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College of Education and Human Development - George Mason University

Dr. Seth B. Hunter
PhD, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Assistant Professor
Education Leadership , PhD in Education
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 Assistant Professor of Education Leadership, with Mason affiliations in Research Methods and Education Policy. He is also a Fellow with the Tennessee Education Research Alliance, a partnership among Vanderbilt University, the Tennessee Department of Education, and other researchers. His research interests include the intersection of educator (i.e. teacher, principal) professional development and evaluation, educator observation systems and practices, and teacher leadership. To explore these topics Dr. Hunter applies econometric and descriptive techniques to large-scale non-experimental data. Some of his work employs psychometric or qualitative methods. Dr. Hunter's work appears in several top education and education leadership 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; Kentucky Council of Teachers of Mathematics as President; Kentucky Education Association as State Representative; and classroom teacher of middle and high school students.

Because of his research and professional experiences, Dr. Hunter has advised the Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia Departments of Education, a teacher evaluation organization in Missouri, and several school districts on matters of education policy and practice.

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

Measurement properties of observations

Education policy

Instructional leadership

Recent Publications

See CV section for details

* student co-author                                                                                                                                                             

Hunter S. (In Press). Explaining Variation in the Implementation of Classroom Observational Processes: Evidence from a Tennessee-Based Researcher-Practitioner Partnership. Journal of Educational Administration.

Redding, C. and S. Hunter. (In Press). The Labor Market Trajectories of Instructional Coaches and Teacher Peer Observers. American Journal of Education.

Hunter S. (2022). High-Leverage Teacher Evaluation Practices for Instructional Improvement. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432221112995

Hunter, S. and C. Redding. (2022). Instructional Coaching Programs and Coaches' Teaching Expertise Across Tennessee Schools. Educational Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048221087201

Hunter, S. and M. Springer. (2022). Performance Feedback, Human Capital, and Teacher Performance: A Mixed-Methods Analysis. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis44(3), 380-403.

Hunter, S. and L. Rodriguez. (2021). Examining the Demands of Teacher Evaluation: Time Use, Strain, and Turnover Among Tennessee School Administrators. Journal of Educational Administration, 59(6), 739-758. 

Rodriguez, L. and S. Hunter. (2021). Making do: Why do administrators retain low-performing teachers?. Educational Researcher, 50(9), 673-676.

Hunter, S. and A. Ege* (2021). Linking Student Outcomes to School Administrator Discretion in the Implementation of Teacher Observations. Education Administration Quarterly, 57(4), 607-640.

Hunter, S. (2020). The unintended effects of policy-assigned teacher observations: Examining the validity of observation scores. AERA Open, 6(2), 1-16.