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Students & Alumni

POLS students are ambitious and action-oriented. They come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, including teaching, school systems leadership, business, education technology, and government. What they share is a desire to develop the skills and knowledge they need to be effective leaders.

POLS cohorts bring together small, diverse groups of students to widen each other’s view of leadership in various domains of education. Peer learning and support form a key component of the program, modeling the connectivity and collaboration crucial to education leadership. Moreover, POLS students graduate with a network of connections that extends beyond the program year.

Our students

Devon Winsor
Devon Winsor
Class: 2022
Areas of interest: education equity, curriculum construction, learning experience design, utilizing edtech to address inequities and create effective instruction, teacher education
Chee Wing Chan
Chee Wing Chan
Class: 2022
Areas of interest: early childhood, organizational culture, teacher retention and career development
Cordy McJunkins
Cordy McJunkins
Class: 2022
Areas of interest: higher education, postsecondary access, legal issues, school finance, school reform, poverty and inequality
Thu Cung
Thu Cung
Class: 2022
Areas of interest: special education, (dis)ability studies, critical race theory, intersectionality, social theory, radical imagination, liberation

View profiles of all students

Field project

Building Cooperative Models in Higher Education

Ana Machado

Since the beginning of the last century, co-operative models in Higher Education are partnership models that connect universities and hiring organizations, with the main objective of integrating...


What’s in a Coaching Call? Analysis of Teacher-Leadership Program Coaching Calls at Stanford’s Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET)

Chris Lacopo

Analysis of over 400 minutes of virtual coaching calls between coaches at Stanford’s Center to Support Excellence in Teaching and emerging teacher-leaders yielded insight into the essence of...


The Healing Power of Nature: Increasing Access to East Bay Regional Parks’ Health Benefits for Oakland’s Diverse Residents

Clare McLaughlin and Meg Pantell

The East Bay Regional Park system (EBRP) is an expansive natural space in Oakland, a racially and economically diverse urban community in California. This study interviewed local park visitors to...


Life after POLS

POLS graduates are well prepared to lead in a wide range of roles and contexts. Alumni work in school and district settings, higher education, education philanthropies, corporate and educational recruiting, and government. Below are a few examples of positions held by POLS alumni.

Higher education

Assistant Dean of Students, Oberlin College
Native American Liaison, Stanford Undergraduate Admissions Office
Instructor, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth

K–12 leadership

Assistant Principal, Noble Network of Charter Schools
Literacy Coordinator, Harlem Children’s Zone
Academic Program Manager, Summit Public Schools

School networks, districts, government

Data Analyst, Boston Public Schools
Assistant Budget and Policy Analyst, State of Oregon
Legislative Assistant, United States Senate

Educational intermediaries and ed tech

Instructional Design Specialist, Coursera
Program Manager, Reading Partners
Education Analyst, Emerson Collective

The Graduate School of Education’s EdCareers office provides career education and counseling, job listings, career fairs and other resources to GSE students and alumni. 

Visit EdCareers

What you need to know

Admission requirements

To learn more about requirements for admission, please visit the Application Requirements page.

Financing your education

To learn more about the cost of the program and options for financial support, please visit Financing Your Master’s Degree on the admissions website.

Contact admissions

For admissions webinars and to connect with the admission office, see our  Connect and Visit page.

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