Jason A. Grissom is the Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College and faculty director of the Tennessee Education Research Alliance. Dr. Grissom’s research uses large-scale administrative and survey data—often coupled with data from interviews and observations—to study school leadership, educator mobility, and issues of educational equity. He is the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed articles on such topics as principal hiring, evaluation, turnover, preparation, diversity, and effectiveness. In 2021, he was lead author of a major report for the Wallace Foundation, How Principals Affect Students and Schools, that synthesized 20 years of empirical research on school principals to lay out a framework for effective leadership practice.

Dr. Grissom’s research has been supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, the Spencer Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among others. He is a fellow of the American Educational Research Association and past president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy. He holds a PhD from Stanford University