Professional Biography
Dr. Grossman is a leading expert in teacher preparation, teacher quality, and teacher professional development. A former high school English teacher, Dr. Grossman is at the forefront of rethinking how teachers are educated and studying the connections between the support they receive, the quality of their classroom practice, the likelihood they remain in teaching, and student learning.
Pam Grossman is Professor of Education in the Learning, Teaching, and Literacies division at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She served as Dean of the School from January 2014 to July 2023. A distinguished scholar, she came to Penn from Stanford University’s School of Education, where she was the Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Education. At Stanford she founded and led the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching and established the Hollyhock Fellowship for early career teachers in underserved schools. Before joining Stanford, she was the Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Washington.
Dr. Grossman’s research focuses on the preparation of teachers and other professionals and issues of instructional quality, particularly in English Language Arts. Her most recent work examines practice-based teacher education and the role of core practices of teaching in teacher preparation and professional development. She has authored or edited five books including her most recent co-authored book, Core Practices for Project-Based Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders (Harvard Education Press, 2021). Grossman has served on numerous boards and executive committees for professional organizations and foundations, including the American Educational Research Association, the Spencer Foundation, and the Carnegie Foundation of Advancement of Teaching. She currently serves as Vice President of the National Academy of Education.
- Ph.D. (Curriculum and Teacher Education) Stanford University, 1988
- Ed.S. (Evaluation) Stanford University, 1988
- M.A. (Instructional Research and Curriculum Design) University of California, Berkeley, 1981
- B.A. (English) Yale University, 1975
- English education
- Literacy
- Literature
- Professional/staff development
- Teacher community
- Teacher education and certification
The Systemic Formative Assessment to Promote Mathematics Learning in Urban Elementary Schools is a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to focus on developing, implementing, refining, and testing a systemic support model to strengthen implementation of the Ongoing Assessment Project (OGAP) mathematics intervention in elementary schools in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). It seeks to deepen implementation through the introduction of supports, tools, and resources for school leaders that will be co-developed in a research practice partnership with the SDP and the Philadelphia Educational Research Consortium.
A partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, Neighborhood Network 2 (West Philadelphia) will build capacity in mathematics instruction and achievement in grades 3-8. Funded by the Carl Haas Foundation & the William Penn Foundation, this project leverages established research and practice relationships between the SDP & Penn GSE’s CPRE in the use of formative assessment in mathematics improvement.
Research Interests and Current Projects
Dr. Grossman studies teacher and professional education, teacher knowledge, and the teaching of English in secondary schools. Her widely cited articles have appeared in Teachers College Record, American Educational Research Journal, Educational Researcher, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, among others.
In one highly regarded study, she investigated how clergy, teachers, and clinical psychologists are prepared for the demands of professions that require establishing quality relationships with the people they serve. She also served as co-principal investigator of a five-year study of pathways into teaching in New York City schools, focusing on the features of preparation that affect student achievement.
Her more recent work considers the classroom practices of middle school English teachers that are associated with student achievement. As part of this research, she helped develop the Protocol for English Language Arts Teaching Observation (PLATO) instrument, which has been used in the Measures of Effective Teaching project. Her latest study, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, examines a professional development model that uses PLATO as a tool for instructional improvement.
Dr. Grossman’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation.
In addition to her research on teacher education, Dr. Grossman is a committed teacher educator and, across her career, has prepared prospective teachers for the many demands of their profession.
Selected Publications
- Christopher Pupik Dean
- Sarah Schneider Kavanagh
- Zachary Herrmann
- Pam Grossman
- Pam Grossman

Core Practices for Project-Based Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders
Harvard Education Press

Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education
Harvard Education Press
Grossman P., Herrmann, Z., Kavanagh, S. S., Pupik Dean, C. G. (2021). Core practices for project-based learning: A guide for teachers and leaders. Harvard Education Press.
Grossman, P. (Ed.) (2018). Teaching core practices in teacher education. Harvard Education Press.
