Dr James P. Spillane

James P. Spillane is the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change at the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. A former primary school teacher from Ireland, Spillane has published extensively on issues of policy implementation, educational leadership, school reform, and education system building.

Jim’s work explores the role of sense-making in policy implementation at the state, district, school, and classroom levels, focusing on intergovernmental and policy-practice relations. He also studies organizational leadership and change, and distributed leadership in schools. Recent projects include studies of relations between organizational infrastructure and instructional advice-seeking in schools and the socialization of new school principals. In recognition of his contribution to educational research, Spillane was elected to the US National Academy of Education in 2013 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.