education and p ...
(2001) and was elected a member of the National Academy of Education in 1994, where he has served as vice president since 2005. He is a Lifetime National Associate of the National Academies and is a present or past member of a dozen scholarly editorial and advisory boards, including ''American Educational Researcher'', ''Educational Researcher'', ''
Teachers College Record
''Teachers College Record'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal of education that was established in 1900. It is published by EdLab at Teachers College, Columbia University. The journal also "pre-publishes" papers online, and curates spec ...
'', and the ''Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness''. Porter is the co-author of 42 book chapters, 70 scholarly articles, dozens of technical reports, and one book.
From 1967 to 1988, Porter was a faculty member at
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
, where he co-directed the Institute for Research on Teaching and served as associate dean for Research and Graduate Study. During this time, he also served as a visiting scholar at the National Institute of Education, where he created and was first chief of the Methodology and Measurement Division and later served as the associate director in charge of the Basic Skills Group. In 1988 Porter became the Anderson-Bascon professor of Educational Psychology at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
, where he directed the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. In 2003, he joined the faculty of
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
and served as the Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations in the Peabody College of Education and Human Development and served as the director of Vanderbilt's Learning Sciences Institute.
Porter holds a B.S. in education from
Indiana State University
Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...
(1963) and an M.S. (1965) and Ph.D. (1967) in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
References
External links
Penn GSEAndy Porter, Penn GSEAndy PorterVAL-ED
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Andrew C.
1942 births
Living people
Academics from Pennsylvania
21st-century American psychologists
Indiana State University alumni
Michigan State University faculty
University of Pennsylvania faculty
University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty
University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education alumni
Vanderbilt University faculty
20th-century American psychologists