Roxanne M. Mitchell, Ed.D.
Roxanne M. Mitchell is Professor of Educational Administration in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Technology Studies at The University of Alabama (UA) where she has taught for the past 15 years. She served for one year as the Interim Department Chair of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from Summer 2020 through Summer 2021. She was the Program Chair for the Educational Leadership Program at UA for three years and the Program Chair of the Educational Specialist Program for two years.
Professor Mitchell received her B.A. in Psychology from Oral Roberts University in 1982, her M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern State University in 1991, and her Ed.D. in Educational Administration from Oklahoma State University in 2004 along with a Certificate in International Studies also from Oklahoma State University in 2004.
Her primary research interests are in the areas of educational leadership, organizational theory, international education, and school culture; with an emphasis on trust in schools and academic optimism. Her research in the area of trust in schools along with colleagues from Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma has been acknowledged in the literature as a collection of important studies on trust relationships in schools and is cited as the Oklahoma Trust Studies.
She received a Literati Award from the Journal of Educational Administration in 2014 for her co-authored article entitled "Student Academic Optimism & Student Achievement: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis." She regularly publishes articles in the most prestigious journals in educational administration such as the Educational Administration Quarterly, the Journal of Educational Administration, and the Journal of School Leadership. Recent articles include, "Academic optimism and enabling school structure: Predictors of professional learning communities" co-authored with Julie Gray, Ph.D. and published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation in 2021; "Enabling School Structure" published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education in 2020, and "Enabling School Structure and Transformational School Leadership: Promoting Increased Organizational Citizenship and Professional Teacher Behavior, published in Leadership & Policy in Schools in 2019.
She has presented more than 30 papers at peer reviewed national conferences such as the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). She currently serves on the editorial review boards for the Journal of Research in Leadership Education, the Journal of School Leadership, and the Journal of Research on Organization in Education. She serves as an external reviewer for the Educational Administration Quarterly, the Journal of Educational Administration, the Journal of School Public Relations, the International Journal of Educational Management, the Sociology of Education Journal, and the International Journal of Leadership Education. Professor Mitchell also serves as a reviewer, chair, and discussant for AERA and UCEA and has been a Barbara Jackson Alumni Mentor (a mentoring program established to assist new professors of color in their first academic assignment). She also serves as a mentor for the Rising Tide Mentor Program (a program established to mentor first generation graduate students) and the International Friends Mentoring Program (a program established to provide mentoring for international students at the University of Alabama and Stillman College).
Professor Mitchell also holds a M.Div. equivalency from United Theological Seminary. As a part of her service to the community she is an ordained Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) Church and serves as the pastor of Jerusalem AME Zion Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She is the proud parent of three adult children and the grandmother of two grandchildren.
Professor Mitchell received her B.A. in Psychology from Oral Roberts University in 1982, her M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern State University in 1991, and her Ed.D. in Educational Administration from Oklahoma State University in 2004 along with a Certificate in International Studies also from Oklahoma State University in 2004.
Her primary research interests are in the areas of educational leadership, organizational theory, international education, and school culture; with an emphasis on trust in schools and academic optimism. Her research in the area of trust in schools along with colleagues from Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma has been acknowledged in the literature as a collection of important studies on trust relationships in schools and is cited as the Oklahoma Trust Studies.
She received a Literati Award from the Journal of Educational Administration in 2014 for her co-authored article entitled "Student Academic Optimism & Student Achievement: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis." She regularly publishes articles in the most prestigious journals in educational administration such as the Educational Administration Quarterly, the Journal of Educational Administration, and the Journal of School Leadership. Recent articles include, "Academic optimism and enabling school structure: Predictors of professional learning communities" co-authored with Julie Gray, Ph.D. and published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation in 2021; "Enabling School Structure" published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education in 2020, and "Enabling School Structure and Transformational School Leadership: Promoting Increased Organizational Citizenship and Professional Teacher Behavior, published in Leadership & Policy in Schools in 2019.
She has presented more than 30 papers at peer reviewed national conferences such as the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). She currently serves on the editorial review boards for the Journal of Research in Leadership Education, the Journal of School Leadership, and the Journal of Research on Organization in Education. She serves as an external reviewer for the Educational Administration Quarterly, the Journal of Educational Administration, the Journal of School Public Relations, the International Journal of Educational Management, the Sociology of Education Journal, and the International Journal of Leadership Education. Professor Mitchell also serves as a reviewer, chair, and discussant for AERA and UCEA and has been a Barbara Jackson Alumni Mentor (a mentoring program established to assist new professors of color in their first academic assignment). She also serves as a mentor for the Rising Tide Mentor Program (a program established to mentor first generation graduate students) and the International Friends Mentoring Program (a program established to provide mentoring for international students at the University of Alabama and Stillman College).
Professor Mitchell also holds a M.Div. equivalency from United Theological Seminary. As a part of her service to the community she is an ordained Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) Church and serves as the pastor of Jerusalem AME Zion Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She is the proud parent of three adult children and the grandmother of two grandchildren.