Research

Research Agenda

My research agenda focuses on the development of learning communities as it relates to teacher leadership, collaborative inquiry communities, and developing teacher practice through professional development. I primarily use qualitative methods to study the professional development of teachers in learning communities within their schools to better understand and describe how leaders can develop the culture and systems necessary to support innovative teaching and improve student learning. Within my projects, I integrate my research with my content expertise by providing specific subject-matter professional development for teachers, while studying the development of the collaborative inquiry communities that are created as the teachers improve their own understanding of the content with others.
In addition to my research related to professional learning communities in professional development for teachers in K-12 schools, I am connecting this work to research in developing learning communities with university students. Specifically, I am examining how instructors facilitate community learning in traditionally lecture-based university classes, and how instructors orchestrate productive online discussions to create communities in online and hybrid classes.

Selected Publications:

Ciampa, K., Wolfe, Z. & Hensley, M.* (2024). From entry to transformation: Exploring AI integration in teachers' K-12 assessment practices. 1-20. Technology, Pedagogy and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2024.2413378

Ciampa, K. Wolfe, Z. & Storey, J. (2024). Faculty perceptions of the impact of professional development on online teaching practices. Journal of Research Technology in Education, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2024.2398518

Ciampa, K., Wolfe, Z., & Bronstein, B. (2023). ChatGPT in education: Transforming digital literacy practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1310

Wolfe, Z. (2024). Program supports for first-generation doctoral students in education: A faculty perspective. In Parker-Shandal, C. (Ed.) First-Gen Docs: Personal, Political, and Intellectual Perspectives from the First-Generation Doctoral Experience. (pp. 153-164). Brill Academic Publishers.

Zigmont, B.* & Wolfe, Z., (2022). Sources of STEM and STEM career messaging for adolescent English learners. Science Educator, 28(2), 107-117.

Turk, E.*, & Wolfe, Z. (2022, Spring). Resonant leadership: The key to sustainability for school leaders. The Pennsylvania Administrator. 26(2), 22-23, 27.

Ciampa, K. & Wolfe, Z., (2020). From isolation to collaboration: Creating an intentional community of practice within the dissertation proposal writing process. Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1822313

Ciampa, K. & Wolfe, Z. (2020). Integrating character education into an elementary Common Core standards-aligned curriculum: A pilot study. Curriculum Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-020-00116-2

Mahaffey, A.*, Wolfe, Z., Ciampa, K., (2020). Elementary principals’ knowledge of and expectations for specialized literacy professionals. Journal of Organizational and Educational Leadership, 5(2). https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/joel/vol5/iss2/6

Wolfe, Z., & McCarthy, J.* (2020). Building on existing brick-and-mortar practices in online spaces. In Ferdig, R.E., Baumgartner, E., Hartshorne, R., Kaplan-Rakowski, R. & Mouza, C. (Eds.) Teaching, Technology, and Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stories from the Field. (pp. 145-147). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/216903/

McCarthy, J.* & Wolfe, Z. (2020). Engaging parents through school-wide strategies for online instruction. In Ferdig, R.E., Baumgartner, E., Hartshorne, R., Kaplan-Rakowski, R. & Mouza, C. (Eds.) Teaching, Technology, and Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stories from the Field. (pp. 7-12). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/216903/

Wolfe, Z. (2019). “You explore, I guide, we learn!”: Developing an inquiry-based teaching curriculum, Childhood Education, 95(4). 30-35. doi:10.1080/00094056.2019.1638710

Turk, E.*, & Wolfe, Z. (2019). Principals’ perceived relationship between relationship between emotional intelligence, resilience, and resonant leadership throughout their career. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 14(1). 147-169.

Ciampa, K., & Wolfe, Z. (2019). Preparing for dissertation writing: Doctoral education students’ perceptions. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. doi:10.1108/SGPE-03-2019-0039

Wolfe, Z., & McCarthy, J.* (2018, Spring). Supporting and evaluating teaching in an online or blended classroom. The Pennsylvania Administrator, 22(2). 23-25. retrieved from http://online.anyflip.com/scae/eapn/mobile/index.html#p=25

Wolfe, Z. & Brown, R. (2017). Navigating the bridge between teachers and administrators. The New Jersey Mathematics Teacher: Journal of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey, 75 (1). 17-25. Retrieved from: http://amtnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/NJMathTeacherSP17.pdf

Furtak, E., Glasser, H., & Wolfe, Z. (2016). The feedback loop: Using formative assessment data for science teaching and learning. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Wolfe, Z. (2017, November). Using protocols in online discussions. NSRF Connections. National School Reform Faculty.

Herrmann, Z., & Wolfe, Z. (2017, March 17). Creating a culture of entrepreneurship in schools. [blog post]. retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/getting-beyond- teacherpreneur- zachary-herrmann-zora-wolfe

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