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Faculty Bio

BIOGRAPHY

Ralph Fessler joined Johns Hopkins University in 1983 as a professor and Director of the Graduate Division of Education. He served as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs from 1993 until being appointed Interim Dean of the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education in 1999 and Dean in 2000. In January of 2007 when the School of Professional Studies divided into separate Business and Education Schools, he became the inaugural Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Education.

Fessler has been involved in numerous partnership projects with school systems, with a particular emphasis on the implementation of teacher education reform initiatives in Maryland that were designed by a commission he chaired. He was the principal investigator of a comprehensive alternative urban teacher education reform project, and worked with faculty and external partners to establish the Center for Technology in Education, and several of Maryland’s earliest professional development schools. He has participated in policy development groups that addressed teacher education and school improvement, most recently serving as co-chair of the Teacher Quality Committee on the Maryland Visionary Panel Project. He has taught graduate courses in teacher development and leadership, supervision, and organizational theory, and has been involved in a number of international initiatives, including projects in Israel, Taiwan, and The Czech Republic.

Faculty CV

EDUCATION

MS (1967) and PhD (1968) at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Completed master's and doctorate in Educational Administration and Supervision with emphases in organizational theory, instructional leadership, and school-community relations.
BS (1964), University of Wisconsin – Madison. Majored in Education and Social Sciences.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, Baltimore, Maryland, 1983 -present
Professor, 1983 - present
Dean, School of Education, January 2007-present
Dean, School of Professional Studies in Business and Education, 1999 –2006
Director, Graduate Division of Education, 1983 - 1999
Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins, served in a variety of faculty and administrative roles in the University of Wisconsin System and as a public school teacher in Illinois and Wisconsin.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Teacher career stages
• Developmental approaches to teacher and leadership development
• Impact of quality alternative programs in teacher education and leadership development

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

In addition to core dean responsibilities, working on proposal to develop a principal leadership academy, serving on steering committee of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, supporting leadership exploration program for young faculty, and partnering with regional universities to examine the changing roles of schools of education in the 21st century.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Fessler, R. & Rice, E. Teacher Career Stages and Professional Development (In Press)
International Encyclopedia of Education. 2d Ed. Elsevier

Fessler, R., & Ingram, R. L. C. (2003). The teacher career cycle revisited: New realities-new responses. In B. Davies, J. West-Burnham, & P. Collarbone (Eds.), The handbook of educational leadership and management (pp. 584-590). London: Pearson Education.

Ingram, R., & Fessler, R. (1997, Fall). Innovative programs for teacher leadership: A new approach to continuing professional development. Action in Teacher Education, 19(3), 95-106. Association of Teacher Educators.

Clemson-Ingram, R., & Fessler, R. (1997, Spring). The Maryland redesign of teacher education: A commitment to system reform. Action in Teacher Education, 19(1), 1-15. Association of Teacher Educators.

Fessler, R. (1995). Dynamics of teacher career stages. In T. R. Guskey & M. Huberman (Eds.), Professional development in education (pp. 171-192). New York: Teachers College Press.

Fessler, R., & Ungaretti, A. (1995). Expanding opportunities for teacher leadership. In D. R. Walling (Ed.), Teachers as leaders: Perspectives on the professional development of teachers (pp. 211-222). Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

Burke, P. J., & Fessler, R. (1994, Spring). The changing role of supervision in site-based management. In R. J. Krajewski (Ed.), Supervision: New roles for all (pp. 41-48). Madison, WI: Wisconsin Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Kremer-Hayon, L., Vonk, H., & Fessler, R. (Eds.). (1993). Teacher professional development. Amsterdam: Zwets & Zeitlinger.

Fessler, R., & Christensen, J. (Lead Authors and Eds.). (1992). Teacher career cycle: Understanding and guiding the professional development of teachers. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

McPartland, J., & Fessler, R. (1992). Staffing patterns. Encyclopedia of educational research, 6(4), 1252-1259. New York: Macmillan.

Kremer-Hayon, L., & Fessler, R. (1992, January). The inner world of school principals: Reflections on career life stages. International Review of Education, 30(1), 35-45. Netherlands: Unesco Institute of Education and Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Fessler, R. (1990). The teacher as leader. In P. Burke, R. Heideman, & C. Heideman (Eds.), Programming for staff development: Fanning the flame (pp. 57-67). London: Falmer Press.