Hayley Weddle is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research addresses how leaders across K-12 and higher education implement policies in ways that enable or constrain equity. Across her work, Dr. Weddle is committed to developing reciprocal partnerships between educational leaders, policymakers, and researchers. She is currently leading a national partnership of researchers and state education agency leaders focused on advancing equity for multilingual learners. As an instructor, she enjoys teaching courses on pressing equity issues in education policy as well as qualitative research methods.
In addition to her research, Dr. Weddle currently serves as co-advisor for the national Council of Chief State School Officers English Learners Collaborative. She also previously served as the 2019-2020 Student Regent on the University of California Board of Regents, representing undergraduate and graduate students across the UC system. She holds an M.A. in Higher Education Leadership from San Diego State University and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, San Diego.
Instructional Interests
- Educational Systems, Macro Policy, and Politics (PhD and MA Course)
- Advanced Qualitative Analysis (PhD Course)
- Critical Issues in Higher Education Governance (MA Course)
Scholarly Interests
- How leaders implement education policies
- Research-practice partnerships and collaborative capacity building
- Systems of support for multilingual learner students and families
Grant-Funded Research
- Principal Investigator, “Using Research to Promote Systemic Change for Multilingual Learners: A Case Study of Research-Practice Partnership Engagement with State Leaders,” William T. Grant Foundation, $610,000 (Funded: 2022-2025).
- Co-Investigator, “Examining Distance Learning Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Michigan
Department of Education, $150,000. (Funded: 2021-23). - Co-Investigator, “Addressing Equity and Access for ELs in State COVID-19 Guidance: A Research-Policy Partnership,” Council of Chief State School Officers, $60,000. (Funded: 2020-21).
Featured Publications
Weddle, H., Hashim, A., and Irondi, O. (2022). Leading and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: District and school leaders’ perspectives. Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) at Michigan State University.
Hopkins, M., Weddle, H., Castillo, M., Costa, J., Edwards, K., Elliot, S., ... & Salas, V. (2022). Upholding Multilingual Learners’ Civil Rights under ESSA: State Education Agency Leaders and the Contextual Factors Shaping Their Work. American Journal of Education, 128(4). https://doi.org/10.1086/720362
Weddle, H., Lockton, M. and Datnow, A. (2021). Research-practice partnerships “on the ground”: Exploring partnership work in urban schools under pressure to improve. Studies in Educational Evaluation. doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2021.101013
Awards and Honors
UC Student Regent, University of California Board of Regents (2018—2020). Selected to represent over 280,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students across ten UC campuses as the sole voting student on the governing body of the University of California.
Engagement, Partnerships, and Professional Service
Dr. Weddle currently serves as co-advisor for the Council of Chief State School Officers English Learners Collaborative. In this role, she facilitates capacity building for state education agency leaders across the country to support their efforts to advance equity for multilingual learners across policy and practice.
Dr. Weddle is also a faculty affiliate with the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) at Michigan State University. In this role, she leads qualitative research examining how state and district leaders supported students’ access to learning opportunities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and during recovery efforts.
Dr. Weddle previously served on the California Recovery with Equity Task Force chaired by Governor Newsom’s senior higher education advisor. She was selected as one of 15 education leaders in California to collaboratively develop an equity-focused plan to guide the state’s higher education recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.