Thomas M. Smith

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Education

Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 2000

Research Area

Sociology of Education and Organizational Effects in Education

Short Biography

Professor Smith has considerable experience in both the federal and international education research community. Between 1991 and 2001, he conducted and managed statistical research activities at the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and, the National Science Foundation (NSF). Much of his work has focused on the development of indicators for education policy making: co-authoring six editions of NCES's annual report to Congress, The Condition of Education, three editions of OECD's comparative indicators report Education at a Glance, and the chapter on K-12 mathematics and science education in the National Science Board's 2002 edition of Science and Engineering Indicators. While at OECD, Professor Smith was a key player in the revision and implementation of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) and other activities to improve the comparability of education data collected cross nationally by OECD and UNESCO. Professor Smith joined the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations in 2001.

Professor Smith's current research agenda focuses on the organization of teaching quality, exploring relationships between educational policy (national, state, district, and school level), school organization, teacher commitment, and the quality of classroom instruction. His current research focuses on 1) the socialization, professionalization, and retention of teachers; 2) the role of school organization, teacher professionalization, and policy on the level and distribution of teaching quality; and 3) the impact of national context and educational policy on within- and between-country variation in instructional quality.

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