Courtney Bell stepped into her new role as director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), which is housed in the School of Education, on July 1. She joined her new colleagues at UW–Madison remotely, as she and most of WCER’s researchers and staff have been working since mid-March 2020.
Yet she has managed to meet more than 100 WCER researchers and staff members through one-on-one virtual meetings. Happily, she and her family moved from the Detroit area to Madison in August, so she will be ready for face- to-face meetings when the time is right.
Bell began her career as a high school science teacher and for the past 12 years worked as a research scientist and center director at Educational Testing Service, the world’s largest private, nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization. She earned a doctorate in education from Michigan State University, a teaching certificate from East Carolina University, and an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College.
We asked Bell why she made this move and about her plans for leading one of the world’s most productive education research centers.
What interested you in working at WCER? WCER had long been famous in my world, but I had only ever been a consumer of its insights. I was not looking for a new job, but when I saw the job description — with its focus on partnering across differences and equitable education — it made me pause. The prospect of the job excited me.
Ultimately, I took the job because of the people I met on my full-day “job talk” visit. I just could not ignore how much the people and the place resonated with me. I loved that people pressed me for answers to hard questions. They were kind, super smart, doing fantastic work, and humble.
What do you hope to accomplish at WCER? I plan to develop a collaborative vision and strategic plan that seeks to improve an already excellent institution. Until the specifics of that plan develop, I hope to leave the place better than I found it.
What attracted you to education research as a career? I am a white woman who taught high school science in the rural south to the descendants of sharecroppers. Teaching there made me outraged that our public education system was failing those young people through no fault of their own. I ultimately could not forget what I had seen in those classrooms, which led me to education research.
My scholarly contributions focus on the intersections of research, policy, and practice — especially around teaching quality and how we measure it. I believe these intersections are where “the rubber meets the road,” so we need to understand them and figure out how to improve the world with researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working together around shared concerns.
How do you most enjoy working? I prefer to work with others to achieve things that one person cannot do alone. I am a collaborator. I believe no matter what your formal degree or job title is — everyone has insight and perspectives that can benefit the team. And I believe we have to make spaces for everyone’s perspectives — especially those frequently silenced or devalued — to be understood. I prefer and try always to use clear, honest, and respectful communication.