Jennifer Clayton

Jennifer Clayton
Associate Professor, Educational Administration
(757) 269-2203
claytonj@gwu.edu

Jennifer K. Clayton is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Administration and director of the Educational Leadership and Administration programs.

Dr. Clayton's research on leadership development, the educational administration internship, and professional learning for school leaders has appeared in over 40 publications and more than 50 presentations to school districts and research conferences. Dr. Clayton has been nominated for several teaching awards at GW, including the Bender Teaching Award during the 2017-2018 academic year and previously the Honey Nashman Spark-A-Life award. She teaches courses to doctoral and graduate students in school leadership, support and development of teachers, and writing/research.

Prior to her work in higher education, Dr. Clayton served as a Social Studies teacher and in administrative roles in several school districts around the country. Dr. Clayton holds a PhD and EdS in Educational Leadership from Old Dominion University, MA in Educational Administration from Rutgers University, and BA in History, with minors in Secondary Education and Sociology from James Madison University.

Education
Ph.D., Old Dominion University
M.A., Rutgers University
B.A., James Madison University
Programs

Publications

Clayton, J., & Myran, S. (2013). Content and context of the administrative internship: How mentoring and sustained activities impact preparation. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 21(1).

Thessin, R., & Clayton, J. (2013). Perspectives of school leaders on the administrative Internship. Journal of Educational Administration, 51(6), 790-81.

Clayton, J., Sanzo. K, & Myran, S. (2013). Understanding mentoring as leadership development: Perspectives of district administrators and aspiring leaders. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 8(1).

In the News

Dr. Rebecca Thessin, Dr. Jennifer Clayton, and doctoral student Tamilah Richardson (Educational Administration) attended and presented at the University Council for Educational Administration conference in Houston, Texas. Dr. Thessin led a Critical Conversation on the topic of instructional and leadership coaching with Shelby Cosner (UIC) and Sarah Woulfin (UCONN). She also organized a symposium entitled, “System Support for School-Based Instructional Leadership: An Interactive Symposium” in which she presented a paper. Dr. Clayton presented a paper entitled, "Equity-Minded Leadership: How School Leaders Make Meaning of Building Mindsets and Practices." Tamilah Richardson gave a presentation entitled, “Exploring How to Mitigate the Early Career Minority Teacher Shortage Through Teacher Leadership.” They also collectively attended and facilitated the Leadership for School Improvement Business Meeting while they were in Houston.

Dr. Beth Tuckwiller, Dr. Olga Price (Associate Professor in Prevention and Community Health in the Milken Institute School of Public Health; Director, Center for Health and Health Care in Schools), and Dr. Jennifer Clayton are recipients of the Cross Disciplinary Research Fund (CDRF) award to support their research project: "A Mixed Methods Exploration of School-Based Wellbeing in the U.S."

Dr. Rebecca Thessin, Dr. Jennifer Clayton, and GSEHD alumna Dr. Kim Jamison (Ed.D., Educational Administration) recently published an article in the Journal of Research on Leadership Education entitled, “Profiles of the Administrative Internship: The Mentor/Intern Partnership in Facilitating Leadership Experiences.”

Dr. Rebecca Thessin and Dr. Jennifer Clayton presented a paper entitled “A Exploration of a New Superintendent’s Transition Team as a Facilitator of Organizational Socialization of Senior District Administrators” at the University Council of Educational Administration conference in Denver, Colorado on November 16, 2017. Dr. Thessin also organized and participated in a Critical Conversation with researchers and practitioners in a session entitled, “Supporting Principals’ Instructional Leadership Development from Central Office: The Current and Future Role of the Principal Supervisor” at this conference.

Dr. Jennifer Clayton and Dr. Rebecca Thessin recently published a paper in Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning entitled Voices of Educational Administration Internship Mentors.