Eric Camburn

Biography

Dr. Camburn is the Director of the Urban Education Research Center. He is also a Professor in the Division of Educational Leadership, Policy and Foundations.

How I Help Students

I teach graduate level courses in research methods, advise doctoral students, and the UERC employs student research assistants.

Biography

For three decades, Eric Camburn has conducted research on school improvement, school leadership, and inequalities in educational opportunity. His research has contributed to the field’s understanding of social inequalities in the secondary and postsecondary outcomes of urban students, and of factors that promote and impede the progress of urban students at key junctures. Early research investigated factors associated with social inequalities in high school course failure and access to postsecondary education. These studies suggested that the inequitable outcomes were due in part to inequitable learning opportunities received by poor and minority students in urban schools. A second thread of his research examined factors that promote the improvement of literacy instruction in high poverty urban elementary schools. Camburn and colleagues found that well-designed programs can promote the adoption of evidence-based literacy instruction practices at scale in historically disadvantaged settings, and that job-embedded learning opportunities and a strategic distribution of leadership can facilitate this adoption. Camburn has worked collaboratively with multiple urban districts to help inform improvement initiatives through research evidence. Between 2006 and 2010 Camburn worked closely with the Milwaukee Public Schools to conduct a district wide teacher survey that helped district leaders understand the quality of instruction and improvement initiatives across the district. Prior to coming to Kansas City, Camburn served as a founding Co-Director of the Madison Education Partnership, a partnership between Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the Madison Metropolitan School District. Since Camburn joined UMKC in 2018, the UERC has developed into a trusted regional partner for bringing high quality evidence to bear on pressing education issues.  

Research Areas

Secondary to postsecondary education transitions, School improvement; School leadership; Professional learning; Survey measurement of education practice.

Degrees

Ph.D., Education, University of Chicago
M.A., Social Sciences (interdisciplinary), University of Chicago
B.A., Sociology, Illinois Benedictine College

Advising Interests

Transitions to college, School improvement; School leadership; Professional learning; Survey measurement of education practice; Quantitative research; Mixed methods research

Publications

(Recent and selected publications)
Wu, H. & Camburn, E.M. (2026). How principals communicate expectations for raising academic performance and closing the achievement gap: Evidence from Florida. Journal of Educational Administration. DOI: 10.1108/JEA-04-2025-0154.

Moon, J, Sebastian, J. & Camburn, E.M. (2025)   Enhancing Quantitative Analysis in Social Sciences with Large Language Models (LLMs): A Case Study in Educational Research.  AERA Open.

Stark, K., Kaler, L., Camburn, E.M., Jones, N., Harris, M. (2025). Exploring Variation in Teachers’ Situational Motivation Across Contexts. British Journal of Educational Psychology

Lee, C., Camburn, E.M., & Sebastian, J.  (2024). School context, school leaders’ data-informed decision making, and student achievement: Evidence from Florida. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2024.2436889

Stark, K., Jones, N., Camburn, E., & Kaler, L. (2023). Measuring teachers’ momentary affect: An exploratory experience sampling study. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 74, 102205.

Jones, N.D., Camburn, E.M., Kelcey, B., Quintero, E. (2021). Teachers’ Time Use and Affect Before and After COVID-19 School Closures.  AERA Open.

Pyne, J., Grodsky, E., Vaade, E., McCready, B., Camburn, E.M., & Bradley, D. (2021) "The Signaling Power of Unexcused Absence from School".  Educational Policy

Moon, J, Camburn, E.M. & Sebastian, J.  (2021). Streamlining Your School: Understanding the Relationship Between Instructional Program Coherence and School Performance”.  School Effectiveness and School Improvement.

Phelps, L.A., Camburn, E.M., & Min, S. (2018). High school STEM engineering coursetaking and postsecondary STEM major choice. Journal of Engineering Education

Camburn, E.M., Sebastian, J., & Spillane, J. (2018). Portraits of principal practice: Time allocation and school principal work. Educational Administration Quarterly

Camburn, E.M., & Han, S.W. (2018). Teachers’ professional learning experiences and their engagement in reflective practice: A replication study. School Effectiveness and School Improvement

Camburn, E.M., Han, S.W., & Sebastian, J. (2017). Assessing the validity of an annual survey for measuring the enacted literacy curriculum. Educational Policy. 31(1), 73–107.

Camburn, E.M., Goldring, E., Sebastian, J., May, H., & Huff, J. (2016) An examination of the benefits, limitations, and challenges of conducting randomized experiments with principals. Educational Administration Quarterly, 52(2), 187-220.

Camburn, E.M., & Han, S.W. (2015). Infrastructure for teacher reflection and instructional change: An exploratory study. Journal of Educational Change. 16(4), 511-533.

Camburn, E.M., & Han, S.W. (2011). Two decades of generalizable evidence on U.S. instruction from National surveys. Teachers College Record, 113(3). 561-610.

Barnes, C.A., Camburn, E.M., Sanders, B., & Sebastian, J. (2010). Developing instructional leaders: Using mixed methods to explore the black box of planned change in principals’ professional practice. Educational Administration Quarterly. 46(2), 241-279.

Camburn, E.M., Kimball, S., & Lowenhaupt, R. (2007) Going to scale with teacher leadership: Lessons learned from a districtwide literacy coach initiative. In Melinda Mangin and Sara Stoelinga (eds.). Instructional Teacher Leadership Roles: Using Research to Inform and Reform. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Rowan, B., Camburn, E.M., & Correnti, R. (2008). Using time diaries to study instruction in schools. In Robert Belli, Frank Stafford, Duane Alwin (eds), Calendar and Time Diary Methods in Life Course Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Rowan, B., Correnti, R. Miller, R., & Camburn, E.M. (2009). School improvement by design: Lessons from a study of comprehensive school reform programs. In B. Schneider and G. Sykes (Eds.) Handbook of Education Policy Research. Washington D.C.: American Educational Research Association.

Camburn, E., Rowan, B., & Taylor, J. (2003). Distributed leadership in schools: The case of elementary schools adopting comprehensive school reform models. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 25(4), 347-373.

Bryk, A., Camburn, E., & Seashore Louis, K. (1999). Professional community in Chicago elementary schools: Facilitating factors and organizational consequences. Educational Administration Quarterly, 35 (Supplement, December), 751-781.

Roderick, M., & Camburn, E. (1999). Risk and recovery from course failure in the early years of high school. American Educational Research Journal, 36(2), 303-343.

Camburn, E. (1990). College completion among students from high schools located in large metropolitan areas. American Journal of Education, 98(4), 551-569.