James Noonan

James Noonan is an Assistant Professor in the Secondary and Higher Education Department at the McKeown School of Education, Salem State University. He teaches courses in adaptive leadership, school-community partnerships, and culturally responsive teaching, with specific offerings including AGS 730 Learning to Lead, AGS 735 Data-informed Educational Leadership, and AGS 820 Culturally Responsive School Leadership for Deep Change.

Dr. Noonan holds an Ed.D. and Ed.M. from Harvard University, and a B.A. in English and B.S. in English Education from Boston University. His educational background informs his interdisciplinary approach to educational leadership and equity work.

His research focuses on the intersection of leadership, learning, and identity, with particular emphasis on how district- and school-level equity initiatives function in practice. Dr. Noonan critically examines how educational measurement and accountability systems correlate strongly with demographics rather than actual school quality, thereby reinforcing residential segregation by race and class. His work spans educational leadership theory, professional development design, culturally responsive teaching practices, and innovative approaches to school quality measurement.

Dr. Noonan's publication record reveals a consistent trajectory examining how educational systems perpetuate or disrupt inequity. His recent work has increasingly focused on race-conscious professional learning, the hidden curriculum of whiteness in educational settings, and alternative frameworks for measuring school quality that move beyond standardized test scores to capture dimensions like student engagement, social and civic competencies, and culturally sustaining curriculum.

His scientific contributions include:

• Research on the intersection of leadership, learning, and identity
• Studies on district- and school-level equity initiatives
• Work on culturally responsive teaching and leadership
• Analysis of measurement and accountability systems in education
• Critical examinations of race and whiteness in professional learning contexts

Dr. Noonan advises graduate students in educational leadership programs and has developed practicum experiences that connect theory with practice. His research has been supported through collaborations with the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment (MCIEA), where he has contributed to developing more equitable approaches to school quality measurement that better reflect what communities value in their schools.

He is actively involved in the Education Commonwealth Project (ECP), which aims to make assessment tools developed through MCIEA freely available to public schools across Massachusetts. This work embodies his commitment to reciprocal accountability, where schools are held accountable for results while states are accountable for ensuring schools have the necessary capacity to succeed.