About Me

I am an assistant professor of Education Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. My research uses qualitative methods to investigate state level educational policy implementation and school-community partnerships, particularly in the context of rural communities. My recent research combines organizational change theory with concepts from political science to understand how individuals, groups, and organizations mobilize and develop shared understandings that shape action at the school, community, and state policy levels. My current projects include an ethnographic study of statewide policy network in the area of early childhood workforce and a case study of a rural community coalition to support children and families across school and community settings. I have special interests in early childhood education, birth to age 8, and rural communities.



I previously served as a research assistant at the University at Albany on two large-scale, cross-case studies of Common Core and Race to the Top implementation in New York State. Before that, I served as a graduate assistant in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at Albany and have taught special education in rural and urban settings at the pre-k to 3rd-grade level.
Currently, I teach courses in qualitative research and systems-level continuous improvement and advise both Ed.D. and M.Ed. students.

Selected Publications

Zuckerman, S.J. Wilcox, K.C., Durand, F.T., Schiller, K.S., Lawson, H.A. (2018). Absorptive Capacity in Rural Schools: Bending not Breaking during Disruptive Innovation Implementation. Journal of Research in Rural Education.

Zuckerman, S.J. Wilcox, K.C., Durand, F.T., Lawson, H.A., Schiller, K.S. (2017) Drivers for Change: A Study of Distributed Leadership and Performance Adaptation during Policy Innovation Implementation. Leadership and Policy in Schools. 1-29. 

Lawson, H.A., Durand, F.T., Wilcox, K.C., Gregory, K.M., Schiller, K.S., Zuckerman, S.J. (2017). The Role of District and School Leaders’ Trust and Communications in the Simultaneous Implementation of Innovative Policies. Journal of School Leadership. 27, 31-67.

Zuckerman, S.J. (2016) Mobilization and Adaptation of a Rural Cradle-to-Career Network. Educational Sciences. 6(4) 34. 

Research Reports

Zuckerman, S.J. (2016).Organizing For Collective Impact in a Rural Cradle-To-Career Network: Synopsis. Report to funders and study participants.

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•132 Teachers Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 68588• szuckerman2@unl.edu•
Twitter: @DrSZuckerman