James A. Martinez
ADDRESS
James A. Martinez
Associate Professor of Practice
James Martinez’s 30 years of instructional and leadership experiences include roles in K-12 schools and higher education. He currently serves as an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
After six years as an engineer working on the Space Shuttle, Martinez changed careers and became a classroom teacher and coach for seventeen years in public, private, parochial and boarding school environments. He then served as a school administrator in both elementary and secondary public schools in Southern California between 2007 and 2012, at which time he began his service in higher education. Dr. Martinez, a former U.S. national and Olympic rowing team member, is also an internationally credentialed rowing coach, having most recently served at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Martinez currently is focused on substantively preparing future school leaders, performing important service on campus, at the national level and in his local community. In addition, Dr. Martinez is directing an effort to support college sports coaches with training in leadership and resilience practices.
Martinez completed his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1988, his master’s degree in Educational Leadership from California State University, Channel Islands in 2009 and his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from California Lutheran University in 2015.
Martinez and his teachers were awarded the 2012 California School Board Association (CSBA) Golden Bell Award for Community Partnerships and he has been nominated for the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, both in 2019 and 2020.
Publications
Recent Publications:
Martinez, J. A. and Molidor, C. W. (2024). A Comparison of situational leadership framing by school administrators: During and after principal preparation. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation. 19(1). 97-119.
Martinez, J. A., & Partin, J. M. (2023). Character education initiatives and preparation for school administrators: A review of literature. Journal of Leadership, Equity and Research, 9(1). 80-99.
Martinez, J. A., Gomez Johnson, K. M., Uy, F. & Anderson, F. E. (2021). Perceptions of self-efficacy & support among secondary early-career teachers and their principals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education, 6(1). 19-53.
Martinez, J. A., Ishitani, T. & Anderson, L. S. (2021). School administrator support and professional self-efficacy: A sequential, mixed method study. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 24(6).1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.2014980
Martinez, J. A., Amick, L. R. & McAbee, S. E. (2021). The Reopening of a school during the COVID-19 pandemic: An administrative lens. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 6(2). 515-552.
Skinner, C. H., Crewdson, M., Richardson, R. D., Wheat, L. S., & Martinez, J. A. (2021). Interdependent group-oriented contingencies: Randomly detected components to the rescue. Teaching Exceptional Children, 54(4). 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/00400599211006129
Martinez, J. A., Williams, C. & Uy, F. (2021). Effects of a Collaborative, Technology-Based Intervention Involving School Principals to Retain Early-Career Teachers: A Scaled, Quantitative Research Study. Journal of Leadership, Equity and Research, 7(1). 23-50.
Martinez, J. A. & McAbee, S. E. (2021). School Administrator Support of Teachers: A Systematic Review (2000-2019). Educational Leadership Review, 21(1). 230-244.
Martinez, J. A. & Broemmel, A. D. (2021). Pencils down: Educators respond to uncertainty amidst COVID-19 school closures. International Studies in Educational Administration, 49(1). 109-132. http://cceam.net/wpcontent/uploads/2020/11/ISEA-2021-49-No-1.pdf#page=115
Amick, L. R. & Martinez, J. A. (2019). What educational leaders need to know about early-career mathematics teachers. National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Journal, 20(1). 19-33. https://www.mathedleadership.org/login?dest=member/docs/resources/journals NCSMJournalVol20Num1.pdf
Martinez, J. A. (2019). Early career teacher struggles: An administrator’s influence on retention. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. 22(3). 43-56. The University Council for Educational Administration. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555458919849453
Derrington, M. L. & Martinez, J. A. (2019). Exploring Teachers’ Evaluation Perceptions: A Snapshot. National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Bulletin. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636519830770
Martinez, J. A. (2017). Mathematics Attitudes and Achievement of U.S. High School Sophomores Based on Race, Academy for Educational Studies (AES) Journal of Critical Questions in Education (ISSN 2327-3607), 8(1). 17-26.