Patricia Magruder
Patricia Magruder is a Research Associate at the Institute for Learning (IFL), Learning Research and development Center, University of Pittsburgh, and works as co-developer and district liaison for the Process Engineering for Educational Results (PEER) project. She has an extensive background in K -12 systems reform and school-level instructional improvement. Before joining the PEER project, she served as a Fellow with the Institute for Learning and was the lead liaison to the Los Angeles Unified School District. Magruder is also a Harvard Executive Education Leadership Coach, recently completing an assignment as the lead coach to the Kentucky State Department of Education.
Prior to her work with the University of Pittsburgh, Magruder was a Distinguished Educator for the Kentucky Department of Education. In this role she provided leadership for curriculum, instruction, and assessment initiatives for Kentucky schools as part of the Kentucky Instructional Results Improvement System (KIRIS). Assigned to schools "in decline," Patricia facilitated school improvement initiatives that resulted in achievement of "successful school" status within a two-year assessment period. Prior to this she filled the deputy superintendent’s role as Director of Planning, Budget, Research, Program Development and Technology for the Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, Kentucky.
Beginning as a Special Education teacher, Magruder has gathered experience as a university instructor at the Ohio State University and the University of Kentucky, a guidance counselor and administrator with the Upper Arlington City Schools, and a consultant with both the Ohio and Kentucky State Departments of Education and with the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. While working as a consultant to the Kentucky Department of Education, she was Chair of the Assessment and Accountability Design Team and a co-developer of the Kentucky Leadership Academy, a training program for superintendents, instructional supervisors, and principals, to support school reform efforts in Kentucky.