Biography

Kim Metcalf is a nationally recognized expert on education policy, school vouchers, and charter schools. His early research examined teaching behaviors found to significantly enhance student learning, garnering national recognition for its quality and research methodology. Collectively, this work serves as a basis for the textbook The Act of Teaching.

Metcalf began his career as a high school band and orchestra director in Indiana before pursuing graduate degrees in teacher education and educational research and evaluation. He spent time much of his early career as a professor of curriculum and and instruction at Indiana University, where he served as director of an experimental program for the development and testing of clinical and experiential training of education professionals; directed one of the first alternative teacher licensure programs in Indiana; and established the Indiana Center for Evaluation, which focused on evaluation of educational programs and policy at the state and national levels.

In his role as director of the Evaluation Center, Metcalf led a nearly 10-year effort to conduct what remains the most intensive study of school choice in the U.S. This monitored a range of factors associated with the progress and family contexts of nearly 40,000 children who attended public, private, voucher-funded, magnet, and charter schools in Cleveland, Ohio from kindergarten through 8th grade. The work was recognized by the U.S. Office of Budget and Accountability for its objectivity and rigor and was named the Outstanding Evaluation of 2004 by the American Evaluation Association.

Metcalf has served as the dean of the College of Education at UNLV and the University of West Georgia, as well as chair of the board of directors for the American Association of College for Teacher Education. He has also held positions as associate superintendent for research in Bloomington, Indiana, and vice president for the Office of Research and Sponsored Operations at the University of West Georgia.