Cynthia Coburn

Biography

Cynthia E. Coburn is the Margaret Walker Alexander Professor in the School of Education and Social Policy. Coburn studies the relationship between instructional policy and teachers’ classroom practices in urban schools, the dynamics of school district policy making, and the relationship between research and policy in education. She has won numerous awards for her scholarship and teaching, including the American Educational Research Association Early Career Award (2011), election as a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (2015), an honorary doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa) from CU Louvain in Belgium (2019), election to the National Academy of Education (2020), Northwestern University’s Ver Steeg Distinguished Research Fellowship (2020), and Northwestern University’s Charles Deering McCormick Professorship of Teaching Excellence (2021). In 2025, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Prior to graduate school, Coburn worked for a national non-profit organization that sought to support poor and minoritized communities in pushing for improvement in their local schools. Coburn has a BA in philosophy from Oberlin College, and a MA in Sociology and a PhD in Education from Stanford University.

Education

• PhD, Education, Stanford University, 2001
• MA, Sociology, Stanford University, 1997
• BA, Philosophy, Oberlin College, 1989

Selected Awards and Honors

• 2025  Elected Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2021-2024  Charles Deering McCormick Professorship of Teaching Excellence, Northwestern University
• 2020  Dorothy Ann and Clarence L. Ver Steeg Distinguished Research Fellowship, Northwestern University
• 2020  Elected Member, National Academy of Education
• 2019  Doctor Honoris Causa (Honorary Doctoral Degree), Faculty of Psychology and Education and the Psychological Sciences Research Institute, UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
• 2015  Elected Fellow, American Educational Research Association, honoring “exceptional contributions to and excellence in educational research”
• 2011  Early Career Award, in recognition of a distinguished portfolio of cumulative research within the first decade of career, American Educational Research Association 
• 2008  Albert J. Harris Award for outstanding research contribution to the understanding of prevention or assessment of reading or learning disabilities, International Reading Association
• 2007  Outstanding Reviewer Award, American Educational Research Journal-Social and Institutional Analysis
• 2006  Palmer O. Johnson Award for outstanding scholarship in an AERA journal, American Educational Research Association
• 2002  Dissertation Award, Division L (Politics and Policy), American Educational Research Association

Selected Publications

*=undergraduate student, graduate student, or postdoctoral fellow at time of writing

Bohannon, A. X.*, Coburn, C. E., & Spillane, J. P. (2024). Research hidden in plain sight: Theorizing latent use as a form of research use. American Educational Research Journal, 61(3), 610–641. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312241237455

Bohannon, X.A.* & Coburn, C. E. (2023). Cascading webs of interdependence: Examining how and when coordinated change happens in a district central office partnership. Journal of Educational Change, 24(4), 1025–1052. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-023-09478-6

Stein, M. A.* & Coburn, C. E. (2023). Instructional policy from pre-K to third grade: The challenges of fostering alignment and continuity in two school districts. Educational Policy, 37(3), 840–872. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211058441

Whyte, K. L.* & Coburn, C. E. (2022). Understanding kindergarten readiness. Elementary School Journal, 123(2), 344–361. https://doi.org/10.1086/721773

Handsman, E.,* Farrell, C. C. & Coburn, C. E. (2022). Solving for X: Constructing algebra policy during a time of change. Sociology of Education, 95(3), 216–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380407221087479

Farrell, C. C., Penuel, W. R., Allen, A-R, Anderson, E.,* Bohannan, X. A.,* Coburn, C. E., & Brown, S.* (2022). Learning at the boundaries of research and practice: A framework for understanding research–practice partnerships. Educational Researcher, 51(3), 197–208. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X211069073

Huguet, A., Coburn, C. E., Farrell, C. F., Kim, D. H. & Allen, A-R. (2021). Constraints, values, and information: How district leaders justify their positions during instructional deliberations. American Educational Research Journal, 58(4), 710-747. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831221993824

Wong, L-S., Coburn, C. E. & Kamel, A. (2020). How central office leaders influence school leaders' decision-making: Unpacking power dynamics in two school-based decision-making systems. Peabody Journal of Education, 95(4), 392–407. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2020.1800175
Winner, Outstanding Publication Award, Districts in Research and Reform Special Interest Group, American Educational Research Association

Farrell, C. C., Harrison, C.,* & Coburn, C. E. (2019). "What the hell is this and who the hell are you?": Role negotiation in research-practice partnerships. AERA Open, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419849595

Morel, R. P., Coburn, C. E., Catterson, A. K., & Higgs, J.* (2019). The multiple meanings of scale: Implications for researchers and practitioners. Educational Researcher, 48(6), 369-377. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19860531

Farrell, C. C., Coburn, C. E. & Chong, S.* (2018). Under what conditions do school districts learn from external partners? The role of district absorptive capacity. American Education Research Journal, 56(3), 955-994. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218808219
Finalist for Outstanding Publication Award, Special Interest Group on District Research and Reform, American Educational Research Association

Penuel, W. R., Farrell, C. C., Allen, A-R, Toyama, Y.* & Coburn, C. E. (2018). What research district leaders find useful. Educational Policy, 32(4), 540-568. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904816673580

Morel R. P.* & Coburn, C. E. (2018). Access, activation, and influence: How brokers mediate social capital among professional development providers. American Education Research Journal, 56(2), 247-288. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218788528 [lead article]

