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Department of Educational Leadership
Faculty & Staff







Dr. Tamara Walser

Assistant Professor

Department of Educational Leadership
Education Building 372
(910) 962-4175 Phone
(910) 962-3609 Fax
walsert@uncw.edu


Education

Ph.D., Research and Evaluation Methodology, Utah State University (2000)

M.S., Instructional Design and Development, Utah State University (1996)

B.A., French; minors in Organizational Communication and Public Relations, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1989)

 

North Carolina Teaching License: French (K-12); Instructional Technology Specialist (Administrative)

 

Previous Professional Positions

Project Manager, Windwalker Corporation, McLean, VA

Research Scientist, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Assessment Specialist, Committee for Children, Seattle, WA

Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and Associate Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Center, Washington State University, Pullman, WA


Courses Taught at UNCW

EDN 200: Teacher, School and Society
EDN 514: Technology for School Administrators

EDN 523: Research in Education
EDN 564: Policy Formation as a Systemic Process

EDN 568: Program Design and Evaluation

EDN 599: Thesis in Education
EDN 641: Research I

EDN 642: Research II

Research Interests

Systems in Evaluation
Program Evaluation Methodology
Performance Assessment
Research Design
Evaluation of Research

 

Recent Publications

Walser, T. M. (2009). An action research study of student self-assessment in higher education. Innovative Higher Education, 34(5), 299-306.

 

Pappamihiel, N. E., & Walser, T. M. (2009). English language learners and complexity theory: Why current accountability systems do not measure up. The Educational Forum, 73, 133-140.

 

Walser, T. M. (2009). Systemic data-based decision making: A systems approach for using data in schools. American Association of School Administrators Journal of Scholarship and Practice, 6(1), 28-32.
 

Recent Presentations

Walser, T. M. (2009, November). Context and quasi-experiments in schools: The case for cohort comparison groups. Paper presented at the American Evaluation Association annual conference, Orlando, FL.

Walser, T. M. (2009, November). Building evaluation capacity among school leaders: The development and formative evaluation of  "A School Leader's Guide to Evaluating Research." Paper presented at the American Evaluation Association annual conference, Orlando, FL.

Walser, T. M. (2009, March). Quasi-experiments and school-based research: The case for using a historical cohort comparison. Paper presented at the North Carolina Association for Research in Education annual conference [Virtual].

Current Grants

Principal Investigator, Formative Evaluation of a School Leader's Guide to Evaluating Research Grant , Charles L. Cahill Award, University of North Carolina Wilmington ($2,400; 2008-2009).

 

Co-Prinicipal Investigator, Hill Center Regional Educational Model Grant Evaluation Contract (with Karen Wetherill, UNCW; $223,676; 2008-2012).

 

Co-Principal Investigator, The Hill Center, Front Street Village, Carteret County Schools HillRAP Partnership Evaluation Contract , The Hill Center (with Karen Wetherill, UNCW; $230,825; 2008-2012).