Associate Professor
EdLF
Office: 306B McKay Building
Phone: 801-422-5039
Email: nope@spencer_weiler@byu.edumsn.com
Upon graduating from Brigham Young University in 1992, I taught history at Orem High School for seven years. In 2000, I left the classroom and became an assistant principal at American Fork Junior High School. In 2003, I pursued a Ph.D. at Virginia Tech and continued in administration in Blacksburg. After finishing the doctorate in 2007, I accepted a position at the University of Northern Colorado, where I remained until coming to BYU in 2019. I advanced to the rank of full professor at the University of Northern Colorado and, upon leaving, was granted emeritus status.
I strive to inspire and empower aspiring educational leaders to be outstanding administrators who rely on the teachings of Christ and work tirelessly to support the learning of all students.
I subscribe to a pedagogical approach that actively engages learners in the learning process. Specifically, I rely on sustained group work and learning activities that afford students the opportunity to develop a degree of expertise related to the curriculum being studied. In addition, I lead discussions that encourage students to wrestle with applying various theoretical concepts to the reality of being a school leader in the 21st Century.
Currently, I am collaborating with colleagues across the nation on an array of research topics, including: the impact of school finance litigation on funding for public education, P-20 administrators' responses to outlier situations (specifically, pandemics and do not resuscitate orders), the practice of arming educators to increase school safety, and school facilities.
Charter Schools and Transportation Services
Efforts to Prevent Mass Shootings in Schools: The Practice, the Costs, and Superintendents' Experiences with Arming School Personnel
Surfing the Waves: An Examination of School Funding Litigation from Serrano v. Priest to Cook v. Raimondo and the Possible Transition to the Fourth Wave
Not allowing a good crisis to go to waste: Tapping into transformational power to increase utilization in public education as a result of the Coronavirus
The Leaders' Dilemma: P-20 Response to the Threat of a Pandemic
Can't Get No Satisfaction: An Examination of School Finance Litigation and State Aid for Public Education Over 65 Years in States with High and Low Teacher Satisfaction
The Allure and Danger of Expanded Immunity for P-20 Educational Leaders' Decisions Related to COVID-19
Taking Aim at Preventing School Shootings: A Comparative Analysis of School Board Policy Related to the Practice of Arming Educators
Terminally Ill Students Attending Public Schools: A Legal Analysis of DNR Orders for P-12 Students
Aligning Educational Objectives with Educational Activities: Examination of Student Perceptions on Two Asynchronous Learning Activities
Elevating education and educators: Commentary on the 2018 state of the states
Exploring fiscal health, school finance litigation, and per-pupil funding: A longitudinal examination of data for six states from 1950 to 2015
Colorado
The good, the bad, and the alarming: Commentary on the 2017 state of the states submissions
The relationship between the condition of Colorado elementary school facilities and student achievement
Safety at Schools: Identifying the Costs Associated with the Necessary Safeguards for Arming Educators
Making sense of fiscal uncertainty: An overview of the 2016 state of the states
Examining adequacy trends in school finance litigation
Do courts consider the degree of discipline when adjudicating off-campus student speech?
Higher education, fiscal administration, & budgeting: An applied approach
Practical strategies for applied budgeting and fiscal administration: What works for P-12 administrators
Tenuous tenure: An examination of statutes, policy, and case law related to a non-tenured teacher and military leave.
When an elected official fails to play nice: The legal implications and lessons learned from associations with a caustic board member.
Charter school barriers: Do enrollment requirements limit student access to charter schools?
Pushing back and forging ahead: Making principal preparation responsive to state and national changes
Governmental accounting standards board (GASB)
Focused ubiquity: A purposeful approach to providing all students with laptops.
The 4th r – revolvers: Principal perceptions related to armed educators.
Technology-rich classrooms: How districts can infuse laptops into classrooms in a cost-effective manner.
Contracting for services/outsourcing.
Aligning preparation and practice: An assessment of coherence in state principal preparation and licensure
Costs of Education: Revenue and spending in public, private and charter schools.
Quality virtual instruction: The use of synchronous online activities to engage international students in meaningful learning
Should states limit the indebtedness of local school districts? Counterpoint.
Should zero tolerance policies be abolished because students of color are overrepresented when schools adopt such policies? Point.
Measuring Colorado superintendents’ perceptions of principal training programs
Police at school: A brief history and current status of school resource officers
Policy to practice: A look at national and state implementation of school resource officer programs.
Principal preparedness: Superintendent perceptions of new principals.
Desegregating resegregation efforts: Providing all students opportunities to excel in advanced mathematics courses