James Spillane

James Spillane is a Senior Research Specialist at CPRE, Northwestern University. His work focuses on educational leadership, policy implementation, and social networks in organizations. He is affiliated with CPRE (Consortium for Policy Research in Education) and explores how state and national reforms are understood at local levels.

Research interests include:

• Policy implementation at state, district, school, and classroom levels
• Distributed organizational leadership involving formal/informal leaders
• Social network analysis of instructional advice structures
• Role of organizational routines in enabling/constraining practice
• Principal selection and socialization processes

His 2019 publication on distributed leadership examines sustainable school improvement through collaborative leadership structures. Spillane's work emphasizes cognitive perspectives on reform adoption and the interplay between formal and informal leadership networks.

Contact: j-spillane@northwestern.edu