Natalie Spitzer
Natalie Spitzer is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests center around the intersection of climate change and education, examining the effects of natural disasters on under-resourced school and systems, increasing the knowledge exchange between researchers and school administrators in order to advance and support practice, and school-community resiliency in the face of disaster.
Natalie's career in education started as an early childhood educator at a Reggio Emilia-inspired school in Brooklyn, New York, immediately following Hurricane Sandy. She saw first-hand the impact that a natural disaster can have on a school system, students, and community and started to explore themes of equity and access, community building, and the role of school administrators as community leaders. She earned her Master's degree from New York University's Steinhardt School of Education, Culture, and Human Development in Sociology of Education, conducting qualitative research for her Masters thesis on school administrative response to extreme flooding and the organizational barriers to progress post-disaster. Most recently, Natalie worked for the Division of Early Childhood Education at the New York City Department of Education on the Teaching & Learning team. There, she and her team developed professional development and coaching systems, and conducted research, in order to support high quality instruction in early childhood classrooms across the city.
Natalie's career in education started as an early childhood educator at a Reggio Emilia-inspired school in Brooklyn, New York, immediately following Hurricane Sandy. She saw first-hand the impact that a natural disaster can have on a school system, students, and community and started to explore themes of equity and access, community building, and the role of school administrators as community leaders. She earned her Master's degree from New York University's Steinhardt School of Education, Culture, and Human Development in Sociology of Education, conducting qualitative research for her Masters thesis on school administrative response to extreme flooding and the organizational barriers to progress post-disaster. Most recently, Natalie worked for the Division of Early Childhood Education at the New York City Department of Education on the Teaching & Learning team. There, she and her team developed professional development and coaching systems, and conducted research, in order to support high quality instruction in early childhood classrooms across the city.
