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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

Jared Bynum
Jared Bynum
Class: 2024
Areas of interest: Basketball, music, community service, mentorship, gaming
Tracie M. Benally
Tracie M. Benally
Class: 2024
Areas of interest: Federal Indian education policy, education policy, K-12 education, Indian Affairs, literacy, curriculum design, community-based partnerships, land-based learning, and culturally relevant pedagogy.
Ryan Duncan
Ryan Duncan
Class: 2024
Areas of interest: early childhood education, Indigenous language reclamation, federal Indian education policy, community-based interventions, curriculum development, educational linguistics, and systems change
Julianna Docking
Julianna Docking
Class: 2024
Areas of interest: early literacy, K-12 policy and implementation, early childhood education, science of reading, organizational change

View profiles of all students

Field project

Investing in Teacher Well-being: Building a Legacy of Lasting Change in the Redwood City-Sequoia Union High School District

Albert Lowe

This article explores the importance of investing in teacher well-being and building a legacy of lasting change in the Redwood City-Sequoia Union High School District. The author, Albert W. Lowe,...


POLS CSET Wipro Fellowship Field Project

Catherine Eng

The Wipro Fellowship selects K-12 science teacher leaders in partnering districts and invites them to a 2-year intensive professional development program. This program is aimed at improving...


Talent Lifecycle Design

Carmen Krefft and Elizabeth Tish

In partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, we developed a repository of skills, behaviors, and dispositions that every staff member should exhibit. This matrix will better...


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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