Kyla Wahlstrom

Kyla L. Wahlstrom, PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow in the College of Education and Human Development, and also a Lecturer in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development (OLPD). Most recently, Dr. Wahlstrom was the Director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) from 2003-2015. Prior to her appointment at CAREI in 1990, she had 19 years of public school experience as a classroom teacher and special education teacher, school principal and district administrator. Her current research is centered on the impact of later starting times for high schools, the link between school/district leadership and student achievement, the professional development of teachers, and the role of standards in school reform.

Profile

Kyla L. Wahlstrom, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development (OLPD) in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, where she has worked for the past 26 years. Most recently she was the Director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI). Dr. Wahlstrom received her Ph.D. degree in the area of educational policy development with a focus on school change. Prior to her appointment at the University of Minnesota in 1990, she had 19 years of school experience as an elementary classroom teacher, a special education teacher, a school principal, and a district administrator of special education.

She is the primary investigator of the original research on school start times begun in 1996. In 2010 she was awarded a federal grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue research on the outcomes for later school start times. Her 20-year study of the effect of the later start time on high school students has influenced school policies across the U.S., and has been featured in publications and media ranging from Congressional Quarterly and Rolling Stone Magazine to Scientific American, Newsweek, NPR’s All Things Considered and PBS’ Frontline. Dr. Wahlstrom is the recipient of the MASCD National Research Award for her ground-breaking study of the effects of later starting times for high schools.
 
Her other investigative work has also affected the lives of thousands children, such as researching the longitudinal outcomes for students in all-day kindergarten and examining the effects of elementary breakfast programs on learning. Dr. Wahlstrom was the primary investigator on Learning from Leadership, a six-year national research study (2004-2010) funded by The Wallace Foundation, which investigated the link between school leadership and student achievement. This is the largest study on this topic ever conducted. From 1993-2001, Dr. Wahlstrom was the lead American investigator on an international research project involving Russia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom focused on the issue of reform of Russian education and changing the instructional practices of classroom teachers in the former USSR.

Publications include one book, several book chapters, and numerous journal articles and technical monographs used by educational leaders to shape policy decisions across the US. As an adjunct faculty member, Dr. Wahlstrom teaches graduate classes on topics of educational change, research methods, and conceptions of leadership.

Courses Taught

OLPD 8104 Innovative Systems Thinking in Educational Culture

Awards and Honors

• 2000 National Leadership Award - for research having national impact, Minnesota Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (January 2001)
• Outstanding Professional Academic Award (chosen to be one of five recipients for this award out of 3,000 employees), University of Minnesota (May 2000)
• Guest editor of a five-article special section for journal, Phi Delta Kappan (January 1999)
• Named twice to be a member of the 4-person faculty team that traveled to Russia and Ukraine to provide cultural and programmatic orientation to Russian and Ukrainian faculty scholars coming to America for a year of study, Fulbright Office, Washington, DC (June 1997 & July 1998)
• Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Regional Award, Phi Delta Kappa (1990)