Smith, Robert
PhD, University of Maryland
Associate Professor
George Mason University, Fairfax Campus
Commerce II 207B
4400 University Dr.
MS 4C2
Fairfax, VA 22030
Curriculum Vitae
Profile
Robert G. Smith
Rob joins the George Masson College of Education and Human Development’s Education Leadership program this fall after 44 years as a K-12 public school educator, working as a teacher, building and central office administrator, and superintendent. He retired in July 2009, after serving 12 years as the Superintendent of the Arlington, VA Public Schools. Rob spent the preceding 16 years as the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instructional Services for the Spring Independent School District in the Houston, TX area. The first 16 years of his career occurred in the Frederick County, Maryland Public Schools where he performed a variety of roles including teaching high school social studies, heading an adult evening high school and a junior high school, running federal and adult education programs, and leading K-12 curriculum and staff development.
Beginning his teaching career after graduating in history from Davis and Elkins College (1965), Rob, while teaching and administering school programs, earned his M.A. in Government and Politics (1972) and Ph.D. (1973) in Educational Administration, Supervision and Curriculum from the University of Maryland. Over the years, he taught graduate courses as an adjunct faculty member and/or served on dissertation committees at five different colleges and universities. His research and publications have reflected a range of interests and included implementing process skills in early childhood classrooms, the political socialization of school children, teacher leadership reflected in various forms of collaborative inquiry, teaching for meaning, school leadership and attacking achievement gaps. In addition to helping prepare school leaders at George Mason, he looks forward to continuing studies that combine aspects of school leadership, teaching for meaning, collaborative inquiry and overcoming achievement gaps.
Research Interests
Eliminating achievement gaps
Teaching for meaning
Leading schools and school districts
Recent Publications
Knight, S. & Smith, R. (2004). Development and Use of a Classroom Observation
Instrument to Investigate Teaching for Meaning in Diverse Classrooms. In H.
Waxman, R. Tharp and R.S. Hilberg (Eds.), Observational Research in
Classrooms: New Approaches for Understanding Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
(pp. 97-121).
Knight, S., DeLeon, N. & Smith, R. (1999). Using Multiple Data Sources to Evaluate an
Alternative Scheduling Model. The High School Journal, 83(1), 1-13.
Smith, R. & Knight, S. (1997). Collaborative Inquiry: Teacher
Leadership in the Practice of Creative Intelligence. In R. Sinclair and W. Ghory
(Eds.), Reaching and Teaching All Students: Grassroots Efforts that Work (pp. 39-60).
Corwin Press.
Smith, R. (1996). Fashioning Effective Solutions: The Promise of School Study
Teams. Equity and Excellence in Education, 29(1), 20-29.
Smith, R. (1994). Teacher Study Teams: A Focused Approach to School Problem
Solving. ERS Spectrum, 12(3), 13-20.
Smith, R. (1992). Self-Study and Site-Based Decision-Making. SACS Newsletter, 4(1),
4-5.
Smith, R. & Riddile, Martha S. (1989). The Spring ISD Pyramid Program: Toward 2000
AD Tempo, 9(3), 12-13.
Smith, R., Barona, Andres & McNamara, J. (1986). Getting Good Results from Survey
Research. Public Administration Quarterly, 10(2), 233-248.
Smith, R. (1982). The Circumfluence of the Public Schools: An
MASCD Focus II, 21-29.
Smith, R. & Duncan, T. (1976), Parents as Teachers: A Focus for
Adult Education. APSCE Newsletter, 7(2), 4-5.
Smith, R. & Marshall, A. (1976). REAP: Integrating Adult Basic Education and Parent
Education. In M. Shaw and H. Stubblefield (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1976
ABE Dissemination Conference (pp. 49-58). Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University.
Children’s Civic Awareness. Journalism Quarterly, 52(3), 531-538.
Smith, R. & Leiserson, M. (1974). Some Process Skill Activities in an Open Education
Classroom: A Description and an Evaluation. Young Children, 30(1), 49-59.
Smith, R. (1973). A Program for Young Children Based on Process Skills: Examples of
Practice. Center for Young Children Occasional Paper No. 9.