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Dr. Seth B. Hunter
PhD, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Assistant Professor
EdPolicyForward
Education Leadership

Contact Information

Send email to Dr. Hunter

Phone: (703) 993-4485
Fax: (703) 993-3643
Email: shunte (@gmu.edu)

George Mason University
Fairfax Campus
Thompson Hall 1306
4400 University Dr.
MS 4C2
Fairfax, VA 22030

Profile

Dr. Seth B Hunter is an Associate Professor of Education Leadership and Policy with a Mason affiliation in Research Methods. He is also a Senior Fellow at EdPolicyForward, the Center for Education Policy at Mason, and a Fellow with the Tennessee Education Research Alliance, a partnership among Vanderbilt University, the Tennessee Department of Education, and other researchers. His research interests concern educator and organizational effectiveness, research use by policymakers and practitioners, and human-machine partnerships. To explore these topics, Dr. Hunter applies multiple methods (econometric, psychometric, descriptive, and qualitative) and draws on multiple frameworks (psychological, economic, leadership, management, and educational). Dr. Hunter's work appears in several top-tier education journals, including Educational ResearcherEducation Administration QuarterlyEducational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and the American Journal of Education.

Before his academic career, Dr. Hunter worked/ served in various K-12 organizations, including the Kentucky Department of Education as a field agent supporting teacher leaders, principals, and superintendents; the Kentucky Council of Teachers of Mathematics as President; the Kentucky Education Association as State Representative; and classroom teacher of middle and high school students.

Dr. Hunter has advised the Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia Departments of Education, a multistate rurally-focused teacher evaluation organization in the Midwestern USA, and several school districts on education policy and practice matters.

Dr. Hunter is happily married to Dr. Amy English Hunter, and they are the proud parents of two children. Aside from his love of work and family, Dr. Hunter also loves barbecuing, ice hockey, puzzles, interesting foods, and many kinds of music. 

Research Interests

Practices and policies concerning educator evaluation and observation

Instructional coaching for school improvement

Education policy

Research use by policymakers and practitioners

Human-machine partnerships

Recent Publications

See CV section for more information.

* student co-author                                                                                                                                                             

Redding, C., Tan, T.* & Hunter, S. B. (In Press). Documenting the Distribution of Instructional Coaching Programs. Educational Researcher.

Hunter, S. B. & Kho, A. (Online). The Effects of Teacher Evaluation Policy on Student Achievement and Teacher Turnover: Leveraging Teacher Accountability and Teacher Development. Journal of Education Human Resources. doi.org/10.3138/jehr-2023-0040 
 
Viano, S., Shahrokhi, F. & Hunter, S. B. (2024). Improvement Science and School Leadership: The Journey to Dynamic School Improvement. Frontiers in Education, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1371664

Hunter, S. B. (2023). The (In)Consistency of Teacher Survey Responses About Teacher Evaluation Implementation: Implications for Principal Professional Development. Educational Researcher52(8), 512-515.

Hunter, S. B. & Redding, C. (2023). Examining the Presence and Equitable Distribution of Instructional Coaching Programs and Coaches’ Teaching Expertise Across Tennessee Schools. Educational Policy37(4), 1151-1178.

Redding, C. & Hunter, S. B. (2023). The Labor Market Trajectories of Instructional Coaches and Teacher Peer Observers. American Journal of Education, 129(3), 413-443.

Viano, S., Rodriguez, L., & Hunter, S. B. (2023). Supervisor and Employee Shared Race and Gender Intersections: Towards a Critical Representative Bureaucracy Theory. AERA Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584221148156

Hunter, S. B. (2023). Explaining Variation in the Implementation of Classroom Observational Processes: Evidence from a Tennessee-Based Researcher-Practitioner Partnership. Journal of Educational Administration, 61(1), 16-40.

Hunter, S. B. (2023). Do you mean what I mean? Comparing teacher performance self-scores and evaluator-generated scores. Journal of Education Human Resources41(2), 210 – 250.