Penny Bender Sebring

Penny Bender Sebring is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Chicago and Co-Founder of the Consortium on School Research. Sebring has contributed to numerous Consortium publications on school organization, leadership, and students’ participation in digital media. She is a co-author of How a City Learned to Improve Its Schools (Harvard Education Press, 2023) and Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 2010). Previously, she was a Peace Corps volunteer and high school teacher. Penny graduated from Grinnell College and was a long-time member of its Board of Trustees. She received a master’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University, a PhD in Education and Policy Studies from Northwestern University, and an honorary doctorate from Grinnell. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Public Education Fund and Kids First Chicago and is a member of the Policy Advisory Board of the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern.

Featured Publications

All Publications

Title Type Date Sort ascending
How a City Learned to Improve Its Schools How a City Learned to Improve Its Schools Book Apr 2023
Relational trust in Valparaíso, Chile and Illinois schools Relational trust in Valparaíso, Chile and Illinois schools

Surprising consistency and further questions

Article Nov 2019
A First Look at the 5Essentials in Illinois Schools A First Look at the 5Essentials in Illinois Schools Report Jun 2015
The Five Essential Supports for School Improvement

Mobilizing the Findings

Article Apr 2014
Teens, Digital Media, and the Chicago Public Library Teens, Digital Media, and the Chicago Public Library Report May 2013
The Use of Technology in Chicago Public Schools 2011: Perspectives from Students, Teachers, and Principals The Use of Technology in Chicago Public Schools 2011

Perspectives from Students, Teachers, and Principals

Report Apr 2013
YOUmedia Chicago: Reimagining Learning, Literacies, and Libraries: A Snapshot of Year 1 YOUmedia Chicago

Reimagining Learning, Literacies, and Libraries

Report May 2011
Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago Organizing Schools for Improvement

Lessons from Chicago

Book Jan 2010
CCSR: A New Model for the Role of Research in Supporting Urban School Reform CCSR

A New Model for the Role of Research in Supporting Urban School Reform

Model Paper Feb 2009
CCSR's 2007 Survey Reports for Chicago Public Schools CCSR's 2007 Survey Reports for Chicago Public Schools Report Dec 2007
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