Dr. Richard Lemons

Biography

Richard Lemons serves as the Executive Director of Partners Educational Leadership, a non-profit organization that collaborates with school districts to support leadership development and systemic change while improving large-scale instructional improvement and equitable practices to enhance learning and life outcomes for children. The organization leads programs such as the Superintendents’ Network and facilitates the Systemic Instructional Improvement Program (SIIP) Network, partnering with numerous districts in Connecticut. He has a long history of working on issues of equity and urban school improvement at prominent educational institutions. Previously, he served as Vice President of Program Policy at the Education Trust, a national organization dedicated to closing achievement gaps in the educational system. He also held the position of Associate Director at the Harvard Change Leadership Group, a research and professional development center aimed at helping districts improve. Additionally, Richard has experience as a faculty member at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. His extensive experience includes roles as a teacher, literacy coach, and change coach, and he has worked with dozens of U.S. school districts as well as consulted for schools and districts globally, including in Jordan and South Africa. Richard earned both an Ed.M. and Ed.D. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a BA in Political Science from North Carolina State University. He has published extensively on topics related to leadership development, professional learning, organizational change, and instructional quality, with a focus on equity in schools.

Research Interests