Dana, Nancy | Faculty Research Profiles

Nancy Fichtman Dana

Professor and Director

Center for School Improvement

College of Education

University of Florida

2215 C Norman Hall
PO Box 117056

Gainesville FL 32611

352-273-4204

ndana@coe.ufl.edu

Research Biography

I am currently a Professor of Education and Director of the Center for School Improvement at the University of Florida. Under my direction, the Center promotes and supports practitioner inquiry as a core mechanism for school improvement in schools throughout the state. Prior to my appointment at the University of Florida, I served on the faculty of Curriculum and Instruction at Pennsylvania State University where I developed and directed the State College Area School District-Pennsylvania State University Elementary Professional Development School program, named the 2002 Distinguished Program in Teacher Education by the Association of Teacher Educators, and the 2004 Zimpher Best Partnership by the National Holmes Partnership. I hold a Ph.D. in Elementary Education from Florida State University. I began my career in education as an elementary school teacher in Hannibal Central Schools, New York, and have worked closely with elementary school teachers on teacher inquiry and school-university collaborations in Florida and Pennsylvania since 1990. I am the author or co-author of five books: Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher (2009); The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research, 2nd edition, (2009), The Power of Teacher Networks (2009), The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development: Coaching Inquiry Oriented Learning Communities, (2008), and The Reflective Educator's Guide to Mentoring (2007). In addition, I have published numerous articles in professional journals focused on teacher inquiry, teacher leadership, school-university collaborations, and professional development schools.

Degrees

Ph.D. - Florida State University, 1991, Elementary Education

M.S. - State University of New York at Oswego, 1988, Gifted and Talented Education

B.S. - State University of New York at Oswego, 1986, Elementary Education

Key Professional Appointments

Professor and Director, University of Florida, Center for School Improvement, 2003-Present

Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, 1998-2003

Activities & Honors

National Staff Development Council Book of the Year Award for The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Professional Development: Coaching Inquiry-Oriented Learning Communities, 2008

Outstanding Staff Development Practices Award, Florida Association for Staff Development, 2005

Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Award, Association of Teacher Educators, 2005

Nancy Zimpher Award for Best Partnership, The Holmes Partnership, 2004

Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award, Recipient of the Association of Teacher Educators, 2002

The Pennsylvania Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development Outstanding Research and Publication Award, 1997

Grants

Teacher Research and the Florida Reading Initiative, North East Florida Educational Consortium, $70,000.

Principal Leadership Academy: Principals Studying Their Own Practice Through Practitioner Inquiry, North East Florida Educational Consortium, $10,000.

Providing Meaningful Staff Development through Practitioner Inquiry. North East Florida Education Consortium, $40,000.

Building Practitioner Inquiry into Florida Reading Initiative Schools. North East Florida Education Consortium, $20,000.

High Standards for All Through School University Collaboration. Lucent Technologies. $150,000.

Selected Publications

Books

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Meyers, E., Paul, P. A., Kirkland, D. E., & Dana, N. F. (2009). The Power of Teacher Networks. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research (2nd Edition): Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn through Practitioner Inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). Facilitator’s Guide to The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research (2nd Edition): Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn through Practitioner Inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Dana, N. F. & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2008). The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Professional Development: Coaching Inquiry-Oriented Learning Communities, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Yendol-Hoppey, D. & Dana, N. F. (2007). The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Mentoring: Learning and Growing as a Mentor Teacher, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Silva, D. (2003). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry. Thousand Oaks: California: Corwin Press.

Refereed Journal Articles

Dana, N. F. & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2008). Resisting crash diet staff development, Kappa Delta Pi Record, 44(2), 66-71.

Dawson, K. & Dana, N. F. (2007). When curriculum-based, technology enhanced field experiences and teacher inquiry coalesce: An opportunity for conceptual change? British Journal of Educational Technology, 38(4), 656-667.

Dana, N. F., Yendol-Hoppey, D. & Snow-Gerono, J. (2006). Deconstructing inquiry in the professional development school. Action in Teacher Education.

Yendol-Hoppey, D. & Dana, N.F. (2006). Understanding and theorizing exemplary mentoring through the use of metaphor: The case study of Bridgett, a gardener. In J. R. Dangel (Ed.) Induction and Mentoring in Teacher Education: Teacher Education Yearbook XIV, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press.

Yendol-Hoppey, D., Dawson, K., Dana, N.F., League, M., Jacobs, J., & Malik, D. (in press). Professional development communities: Vehicles for re-shaping field experiences to support school improvement. Florida Journal of Teacher Education.

Dana, N. F. & Emihovich, C. (2004). Actualizing a culture of engaged scholarship in the college of education at the University of Florida. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 10(1):29-46.

Dana, N. F., & Silva, D. Y. (2004). What about the children?: Studying the professional development school’s impact on students’ school experiences. In E.M. Guyton & J. R. Dangel (Eds.) Research linking Teacher Preparation and Student Performance: Teacher Education Yearbook XII, Iowa: Kendal/Hunt Publishing Company, 125 - 150.

Silva, D. Y., & Dana, N. F. (2004). Encountering new spaces: Teachers developing voice within a professional development school. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(2):128-140.

Dana, N. F., Silva, D. Y., and Snow-Gerono, J. (2002). Building a culture of inquiry in professional development schools. Teacher Education and Practice, 15(4):71-89.

Dana, N. F., Silva, D. Y., Gimbert, B., Nolan, J., Zembal-Saul, C., Tzur, R., Sanders, L., & Mule, L. (2001). Developing new understandings of PDS work: Better questions, better problems. Action in Teacher Education, 22(4):15-27.

Silva, D. Y., & Dana, N. F. (2001). Collaborative supervision in the professional development school. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 16(4):305-321.

Snow, J. L., Dana, N. F., & Silva, D. Y. (2001). Where are they now? Former PDS interns emerge as first year teacher leaders. The Professional Educator, 24(1):35-48.

Dana, N. F., Gimbert, B. G., & Silva, D. Y. (2001). Teacher inquiry as professional development for the 21st century in the United States. Change: Transformations in Education, 4(2):51-59.

Selected Links

www.coe.ufl/csi