Gary T. Henry
Dean, College of Education and Human Development; Professor, Education | University of Delaware
Newark, DE, UNITED STATES
Prof. Henry specializes in education policy, educational evaluation, educator labor markets, and quantitative research methods.
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Biography
Gary T. Henry is dean of the University of Delaware’s College of Education and Human Development and professor in the School of Education and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration.
A respected researcher in the field of education, Henry specializes in education policy, educational evaluation, educator labor markets, and quantitative research methods. He has received over $29 million dollars of sponsored research funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Spencer Foundation, Lumina Foundation, National Institute for Early Childhood Research, Walton Family Foundation, John and Laura Arnold Foundation, and numerous state legislatures, governors’ offices and agencies.
Prior to joining UD in August 2019, Henry was the Patricia and H. Rodes Hart Chair and Professor of Public Policy and Education and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organization at Vanderbilt University. He previously held the Duncan MacRae ’09 and Rebecca Kyle MacRae Distinguished Professorship of Public Policy in the Department of Public Policy and directed the Carolina Institute for Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Henry earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Kentucky before attaining a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.
Henry has published extensively in top journals such as Science, Educational Researcher, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, American Educational Research Journal, Journal of Teacher Education, Education Finance and Policy, and Evaluation Review.
His most recent book, Evaluation: A Systematic Approach, 8th edition by Peter H. Rossi, Mark W. Lipsey, and Gary T. Henry, was published by SAGE Publications in 2018.
Industry Expertise (2)
Education/Learning
Public Policy
Areas of Expertise (4)
Education Policy
Educational Evaluation
Educator Labor Markets
Quantitative Research Methods
Answers (2)
Media Appearances (5)
Rising educators | UDaily
University of Delaware online
2023-03-31
“We were honored to sponsor the Delaware Educators Rising conference this year and present awards to the talented students in some of the Children’s Literature competition categories,” said Gary T. Henry, dean of CEHD and professor in the School of Education (SOE) and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration.
Outstanding contributions to Delaware | UDaily
University of Delaware online
2023-01-09
“Over the course of her impressive career, Holland dedicated herself to helping children develop literacy skills and serving our broader education communities,” said Gary T. Henry, dean of the CEHD and professor in the School of Education and the Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration.
Schools Increasingly Go Online During Disasters
VOA online
2022-09-20
As a result, most schools tried to move students to other in-person buildings, said Gary Henry. He is head of the University of Delaware’s College of Education and Human Development and has been part of a research team studying the effects of remote learning.
UD reimagines educator training with new initiative
Delaware Business Times online
2022-08-12
Starting this fall, the university is moving to a more holistic approach for training in launching the School Success Center, a merger of the two programs. The university is currently interviewing applicants for the center’s first director – candidates include in-state and out-of-state leaders – and expects to have someone in place for the fall semester said Gary Henry, dean of the UD’s College of Education and Human Development.
Credit recovery programs influence college readiness
The News Journal online
2020-02-07
High schools nationally continue to see increased graduation rates, a trend reflected in Delaware as well. But at the same time, because of increased access to credit recovery programs, college readiness numbers are not improving at the same rate, said Gary Henry, dean of the College of Education and Human Development.
Articles (5)
Spillover effects of recruiting teachers for school turnaround: Evidence from Tennessee
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis2023 Many districts and states have implemented incentives to recruit teachers to low-performing schools, and previous research has found evidence that these incentives are effective at attracting teachers. However, effects on the schools and students these teachers leave behind have not been examined. This study focuses on the spillover effects of recruiting effective teachers to Tennessee’s Innovation Zone (iZone) schools. We find the short-term effects of losing these teachers range from −0.04 to −0.12 SDs in student test score gains, with larger negative effects when more effective teachers leave. However, combining both these negative effects in schools teachers leave and the positive effects in iZone schools yields overall net positive effects.
Development and Validation of a Tool to Examine Program-Wide Implementation of the Pyramid Model
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions2023 In recent years, there has been increased attention regarding systems-level implementation to support the sustained use of evidence-based interventions and supports in authentic early childhood settings. With this comes a need to accurately measure implementation fidelity of the critical features within a framework as well as individual practices. Program-Wide Support for Pyramid Model Implementation (PWS-PMI) provides an approach for early childhood programs to develop such a framework that can underpin evidence-based practices in their classrooms. This article describes an evaluation of the technical properties of the Supporting Program-wide Implementation Fidelity Instrument (SPIFI), a fidelity tool that was developed to be used by typical evaluators to measure PWS-PMI in these settings.
Multiple Paths to Evaluation Influence and Social Betterment
Evaluation Roots: Theory Influencing Practice2023 In this chapter, we describe the key components of our theory of evaluation practice. Our theory does not specify a single approach to evaluation. Rather, it presents a contingent approach, tailored to the specific context in which an evaluation is planned and implemented, and to the specific pathways available in that context for improving social conditions, a goal we refer to as social betterment. Our approach is premised on the idea that evaluation exists to improve the accuracy of information about such things as the description of programs, the people they serve, and the outcomes they produce. This is the reason evaluation rests on the application of systematic research methods. A second key premise of our approach is that evaluation exists to help move us toward social betterment.
Online Credit Recovery as an Intervention for High School Students Who Fail Courses
Educational Policy2023 Online credit recovery (OCR) refers to online courses that high school students take after previously failing the course. Many have suggested that OCR courses are helping students to graduate from high school without corresponding increases in academic skills. This study analyzes administrative data from the state of North Carolina to evaluate the efficacy of OCR using full data from public and private OCR providers. Findings indicate that students who fail courses and enroll in OCR are 20 percentage points more likely to earn course credit, have lower test scores of up to two tenths of a standard deviation, and are about eight percentage points more likely to graduate high school within 4 years than students who repeat courses traditionally.
Accountability-driven school reform: are there unintended effects on younger children in untested grades?
Early Childhood Research Quarterly2022 Test-based accountability pressures have had mixed effects on the student outcomes that they are intended to improve. Accountability policies have also resulted in transfers of less effective teachers into untested early grades and more effective teachers in early grades into tested grades, which could yield unintended negative consequences. In this study, we use a sharp regression discontinuity design to examine the effects of accountability-driven school reform on student outcomes and teacher mobility in 38 elementary schools assigned to reform in North Carolina. We find evidence of a small increase in chronic absenteeism and grade retention in grades K-2 in the first year of reforms.
Accomplishments (5)
Ranked 58 Among Top 200 Scholars in 2023 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) (professional)
2023
Most Outstanding Policy Report, American Educational Research Association (professional)
2017
American Educational Research Association Fellow (professional)
2015
Joseph S. Wholey Distinguished Scholarship Award, American Society for Public Administration (professional)
2001
Outstanding Evaluation of the Year Award, American Evaluation Association (professional)
1998
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Languages (1)
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