Warren Simmons

Warren Simmons is Executive Director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. The Institute’s mission is to develop, share, and act on knowledge that improves the conditions and outcomes of schooling in America, especially in urban communities and in schools serving disadvantaged children. The Institute provides technical assistance and support to several multi-site urban education reform initiatives focused on high school transformation, district redesign, and K–12 improvements in teaching and learning. Before joining the Institute in 1998, Dr. Simmons was Executive Director of the Philadelphia Education Fund where he supported districtwide efforts to enact a ten-point reform agenda called Children Achieving. During his 30-year career Dr. Simmons has also designed and funded urban education research and policy initiatives at the National Institute of Education, the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, and at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Dr. Simmons has also worked directly with schools as special assistant to the superintendent in Prince George’s County Public Schools, and as Director of Race Equity Programs for the Mid-Atlantic Equity Center. Dr. Simmons received a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University. He serves on the boards of several national and local education organizations including the Public Education Network, PLATO Learning, Inc., the Merck Institute, the National Center on Education and the Economy, the Campaign for Educational Equity and the Cowen Institute’s National Advisory Council.