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.

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

Journal Editorial Board

Teachers College Record
Editorial Advisory Board