NCID-1866
Chris A. Torres
Assistant Professor of K-12 Educational Administration
University of Michigan
Education/Degree:
1 Teaching and Learning (New York University)
About
Chris Torres is an Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership in the University of Michigan’s School of Education. He is a qualitative researcher interested in how leadership and policy can stabilize and strengthen school improvement efforts and teaching as a profession. Prior to joining the University of Michigan Chris was a professor of Educational Leadership at Michigan State University and Montclair State University, and he worked in New York City as a K-2 teacher, grade chair, teacher mentor, mentor teacher trainer, teacher educator, school board chair, and in the central office designing teacher hiring and leadership development systems.
Current Work
Current research looks at how teachers perceive the school context and working conditions at "No Excuses" and CMO charter schools, and how these experiences inform their decisions to teach at, stay in, and leave their classroom teaching positions. In particular, this work examines how school leaders influence teacher commitment and turnover in light of the organizational practices, priorities, and values of No Excuses charter school models.Dr. Torres' research occasionally integrates quantitative methods but primarily employs qualitative methods to understand the complexity behind teacher mobility patterns and to provide insight on how and why teachers make their career decisions. Dr. Torres is also interested in how principals mediate inter-personal relationships and relational trust between school stakeholders, the differences between different charter school types, and how these differences relate to school and teacher effectiveness, teacher education and new forms of teacher development, urban principal turnover and career decisions, and issues related to teacher autonomy and the professionalization of teaching.
Research Area Keyword(s)
public policy, urban education