Sean Kelly

Organization/Institution
University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)
About Me (Bio)
Sean Kelly (PhD, Sociology; University of Wisconsin-Madison) is Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy. He studies the social organization of schools, student engagement, and teacher effectiveness. In these areas he is known for applying an especially interdisciplinary approach to the scientific study of educational problems and solutions. Dr. Kelly’s current research includes development and testing of instructional observation systems based on fine-grained, automated measures of classroom discourse. This work is based on Kelly and colleagues’ seminal proof-of-concept research on automatically detecting authentic questions (Educational Researcher, 2018), and subsequent projects developing the Teacher Talk Tool (with Sidney D’Mello). This research led to the development of The Agnostic Theory of Professional Learning (Kelly, 2023, Education Policy Analysis Archives). Kelly and D’Mello have now partnered with TeachFX, the industry leader in technology-enabled instructional feedback, to continue their ground-breaking work on effective and efficient professional observation and feedback. Kelly served as co-editor of the American Educational Research Journal from 2019-2024.
Keywords
Professional Development
Teacher Practice
Discourse

Enhancing the Future of Teacher Practice via AI-Enabled Formative Feedback for Job-Embedded Learning (Collaborative Research: Kelly)

University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)
11/01/2023

This project envisions a future of work where advanced technologies provide automated, job-embedded, individualized feedback to drive professional learning of the future worker. To achieve this goal, it addresses a fundamental question: Are evaluative or non-evaluative feedback systems more effective in driving professional learning? This question will be tested on professionals where objective, fine-grained feedback is especially critical to improvement--the teaching professions. This research will be situated within English and language arts (ELA) instruction in middle and high school classrooms, where underperformance and inequality in literacy outcomes are persistent problems facing the U.S. Current methods of supporting teacher learning through feedback are sparse, cumbersome, subjective, and evaluative. Thus, a major reconceptualization is needed to provide feedback mechanisms that- meaningfully affect teacher practice and are accessible to all. In partnership with TeachFX, an industry leader in technology-enabled instructional feedback, this project will work with teachers to design and test systems of automated feedback. Insights from the study will lead to feedback systems that empower teaching professionals, generate continued professional learning, and ultimately, increase student achievement.