Warren Simmons

Executive Director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR)

Warren Simmons directs the work of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) at Brown University and team-teaches a course in Urban Systems and Structure in Brown University's Urban Education Policy Master’s Program. AISR’s mission is to improve outcomes and practices in urban schools, especially those serving economically disadvantaged students. Before joining the Institute in 1998, he was founding director of the Philadelphia Education Fund, a reform support organization that helped the School District of Philadelphia to fund, develop, and implement new academic standards, content-based professional development, standards-based curriculum resources, and comprehensive school reform, as part of the Children Achievingreform agenda. Previously, at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, he developed and funded initiatives on community development and urban school reform. He also served as director of equity initiatives for the New Standards Project, a coalition of seventeen states and six school districts piloting the development of shared standards and assessments, and as special assistant to the superintendent of schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where he planned and/or implemented district-wide initiatives on improving the achievement of traditionally underserved students.

Dr. Simmons received a B.A. in psychology from Macalester College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University. He is a recent recipient of the Distinguished Citizens Award from the National Governors Association and has served on the advisory groups and boards of several prominent national organizations including the National Center on Education and the Economy, Public Education Network, the Merck Institute, the National Equity Project, PLATO Learning, Inc., and the Campaign for Educational Equity. He is an advisor to the Aspen Urban Superintendents' Network and the California Collaborative--a network of superintendents from 11 districts in California.

In addition, he has served as a member of the California Collaborative, the Board of the College Crusade of Rhode Island, the Cowen Institute’s National Advisory Council, the Board of Directors for the Southern Education Foundation, and the Pew Forum. He was chair of the Rhode Island Urban Education Task Force, convened by Governor Donald Carcieri, and a member of the National Commission on Civic Investment in Public Education, convened by Public Education Network. He currently co-chairs the Aspen Urban Superintendents Network, and he was recently appointed by the National Research Council (NRC) to serve on the NRC's Committee on Strengthening Science Education Through a Teacher Learning Continuum. Additionally, Dr. Simmons was recently elected a trustee at Roger Williams University and a member of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation board of directors.