Whyte, K. L., Stein, M. A., Kim, D.*, Jou, N. & Coburn, C. E. (2018). Mathematics in early childhood: Teacher educators' accounts of their work. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 39(3), 213-231. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2017.1388306

Farrell, C. C.* & Coburn, C. E. (2017). Absorptive capacity: A conceptual framework for understanding district central office learning. Journal of Educational Change, 18(2), 135-159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-016-9291-7

Huguet, A., Allen, A-R., Coburn, C. E., Farrell, C. C., Kim, D. H. & Penuel, W. R. (2017). Locating data use in the microprocesses of district-level deliberations. Nordic Journal of Studies in Education, 3(1), 21-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2017.1314743

Stipek, D., Clements, D., Coburn, C. E., Franke, M. & Farran, D. (2017). PK-3: What does it mean for instruction? Social Policy Report, 30(2), 1-22.

Coburn, C. E. (2016). What's policy got to do with it? How the structure-agency debate can illuminate policy implementation. American Journal of Education, 122(3), 465-475. https://doi.org/10.1086/685847

Coburn, C. E., Hill, H. C., & Spillane, J. P. (2016). Alignment and accountability in policy design & implementation: The Common Core State Standards and implementation research. Educational Researcher, 45(4), 243-251. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X16651080

Coburn, C. E. & Penuel, W. R. (2016). Research-practice partnerships: Outcomes, dynamics, and open questions. Educational Researcher, 45(1), 48-54. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X16631750

Penuel, W. R., Allen, A-R, Coburn, C. E., & Farrell, C. C.* (2015). Conceptualizing research-practice partnerships as continuous joint work at the boundaries. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 20(1-2), 182-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2014.988334

Coburn, C. E., Mata, W.* & Choi, L.* (2013). The embeddedness of teachers' social networks: Evidence from mathematics reform. Sociology of Education, 86(4), 311-342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040713501147

Coburn, C. E., Russell, J. L., Kaufman, J. & Stein, M. K. (2012) Supporting sustainability: Teachers' advice networks and ambitious instructional reform. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 137-182. https://doi.org/10.1086/667699

Coburn, C. E. & Turner, E. O.* (2012). The practice of data use: An introduction. American Journal of Education, 118(2) 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1086/663272

Turner, E. O.* & Coburn, C. E. (2012). Interventions to promote data use: An introduction. Teachers College Record. 114(11) 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811211401107

Coburn, C. E. & Woulfin, S. L.* (2012). Reading coaches and the relationship between policy and practice. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(1), 5-30. https://doi.org/10.1002/RRQ.008 [lead article]

Coburn, C. E. & Turner, E. O.* (2011). Research on data use: A framework and analysis. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 9(4), 173-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/15366367.2011.626729 [lead article]

Coburn C. E. & Turner, E. O.* (2011). Putting the "use" back in data use: An outsider's contribution to the measurement community's conversation about data. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 9(4), 227-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/15366367.2011.634653

Coburn, C. E., Toure, J.,* & Yamashita, M.* (2009). Evidence, interpretation, and persuasion: Instructional decision making at the district central office. Teachers College Record, 111(4), 1115-1161.

Coburn, C. E., Bae, S.,* & Turner, E. O.* (2008). Authority, status, and the dynamics of insider-outsider partnerships at the district level. Peabody Journal of Education, 83(3), 364-399. https://doi.org/10.1080/01619560802222350

Coburn, C. E. & Russell, J. L.* (2008). District policy and teachers' social networks. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(3), 203-235. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373708321829 [lead article]

Honig, M. I. & Coburn, C. E. (2008). Evidence-based decision making in school district central offices: Toward a policy and research agenda. Educational Policy, 22(4), 578-608. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807307067

Stein, M. K., & Coburn, C. E. (2008). Architectures for learning: A comparative analysis of two urban school districts. American Journal of Education, 114(4), 583-626. https://doi.org/10.1086/589315

Coburn, C. E. (2006). Framing the problem of reading instruction: Using frame analysis to uncover the microprocesses of policy implementation. American Educational Research Journal, 43(3), 343-379. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312043003343 [lead article]
Awarded the 2008 Albert J. Harris Award for outstanding contribution to scholarship from the International Reading Association

Coburn, C. E. & Talbert, J. E. (2006). Conceptions of evidence use in school districts: Mapping the terrain. American Journal of Education, 112(4), 469-495. https://doi.org/10.1086/505056

Coburn, C. E. (2005). The role of nonsystem actors in the relationship between policy and practice: The case of reading instruction in California. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 27(1), 23-52. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737027001023
Awarded the 2006 Palmer O. Johnson Award for Outstanding Scholarship in an AERA journal, American Educational Research Association

Coburn, C. E. (2005) Shaping teacher sensemaking: School leaders and the enactment of reading policy. Educational Policy, 19(3), 476-509. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904805276143

Coburn, C. E. (2004). Beyond decoupling: Rethinking the relationship between the institutional environment and the classroom. Sociology of Education, 77, 211-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/003804070407700302

Coburn, C. E. (2003). Rethinking scale: Moving beyond numbers to deep and lasting change. Educational Researcher, 32(6), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X032006003 [lead article]

Coburn, C. E. (2001). Collective sensemaking about reading: How teachers mediate reading policy in their professional communities. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23(2), 145-170. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737023002145