Kevin Perks

Overview

Kevin Perks is Senior Director for School and District Innovations at WestEd, where he leads the development and expansion of school and district improvement services and projects nationwide. In this role, he guides multiple teams and service lines that partner with schools, districts, and state education agencies to strengthen teaching, learning, and leadership systems to support improved outcomes for all students. 

Perks’s work spans a wide range of expertise, including school improvement, standards-aligned and evidence-based curricula, instruction, assessment, literacy, student engagement, and adult learning and collaboration. His efforts focus on improving outcomes for all students, particularly those historically underserved. 

Perks is the principal designer of WestEd’s VITAL Collaboration and Reading to Learn services and the author or editor of five books: 

• A Teacher’s Guide to VITAL Collaboration: Facilitating Evidence-Driven Inquiry in PLCs to Improve Teaching and Learning (Teachers College Press) 

• A School Leader’s Guide to VITAL Collaboration: Building and Sustaining PLC Systems That Improve Teaching and Learning (Teachers College Press) 

• Motivation to Learn: Transforming Classroom Culture to Support Student Achievement (Corwin) 

• Reading to Learn: A Seven-Step Framework for Optimizing Comprehension in PK–12 Classrooms 

• Transformational Leadership for Rapid School Improvement (Teachers College Press). 

Originally from New York, Perks attended Boston University, The University of Chicago, and Columbia University, and he received his PhD from the University of New Hampshire. He has taught at the elementary, middle, high school, and postsecondary levels and has held leadership positions at both school and district levels. He currently resides in southern Maine. 

Education

• PhD in education, University of New Hampshire 
• MA in teaching, University of Chicago 
• BA in English, Boston University 
  

Select Publications

Perks, K. (Ed.) (2024). Transformational leadership for rapid school improvement. Teachers College Press.  

Perks, K. (2021). Sustaining student engagement: Two practices to keep. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 7(3). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K. (2020). Is collaboration improving teaching and learning in your school? A tool for measuring collaboration quality. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 6(2). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K., & Rosenfeld, B. (2019). Conducting a targeted curriculum review. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 5(4). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K., & Rosenfeld, B. (2019). A strengths-based approach to assessment rubrics. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 5(5). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K. (2018). Improving student learning through evidence-based vocabulary instruction. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 4(4). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K. (2017). Building district and school capacity for supporting evidence-based practice. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 4(2). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, Kevin. (2017). What are professional learning communities? Councilgram: Connecting the School Leadership Community, 6(2). The New York State Council of School Superintendents. 

Perks, K., & Gerzon, N. (2017). Using standards to improve assessment literacy: An assessment validation protocol. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 3(6). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K., & Morrow, C. (2017). Process for developing common understanding of academic standards. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 3(3). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K., & Rosenfeld, B. (2017). Why standards are difficult to understand (and how educators can develop shared understanding). LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 3(2). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K., Rosenfeld, B., & Hofer, T. (2017). A transformative process of schoolwide inquiry: A standards-driven framework for improving teaching and learning. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 3(4). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K. (2017, July). A standards-driven lesson tuning protocol. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 3(5). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K., Hofer, T., & Morrow, C. (2016). Using learning standards to enhance teaching and learning. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning, 3(1). Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K. (2015, November). Achieving the promise of professional learning communities. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning. Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation.  

Perks, K. (2015, November 10). Reading to Learn: Close reading in the K–12 content areas [Webinar]. WestEd. https://www.wested.org/resources/reading-to-learn/ 

Perks, K. (2014). Capturing the current: How to encourage teacher motivation. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning. Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation. 

Perks, K. (2014). A closer look at close reading. LEAF Subscription for Professional Learning. Leadership for Educational Achievement Foundation.  

Middleton, M., & Perks, K. (2014). Motivation to learn: Transforming classroom culture to support student achievement. Corwin Press.  

Perks, K., & Middleton, M. (2014, September). Navigating the classroom current. Educational Leadership: Journal of the Department of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 72, 48–52. 

Perks, K. (2010, March/April). Crafting effective choices to motivate students. Adolescent Literacy in Perspective. Ohio Resource Center.  

Perks, K. (2006, September). Fun, easy, and effective: SSR as a high school practice. Horace. Coalition of Essential Schools.  

Perks, K. (2005). Dialogue folders: Creating space to engage students in conversation about their writing. In E. Kahn, L. R. Johannessen, T. McCann, P. Smagorinsky, & M. W. Smith (Eds.). Reflective teaching, reflective learning. Heinemann Press. 

Honors, Awards, and Affiliations

2015 Mortar Board Award, Segue Institute for Learning  

2006 Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Award, University of New Hampshire 

2004 Ole Haaland Award, University of New Hampshire 

Recent Media Appearances

In Case You Missed It: How Schools Are Measuring Student Success, Education Week, April 23, 2025

A Strengths-Based Guide to Assessing Student Progress (DOWNLOADABLE), Education Week, April 14, 2025