Dr. Abe Tekleselassie

Abebayehu Tekleselassie headshot

Dr. Abe Tekleselassie

Professor, Educational Administration


School: Graduate School of Education and Human Development

Department: Educational Leadership

Contact:

Office Phone: (202) 994-0132

Dr. Tekleselassie is a Professor of Educational Leadership and Administration and a former Fulbright Scholar to Ethiopia. Dr. Tekleselassie’s research focuses broadly on school leadership preparation, development, and retention and includes both western and non-western contexts. His research is at the intersection of three major strands. The first strand examines the recruitment, preparation, and development of school leaders in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a focus on Ethiopia. The second strand explores school principal turnover and retention in the U.S., identifying policies and norms that contribute to a sustainable educational leadership force in school systems. The third strand focuses on program partnerships and the need to link research to clinical practice in educational leadership preparation, in both the US and other countries. Dr. Tekleselassie’s work appeared in nearly 30 peer-reviewed publications and over 50 peer-reviewed international and national presentations. He teaches courses to doctoral and graduate students in Educational Leadership and Administration and supervises doctoral dissertations.

Previously, Dr. Tekleselassie was a high school principal in Ethiopia, on faculty at Georgia Southern University, GA, and a Department Chair and a Lecturer at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.


Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo

M.A., Addis Ababa University

B.A., Addis Ababa University

Tekleselassie, A.(2023). The Principalship as a career: Analyzing the factors shaping interest in the principalship in Ethiopia. Journal of Leadership and Policy in Schools. DOI: 10.1080/15700763.2023.2178465 

Alexander, T., Tekleselassie, A., Nganga, C., & Clayton, J.(2023). Academic Excellence: The Cultural and Black Identity Experiences of African American Adolescent Males within the School Context. Journal of Negro Education (forthcoming). 

Ford, A., Tekleselassie, A. (2022). Design considerations and implementation of the first cohort of an international partnership in educational administration. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 17, 1(117-130).

Tekleselassie, A. & DeCuir, A. (2021). Implementers as filters of fit and quality: Towards Indigenous and locally responsive leadership preparation program in Ethiopia. Journal of Research on Leadership Education. DOI:10.1177/19427751211053560.

Tekleselassie, A. & Roach, V. (2021). Leveraging women’s leadership talent to promote a social justice agenda in Ethiopian schools. Teachers College Record, 123(8), 176-201. 

Tekleselassie, A. (2020). Reaffirming ISEP’s humanistic vision of transforming education in the world. Educational Planning, 27(3), 9-12.

Tekleselassie, A. & Choi, J. (2019). Understanding school principal attrition and mobility through hierarchical generalized liner modeling. Educational Policy. Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904819857825.

Tekleselassie, A. & Ford, A. (2019). Planning and Implementing Mutually Beneficial International Partnership in Educational Leadership between U.S. and Middle Eastern Institutions. International Journal of Educational Reform, 28 (2), 179-206.

Jamison, K., Clayton, J., & Tekleselassie, A., & Swayze, S. (2018). The nexus between theory and practice: How the transformative initiative pathway improved clinical practice for educational leadership preparation. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 13 (1), 1-13.

Hatton, H., Howard, L., & Tekleselassie, A. (2017). How external influences effect elementary rural principals’ ability to program for students? Planning and Changing, 48 (2), 1-23.

Clayton, J., Jamison, K., & Tekleselassie, A. (2017). Linking research to clinical practice: Insight from the transformational pathways in administrator preparation. Educational Planning, 24 (3), 45-59.

Marshack, S., Tekleselassie, A., & Swayze, S. (2015). The simultaneous education of an immigrant parent and secondary school child. Education Policy and Current Practices, 2(1), 1-17.

Tekleselassie, A., Mallery, C., & Choi J. (2013). Applying the multilevel model to unpack the gender gap in college access among African Americans. The Journal of Negro Education, 82 (2), 139-156.

Tekleselassie, A. & Villarreal, P. (2011). Career mobility and departure intentions among school principals in the United States: Incentives and the disincentives. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 10, (10), 251-293.

Alemu, D & Tekleselassie, A. (2011). Comparative analysis of instructional language issues in Ethiopia and the United States. Journal of Creative Education, 2 (4), 402-407.

Tekleselassie, A. (2010). Demystifying Conventional Assumptions: Do African American parents anticipate investing less toward their children’s college costs than their white peers? Journal of Student Financial Aid, 40 (2), 5-20.

Rusell, B.. & Tekleselassie, A., Turnbull, D. Arthur, L., & Burnham, J. (2008). Comparison in academic performance between distance and on-campus students in allied healthcare education. Journal of Allied Health, 27, 1E-21E.

Tekleselassie, A. (2006). Crossing traditional boundaries: How do practitioners and university faculty describe their experience with educational research literature?. Journal of Educational Research and Reviews, 1 (6), 180-191.

Daniel, A. & Tekleselassie, A. (2006). Instructional language policy in Ethiopia: Motivated by politics or the educational needs of children. Journal of Planning and Changing, 37 (3), 151-161.

Tekleselassie, A. (2005). Teachers’ career ladder policy in Ethiopia: An opportunity for professional growth or “a stick disguised as a carrot?”. International Journal of Educational Development, 25, 618-636.

Tekleselassie, A. & Johnstone, D.B. (2004). Means testing: The dilemma of targeting subsidies in African Higher Education. Journal of Higher Education in Africa,2 (2), 135-158

Tekleselassie, A. (2002). The de-professionalization of school principalship: Implications for reforming school leadership in Ethiopia. Journal of International Studies in Educational Administration, 30(3), 57-64

Tekleselassie, A. (2000). Problems of gender equity in institutions of higher learning in Ethiopia. In A. Amare et.al. (Eds.), Quality Education in Ethiopia: Vision for the 21st Century. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Printing Press.

  • November 2023Drs. Leslie Trimmer and Abe Tekleselassie presented, “Enhancing Leadership Course Development with an Equity-Centered Focus,” at the International Society of Educational Planning 2023 Annual Conference. 
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