Principal Investigator (PI): Dr. Natalie Bolton
Dr. Natalie Bolton, UMSL-COE Associate Professor and Director of Quality Assurance, received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Organizational Development. She has 25 years of experience in education. She has served in many roles, including middle school assistant principal, Kentucky Department of Education Social Studies Consultant, University of Louisville Co-Director of the Nystrand Center of Excellence in Education, Office of Civic Education and Engagement Director, and assistant professor. She regularly serves on dissertation committees, supporting content research methods and collaborating with UMSL COE EdD learning communities. She promotes translational research by focusing her research time on working with K-12 teachers and school district leadership. Dr. Bolton's research explores assessment literary and grading practices, program evaluation, the science of learning, education policy, student achievement, and social studies/civic education. As the PI, Dr. Bolton serves as a core leadership team member, supervises and mentors fellows, organizes and conducts seminars, and oversees the program to ensure the program's outcomes are met.
Co-Principal Investigator (CO-PI): Dr Phyllis Balcerzak, PhD
Dr. Phyllis Balcerzak, Associate Teaching Professor in the UMSL-COE's Department of Educator Preparation and Leadership, has 25 years of experience in two universities, developing and sustaining partnerships between higher education and K-12 schools. Before this work in teacher education, she was a science educator and brings a parallel and intersecting focus on STEM education and teacher research. She more specifically focuses on the variables that impact the transfer of professional learning from teacher training to their classrooms (Balcerzak et al., 2011; Balcerzak & Rugerillo, 2013), with findings reported from 90 high school biology teachers in a summer internship program. As the lead advisor in one of UMSL’s EdD cohorts, Dr. Balcerzak guided the successful completion of over 21 doctoral students’ dissertations. In addition to the program design and teaching of STEM preservice teachers, Dr. Balcerzak teaches Ph.D. students in an introduction to doctoral research course and has prior experience as a supervisor of the postdoctoral fellows’ research. Balcerzak mentors fellows, conducts seminars, and provides advisory board support as a Co-PI and core leadership team member.
Co-Principal Investigator (CO-PI): Dr. Chanua Ross
Dr. Chanua Ross, Director of Program Operations for the UMSL-COE Department of Professional Learning and Innovation, has an Ed.D. in Educational Practice. Dr. Ross's background entails 16 years of experience in public school education, many of which were in the principal role. Her knowledge and expertise are in learning science, literacy, special education, STEM innovation in education, curriculum writing, effective collaboration, and data-driven decision-making. As the program director for professional learning, she identifies the educational needs of local school partners that can be addressed by faculty and programs offered through the COE, particularly those supporting innovative pathways to teaching, new teacher development, and translational research. Dr. Ross mentors fellows and conducts seminars as a Co-PI and core leadership team member. In addition, she serves as the lead partnership liaison, ensuring ongoing direct communication regarding all program-related matters.
Core Team Member: Dr. Susan Marino
Dr. Susan Marino is the Executive Director of UMSL's Charter Schools Office. Dr. Marino ensures that each school's needs and assets match the fellows' needs and assets. As a participant on the core team overseeing the grant, she provides guidance on supporting and developing the fellows while best leveraging the fellows’ talents to develop teachers’ abilities to apply the science of learning principles. As a former charter school founder and leader, Marino has comprehensive knowledge of charter school operations/systems, program development, and teacher/leader development. In her current role, she has comprehensive knowledge of the six UMSL Charter Schools, their strengths and areas for growth, their capacity to mentor others, and their readiness and willingness to incorporate new practices into their classroom instruction.
Core- Team Member- Dr. Thurma DeLoach
Dr. Thurma DeLoach is the UMSL's Charter School Office's student support consultant. Dr. DeLoach contributes to the work of this grant by learning the science behind learning principles and encouraging student support staff to apply these principles in their lesson planning and instruction. She participates on the core team, oversees the grant, and provides mentor support. As a retired student support service's district-level administrator, she brings over 35 years of direct experience building systems and training others.
External Advisory Board
This grant includes an external advisory board to maximize the productiveness and efficacy of our work under this grant. The external advisory board provides expertise and advice that ensures the program runs smoothly and meets its full potential.