Penny Bender Sebring
Founding Co-Director, Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago
Penny Bender Sebring is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Chicago and Founding Co-Director of the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) at the Urban Education Institute. CCSR is an organization dedicated to informing and assessing Chicago school reform. She is a co-author of Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 2010); The Essential Supports for School Improvement, published by CCSR; and Charting Chicago School Reform: Democratic Localism as a Lever for Change (Westview Press, 1998).
Ms. Sebring was a Peace Corps volunteer and high school teacher. She has published articles on a variety of topics, including urban education, school leadership, and the utilization of research and evaluation results. She received a B.A. in sociology from Grinnell College, where she is a life trustee. She received a M.Ed. from the Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University, where she is a member of the policy advisory board for the School of Education and Social Policy.
She serves on the board of directors for the Social Sciences Visiting Committee, University of Chicago, and she is President of the Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation. Sebring received a Community Responsibility Award from the Associated Colleges of Illinois in 2006 and an Alumni Merit Award from Northwestern University in 2009. In 2010, along with her husband Charles Ashby Lewis, she received the John J. Dugan Award from Urban Students Empowered and the Stanley C. Golder Community Service Award from the Golden Apple Foundation.
Current Research
Penny Bender Sebring’s research has centered on the organizational characteristics of elementary schools and the community contexts that are linked to student learning in Chicago. Currently, she is leading a study of YOUmedia, a new space for teens at the Chicago Public Library, where they can learn to create digital media like videos, photos, music, broadcasts, designs, games, and blogs for educational and civic purposes.
Ms. Sebring was a Peace Corps volunteer and high school teacher. She has published articles on a variety of topics, including urban education, school leadership, and the utilization of research and evaluation results. She received a B.A. in sociology from Grinnell College, where she is a life trustee. She received a M.Ed. from the Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University, where she is a member of the policy advisory board for the School of Education and Social Policy.
She serves on the board of directors for the Social Sciences Visiting Committee, University of Chicago, and she is President of the Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation. Sebring received a Community Responsibility Award from the Associated Colleges of Illinois in 2006 and an Alumni Merit Award from Northwestern University in 2009. In 2010, along with her husband Charles Ashby Lewis, she received the John J. Dugan Award from Urban Students Empowered and the Stanley C. Golder Community Service Award from the Golden Apple Foundation.
Current Research
Penny Bender Sebring’s research has centered on the organizational characteristics of elementary schools and the community contexts that are linked to student learning in Chicago. Currently, she is leading a study of YOUmedia, a new space for teens at the Chicago Public Library, where they can learn to create digital media like videos, photos, music, broadcasts, designs, games, and blogs for educational and civic purposes.
Results The Fund is Achieving