Walter, Heather

Phone: 17039936582
Email: hwalter2 (@gmu.edu)

George Mason University
Fairfax Campus
Finley Building 206
4400 University Dr.
MS 4C2
Fairfax, VA 22030

What I Do:

I am an educator, researcher, and consultant who helps schools and education systems understand why promising programs and policies do not always work as intended—and identify the conditions educators need to thrive so meaningful improvements reach students and families.

Who My Work Serves:

My work serves educators, school and system leaders, researchers, and community partners seeking to understand why promising programs and policies do not always translate into meaningful change. I am especially interested in collaborating with those working to improve educator wellbeing, strengthen organizational conditions, and turn research into practical improvements for students, families, and schools.

Areas of Expertise:

Educational Systems Change and Implementation
Educator Wellbeing, Burnout, and Occupational Health
Leadership, Trust, and Organizational Conditions
Special Education and Inclusive Practices
Mixed-Methods and Interdisciplinary Research
Research-to-Practice Translation

More About Heather

I am a first-generation doctoral graduate, Associate Professor of Special Education, and Senior Scholar at George Mason University’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. For more than 15 years, I have worked with students, educators, leaders, and organizations to create educational settings in which people can learn, contribute, and thrive.

My research focuses on how education systems change—and why well-designed programs and policies do not always work as intended once they reach classrooms, schools, and communities. I studies the conditions that help educators do their best work, including wellbeing, leadership, trust, role clarity, and access to meaningful support.

I bring together ideas and methods from special education, wellbeing science, educational neuroscience, and organizational psychology. I use mixed-methods research, combining numbers with people’s experiences, to understand complex problems from more than one perspective. I am especially interested in research that crosses traditional academic boundaries and leads to practical improvements for educators, students, and families.

I have contributed to federally funded research through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs and received a Spencer Foundation Small Research Grant for research on special educator burnout and the measurement of wellbeing. My work has appeared in research and practitioner publications within special education and across related fields. My service has connected research with the needs of schools and communities at the local, regional, university, and national levels. This has included leadership at Green Acres School, the Virginia Early Intervention Consortium, George Mason University’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Task Force, and the Division for Early Childhood, and Advisory Board to SCLA.

I received the 2021 Mixed Methods Dissertation Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and has been recognized for my contributions to policy research through the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) and as an Exchange Leader through the Exchange Leadership Initiative.

Across my research, teaching, and work with organizations, My work is known for making complex ideas easier to understand and use. She believes the best educational strategies are not simply well designed—they are realistic enough to become part of everyday practice and strong enough to continue long after they are introduced.

Educator and Leader Preperation

Worforce Retention/ Eduational Systems Change

Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace

Implementation Science (embedding research-based practices into every day practice)

Mixed Methods Research

*See full CV for all Publications (see attached)

*See University Spotlights for highlights on my work at CHED and GMU: https://cehd.gmu.edu/news/

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