Professional Biography
Dr. Brody earned her doctorate in educational leadership. Over the past 6 years, Dr. Brody has served as educational consultant to the Save A Mind Foundation, where she helped develop an effective program to motivate inner-city middle-school students to succeed in school. The Win-Win program has been implemented for over 2,000 students.
Dr. Brody has served as a consultant and presented extensively in the area of leadership for school reform at conferences, and in school districts and corporate settings. She has focused on the topic of building communities of learners in which leaders promote a positive climate for learning, reflective practice, collaborative behaviors, and a process of ongoing inquiry. As assistant superintendent in the suburban district of Springfield, Pennsylvania, Dr. Brody worked to strengthen the curriculum, instruction, assessment, staff development, and personnel functions of the schools. Dr. Brody also served as regional superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia, where she provided leadership for 36 urban schools. She expanded her leadership for supervising principals by developing a performance appraisal system for the entire district.
Prior to receiving her doctorate, Dr. Brody was a social studies teacher in Philadelphia. During her varied teaching career, she helped develop several innovative programs, including the Middle Years Alternative School for the Humanities, which is located in West Philadelphia and promotes an inter-disciplinary curriculum.
Dr. Brody has served Penn GSE in several roles. She helped create and served as director of the Educational Leadership Program for Aspiring Principals (ELPAP). A unique protocol for school visits, called The Focused Observation, was inaugurated to promote joint learning experiences for school faculties and aspiring school leaders. Currently, Dr. Brody is an instructor in the School Leadership Program. She has represented the program in a variety of regions, including the East China Normal University in Shanghai, China. Using a model developed at Penn GSE, Dr. Brody has led programs for current school leaders, both in the United States and abroad. She also co-led school leadership study trips to the United Kingdom and New Zealand. For several years, she also taught in the mid-career doctorate program, helping develop these school leaders as well.
