Richard W. Lemons
Director, Institute for Urban School Improvement
Director, EdD Program

Richard is the Director of the Institute for Urban School Improvement, a research and outreach center dedicated to understanding and building capacity for urban school improvement. The Institute houses the CommPACT Schools Initiative, Accelerated Schools Plus, and ATLAS Communities. In addition to his work at the Institute, Richard is on faculty in the Department of Education Leadership, where he directs and teaches within the Ed.D program. His current research agenda includes educational leadership development, instructional leadership, urban school improvement, change theory, and large-scale instructional improvement.


Over the last several years, Richard has served as the Associate Director of the Change Leadership Group (CLG) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Now full-time at UConn, he continues to collaborate with his CLG colleagues to better understand school transformation and the demands upon educational leaders. Presently CLG is beginning work on a follow-up to the highly influential Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Transforming Our Schools.


In the field of education, Richard has served as a high school teacher, a researcher, and a literacy coach. In addition, he has led summer programs for at-risk youth and served as a change coach for urban high schools. Richard also holds Massachusetts certification as a secondary administrator.


Currently Richard is involved in a number of leadership development projects. He works with the Connecticut Center for School Change and the Fairfield County Community Foundation, in collaboration with urban districts, to design and teach within the Urban School Leaders Fellowship, a new initiative designed to enhance systemic leadership capacity within urban districts.

•Ed.D. Harvard Graduate School of Education; Administration, Planning & Social Policy

•Ed.M. Harvard Graduate School of Education; Administration, Planning & Social Policy

•B.A. North Carolina State University; Political Science

Contact Information: 

Gentry - 408

Phone: (860) 486-6330
Fax: 860-486-4028

Email: richard.lemons@uconn.edu

Mailing Address:
Institute for Urban School Improvement
Neag School of Education
249 Glenbrook Rd
Storrs, CT 06269

Current Courses Taught:

EDLR 422: Inquiry in Educational Leadership I

EDLR 423 Inquiry in Educational Leadership II

EDLR 424: Leadership for Teaching and Learning

EDLR 460: Research Practicum

Associations/Committees/Outreach:

American Educational Research Association

University Council for Educational Administration

Change Leadership Group, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Areas of Expertise:

Educational Leadership

Education Reform

Professional Development and Organizational Change

Secondary Education

School Reform

Urban Education

Achievement Gap

Change Theory

Selected Publications/Presentations:

Lemons, R.W. & Helsing, D. (2009). Learning to Walk; Walking to Learn. Phi Delta Kappan , Vol. 90, No. 07, March 2009, pp. 478-484.

Lemons, R.W. & Helsing, D. (2008) High Quality Teaching and Learning: Do We Know It When We See It. Education Canada, Vol. 48 (5).

Helsing, D. & Lemons, R.W. (2008) Leadership Practice Communities: Improving Learning and Teaching. Leadership September/October.

Garn, G. Sheckley, B., & Lemons, R.W. (2008). Interrogating the EdD: New Directions for Leadership Preparation. School Leadership News AERA Division A: Administration, Organization & Leadership. Issue 21: 3-6.

McCord, R.S., Ellerson, N.M., Jordan, K.F., Jordan, T., Lemons, R.W., Mattocks, T.C., Melver, T., Orr, M. (2008). Impact of the Economic Downturn of Schools. American Association of American School Administrators.

Lemons, R. W. (2008) Team-Based, Network-Delivered Leadership Development: Assets and Liabilities for Learning and Transfer. Paper delivered at the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA). San Diego, CA.

Wagner, T., Kegan, R, Lahey, L., Lemons, R.W., Helsing, D., Garnier, J., Howell, A., Rasmussen, H. (2006). Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools

Lemons, R. W., Luschei, T.F., Siskin, L.S. (2003). Leadership and the Demands of Standards-based Accountability. In The New Accountability: High Stakes and High Schools.