Rate My Professor Natalie Bolton

Natalie Bolton, Ph.D., serves as an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Preparation within the College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership and organizational development from the University of Louisville, earned in 2008. Additionally, she obtained an M.A. in secondary education with an emphasis in social studies education and a B.A. in secondary education, both from the University of Kentucky. With over 25 years of experience in education, Bolton's prior roles include middle school teacher, middle school assistant principal, social studies consultant for the Kentucky Department of Education, co-director of the Nystrand Center of Excellence in Education at the University of Louisville, and director of the Office of Civic Education and Engagement. At UMSL, she also directs the Office of Quality Assurance in the College of Education and serves as principal investigator for the UMSL Charter School Translational Fellows grant, a six-year, $4 million initiative funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Bolton's research specializations encompass assessment literacy, standards-based grading and reporting, program evaluation, cognitive sciences, education policy, student achievement, and social studies/civic education. Her work includes analyzing P-12 classroom assessment design, the impact of lesson study on social studies teachers' practices and student learning, and supporting K-12 schools transitioning to standards-based grading systems. She conducts program evaluations with local partners in the St. Louis region. Key publications include "Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it Right—Using it Well" (2020), "How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards" (2017, Corwin Press), "A Large Scale Study of the Assessment of the Social Environment of Middle and Secondary Schools: The Validity and Utility of Teachers' Ratings of School Climate, Cultural Pluralism, and Safety" (2008, Journal of School Psychology), and "Cell Phones in the Classroom: Teachers’ Perspectives of Inclusion, Benefits, and Barriers" (2013, Computers in the Schools). Bolton received UMSL's Gerald and Deanne Gitner Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012. She teaches graduate courses on instruction, learning, assessment, education research, quantitative statistics, and program evaluation, embeds formative assessment in her teaching, serves on doctoral committees as a research methodologist, and consults with schools and organizations internationally on assessment and grading practices.