Grossman, P., Cohen, J., Ronfeldt, M., & Brown, L. (2014). The test matters: The relationship between classroom observation scores and teacher value added on multiple types of assessment. Educational Researcher, 43: 293-303.
Grossman, P., Cohen, J., & Brown, L. (2014). Understanding instructional quality in English Language Arts: Variations in the relationship between PLATO and value-added by content and context. In T. Kane, K. Kerr, & R. Pianta (Eds.). Designing teacher evaluation systems: New guidance from the Measures of Effective Teaching project. John Wiley & Sons.
Grossman, P., Loeb, S., Cohen, J., & Wyckoff, J. (2013). Measure for measure: The relationship between measures of instructional practice in middle school English Language Arts and teachers' value-added scores. American Journal of Education, 119(3), 445-470.
Hill, H. & Grossman, P. (2013). Learning from teacher evaluations: Challenges and opportunities. Harvard Education Press, 371-384.
Boyd, D, Grossman, P., Hammerness, K., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Ronfeldt, M. (2012). Recruiting effective math teachers: Evidence from New York City. American Educational Research Journal. 49 (4), 1008-1047.
Grossman, P., Loeb, S., Myung, J., Boyd, D., Lankford, H., & Wyckoff, J., (2012). Learning to teach in New York City: How teachers and schools jointly determine the implementation of a district-wide mentoring program. In A.C. Porter, T. M. Smith, & L. M. Desmione (Eds.). National Society for the Study of Education Yearbook, 111(2).
Grossman, P. & Davis, E. (2012, May). Mentoring that Fits. Educational Leadership.
Grossman, P., Ronfeldt, M., & Cohen, J. (2011). The power of setting: The role of field experience in learning to teach. In S. Graham, K. Harris, & T. Urdan (Eds.), APA Educational Psychology Handbook. American Psychological Association.
Grossman, P. & Brown, M. (2011). Professional expertise: Rethinking the MA degree for teachers. In D. Drury & J. Baer (Eds.), The American public school teacher: Past, present future. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Ing, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., O'Brien, R., Wyckoff, J. (2011). The effectiveness and retention of teachers with prior career experience. Economics of Education Review, 30, issue 6, pp. 1229 – 1241
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Ing, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2011). The influence of school administrators on teacher retention decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 48, 303-333.
Grossman, P., Loeb, S., Cohen, J., Hammerness, K., Wyckoff, J., Boyd, D., & Lankford, H. (2010, May). Measure for Measure: The relationship between measures of instructional practice in middle school English Language Arts and teachers' value-added scores. NBER Working Paper No. 16015. http://www.nber.org/papers/w16015
Grossman, P. & Loeb, S. (2010). Learning from multiple routes. Educational Leadership, 67 (8), 22-27.
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2009). Teacher education and student achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31(4), 416-440.
Grossman, P., Compton, C., Igra, D., Ronfeldt, M., Shahan, E., Williamson, P. (2009). Teaching practice; A cross-professional perspective. Teachers College Record. 111 (9), 2055-2100.
Grossman, P., Hammerness, K., McDonald, M. (2009). Redefining teacher: Re-imagining teacher education. Teachers and teaching: Theory and practice, 15(2), 273-290.
Ronfeldt, M. & Grossman, P.(2009). Becoming a professional: Experimenting with possible selves in professional preparation. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(3), 41-60.
Valencia, S. Martin, S., Place, N., & Grossman, P. (2009). Complex interactions in student teaching: Lost opportunities for learning. Journal of Teacher Education, 60 (3), 304-322.
Hatch, T. & Grossman, P. (2009). Learning to look beyond the boundaries of representation: Using technology to examine teaching (Overview for a digital exhibition: Learning from the practice of teaching). Journal of Teacher Education 60 (1), 70-85.
Hatch, T, Sun, C., Grossman, P., Neira, P., & Chang, T. (2009). Learning from the practice of veteran and novice teachers: A digital exhibition. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(1), 68-69. Grossman, P. & Loeb, S. (Eds.) (2008). Taking stock: An examination of alternative certification. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
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