About

Walter Fernando Balser is a professor affiliated with the University of Florida College of Education. His research focuses on bilingual and bicultural education, culturally responsive teaching, curriculum development, mathematics education, online and distance education, professional development, teacher education, and technology education. He has earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics Education from the University of Georgia, a Master of Education in Mathematics Education from the University of Central Florida, and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Florida. Throughout his career, Professor Balser has held various professional appointments and leadership roles, including serving on the Board of Directors for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and co-chairing the TODOS Conference Committee. His work has been recognized with awards such as the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Early Career Award and the University of Missouri President’s Award for Early Career Excellence. He has been involved in multiple grants funded by the National Science Foundation, focusing on practice-driven professional development for algebra teachers, equitable mathematical modeling, flipped instruction, and elementary science teaching. Professor Balser has contributed to the field through numerous publications, including books, journal articles, and conference presentations, emphasizing mathematics instruction, multilingual learners, and equitable teaching practices. His work aims to improve mathematics education and support teachers and students, particularly those from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Computer Science
• Public relations
• Sociology
• Economics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Business
• Engineering
• Management
• Psychology
• Public administration
• Finance
• Economic growth
• Geography
• Knowledge management

Selected publications

• When Influence Concentrates: What a Network Analysis of Education Policy in Florida Reveals

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• INVESTIGATING STUDENT EXPERIENCES IN ONLINE INSTRUCTION: STUDYING ONLINE WITH OR WITHOUT EMERGING LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES

  INTED proceedings · 2026-03-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Exploring Innovation, Impact, and Resilience in Education Marketplaces: Accounts of Social Innovation Entrepreneurs Working with Schools

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• BOUNDARY-SPANNING IN K–12 TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP: DISPOSITIONS OF EMERGING EDTECH PROFESSIONALS

  INTED proceedings · 2026-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Mapping Policy Influence: Social Network Analysis of the Florida Empowerment Scholarship Program and Capital Sources

  2025-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Mapping Policy Influence: Social Network Analysis of the Florida Empowerment Scholarship Program and Capital Sources

  2025-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Mapping policy influence in a contemporary education ecosystem: A conceptual study utilizing social network analysis to visualize relationships between the Florida Empowerment Scholarship Program (FESP) and sources of capital

  Policy Futures in Education · 2025-12-27

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This study utilizes social network analysis (SNA) to trace the flow of influence and capital within Florida’s evolving public-private education marketplace. Drawing from theories in communications, organizational behavior, and policy analysis, we examine the development and legislative passage of Florida’s Empowerment Scholarship Program (FESP), one of the most expansive ESA initiatives in the United States. Using a multi-tiered SNA framework, we analyze the political sponsorship, lobbying engagement, and financial contributions tied to 19 FESP-related bills introduced between 2017 and 2023. Our analysis is structured around three network layers: Primary (direct political and lobbying tiers), Secondary (financial contributions to policymakers), and Tertiary (indirect affiliations such as shared organizational leadership). Findings reveal a tightly connected network of recurring actors—most notably specific legislators, lobbying firms, and education advocacy organizations—who exerted consistent influence across all three tiers. These results underscore the complexity of policy formation in decentralized education systems and highlight the value of SNA in exposing patterns of influence that are not readily visible through traditional policy analysis.

  PublisherDOI

• Shifting Schools From Strategy to Foresight

  Advances in educational marketing, administration, and leadership book series · 2024 · 2 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Political Science
  • Computer Science

  In this chapter the authors use the impacts of the global pandemic on educational systems as a muse to highlight the need for educational leaders to transition from strategic planning to foresight thinking. They analyze the shortcomings of traditional bureaucratic models and emphasize the importance of adaptive leadership in addressing contemporary challenges. They present the Three Horizons Framework as a tool for envisioning long-term educational innovations and integrating foresight into school leadership. By examining issues like teacher shortages, school choice, and facilities management, the chapter provides practical steps for fostering a future-focused mindset in educational environments, urging leaders to embrace innovation, adapt to emerging trends, and cultivate resilience in the face of an ever-evolving educational landscape.

  PublisherDOI

• Societal Reorientation via Programmable Trust: A Case for Piloting New Models of Open Governance in Education

  Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks · 2021

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Political Science
  • Knowledge management

  Abstract This essay proposes the need to infuse open innovation (OI) and open source (OS) principles and technologies into schools as a means of tackling many of the most pervasive challenges in education, and by extension, society at large. It is argued that the principles of OI and OS, which are rooted in innovation management and software development, respectively, may be applied to the way we conceive of and approach organizational governance structures related to schooling, particularly in regard to harnessing innovation, updating management processes, and codifying new systems of trust. Whereas OI offers a novel approach to knowledge flow and the open exchange of ideas, communities rooted in OS principles breed tangible and generative effects through peer network democratization. These emergent, digitally defined networks have been proven to maximize innovation potential, expand collaboration, and enable the propagation of highly durable systems of trust and transparency, all catalytic and essential if we are to realize a future learning economy which favors equity, distributed systems, and common goods over profit, centralized decision-making, and proprietorship. It is within this framing that we articulate the core tenets of both OI and OS translationally as a means of stimulating thinking about how core principles of “openness” and the distributed technologies they enable may help to build common ground in an ever-evolving education and information ecosystem.

  PublisherDOI

• Beyond the Public-Private Nexus

  Journal of Transformative Leadership & Policy Studies · 2020 · 3 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Public relations

  Increasingly, school-based partnerships have been tied to education reform and the entrance of private capital into the PK-12 space, most prominently from a philanthropy sector that contributes nearly $60 billion annually to education causes. As a result, what may have been an at-will school-business partnership in the 1980s may today resemble an embedded multi-partner arrangement around professional development, teacher evaluation, or turnaround support. In this paper, a new framework is introduced to situate school-based collaborations in a contemporary context, notably acknowledging that schools today live in a new “blended capital” reality involving diverse sector influences, multiple sources of private and public funding, and therefore multiple measures of efficacy and accountability.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Taylor Kendal

  1 shared

• Steve Diasio

  University of South Florida

  1 shared

• Hardin L. K. Coleman

  Boston University

  1 shared

• Vinny Tafuro

  1 shared

Labs

• Lastinger Center for LearningPI

Education

• Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy, School of Education

  Boston University

  2016

• Ed.M, Leadership, Organizational Leadership

  Teachers College of Columbia University

  2007

• M.Ed., Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education

  The Ohio State University

  1999

• B.A., History, Liberal Arts and Sciences

  University of Florida

  1997

Awards & honors

• University of Missouri President’s Award for Early Career Ex…
• Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Early Career A…
• Publication Award for Outstanding Journal from the National…