Warren Simmons

Title:

Executive Director; Assistant Clinical Professor, Master’s Program in Urban Education Policy, Brown University

Email Address:

399 Warren Simmons directs the work of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University and team-teaches a course in Urban Systems and Structure in Brown University's Urban Education Policy Master’s Program. Before joining the Institute in 1998, he was founding director of the Philadelphia Education Fund, a local reform support organization that helped the School District of Philadelphia to fund, develop, and implement new academic standards, content-based professional development, standards-based curriculum resources, and comprehensive school reform, as part of the Children Achieving reform agenda. Previously, at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, he developed and funded initiatives on community development and urban school reform. He also served as director of equity initiatives for the New Standards Project and as special assistant to the superintendent of schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where he planned and/or implemented districtwide initiatives on improving the achievement of traditionally underserved students.

Dr. Simmons received a B.A. in psychology from Macalester College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University. He is a recent
recipient of the Distinguished Citizens Award from the National Governors Association and has served on the advisory groups and boards of several prominent national organizations including the National Center on Education and the Economy, Public Education Network, the Merck Institute, the National Equity Project, PLATO Learning, Inc., and the Campaign for Educational Equity. In addition he has served as a member of the California Collaborative, the Board of the College Crusade of Rhode Island, the Cowen Institute’s National Advisory Council, the Board of Directors for the Southern Education Foundation, and the Pew Forum. He was chair of the Rhode Island Urban Education Task Force, convened by Governor Donald Carcieri, and a member of the National Commission on Civic Investment in Public Education, convened by Public Education Network. He currently co-chairs the Aspen Urban Superintendents Network and the Working Group on School Transformation in New York City. He was recently appointed by the National Research Council (NRC) to serve on the NRC's Committee on Strengthening Science Education Through a Teacher Learning Continuum. Additionally, Dr. Simmons was recently elected a trustee at Roger Williams University.

From the Executive Director

Smart Education Systems: Community-Centered School Reform

Toward Smart Education Systems: An Introduction to the Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Multi-media

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Annenberg Institute in 2013, executive director
Warren Simmons sat down with us to answer questions about the history of AISR, developments in
education reform, and highlights from a recent meeting with US education secretary Arne Duncan.

In this video Warren Simmons answers the question:
"How has AISR changed since you were named exective director 15 years ago?"