John R. Barker, Ph.D.

Senior Advisor

In his role as Senior Advisor at the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP), John co-leads the organization’s efforts in leadership development programming including NCCEP’s District Leadership Institute. John brings a wealth of experience to this role having served in multiple leadership roles in K-12 education.

A native of Humboldt, Tennessee, Dr. John Barker is the Former Deputy Superintendent over the operational areas (e.g., human resources, information technology, finance) for the Shelby County Schools district in Memphis, Tennessee.

Prior to joining the district, Dr. Barker founded his own consulting firm (JB Logical Solutions) and was the Chief Accountability Officer for Chicago Public Schools, leading the district’s work in teacher/principal/school accountability, performance management, and data quality. Dr. Barker also served for several years as Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Research, Evaluation and Assessment with the Memphis City Schools. 

Dr. Barker holds the Ph.D. in Education and Human Development from Vanderbilt University and was a summa cum laude graduate in history and communications from the University of Tennessee at Martin.

With more than a dozen peer-reviewed publications and scores of scholarly presentations to audiences nationwide, Dr. Barker is committed to sharing lessons learned from practice and supporting leaders in the complex task of decision making.

Dr. Barker is married to Dr. Katherine (Kathy) Simpson Barker and is the proud father of 15-year old daughter, Sophie, who attends Central High in Memphis.

(901) 487-6598