Michelle D. Young

Media Expertise:  Education

Areas of Interest: Educational Leadership Development, Educational Administration, Educational Policy and Leadership, Professional Standards for Educational Leadership.

Biography: Young was a professor of educational leadership and policy, chair of the department of education leadership, foundations and policy, and Executive Director of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) at University of Virginia.

Young has co-edited or co-authored six books and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Her scholarship focuses on how university programs, educational policies and school leaders can support equitable and quality experiences for all students and adults who learn and work in schools. She has edited two editions of the “Handbook of Research on the Education of School Leaders,” and is currently editing the “Handbook of Critical Research Methods in Education.”

Young has been the recipient of multiple awards for her writing, including the William J. Davis Award for most outstanding article, an Emerald Literati Award for Excellence, and was recently awarded the prestigious Edwin M. Bridges Award for her contributions to research on the preparation of education leaders.

Throughout her career, she has developed and sustained a reputation as an innovative, civic-minded, ethical leader with a strong commitment to diversity and social justice. Young recently completed her 19th year as executive director of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), an international consortium of more than 100 research institutions with master’s and doctoral level programs in educational leadership and administration. As Executive Director of UCEA, Young worked with universities, practitioners, and state and national leaders to improve the preparation and practice of school and school system leaders and to develop a dynamic base of knowledge on excellence in educational leadership; provided leadership for the development of the Professional Standards for Educational Leadership and the National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) standards, which guide the development and accreditation review of educational leadership preparation programs; and led both state-wide and institutional reviews of educational leadership development programs. She also Co-Founded and Co-Directs the INSPIRE Leadership Collaborative. Her work has significantly increased the focus of research on leadership preparation and brought research to bear on the work of policy makers. Upon her retirement from the University Council for Educational Administration after 19 years, Young was granted Emeritus status.

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