Teacher Leadership

Program Director & Faculty

Program Director
Jeanne White, Ed.D.
Associate Professor
M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction from Loyola University. She is certified in elementary education and general administration and was an elementary teacher in Orland Park for twelve years as well as an adjunct professor in early childhood education at Governor’s State University before joining the Elmhurst faculty in 2005. With areas of specialization in literacy and mathematics, her dissertation involved investigating how children’s literature improved performance and attitude of mathematical problem solving. She has authored several articles and presented locally, nationally and internationally on the topics of elementary mathematics, teacher leadership and educating students who are English language learners.

Faculty
Diana Brannon, Ed.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. Brannon earned her B.S. in elementary education at the University of Dayton and M.Ed. in 1993 from Indiana University, where she completed all but her dissertation in the doctoral program in Language Education, earning her doctorate from Argosy University in curriculum and instruction. She was a classroom teacher and reading specialist for 11 years before joining the faculty in 2005. Dr. Brannon is a Nationally Board Certified teacher and holds an Illinois Master Teacher certificate. She is a member of the International Reading Association, Illinois Reading Council, and National Association of the Education of Young Children. She recently authored an article in The Education Digest (2005) on the effect participation in full-day and half-day kindergarten has on children’s literacy development in first grade. Dr. Brannon has presented at many national, state, and local education conferences. She was awarded the Legacy Teaching Award in 2002.

Sarah Brooks, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Brooks holds a B.A. in history and secondary education from Gordon College. She taught 7th and 8th grade social studies for five years in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Virginia. She earned a M.A. in social studies education from the University of Connecticut before completing her doctoral work at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on the fostering and display of historical understanding in the social studies classroom. Dr. Brooks’ scholarship has been published in Theory and Research in Social Education, Social Studies: Research and Practice, and The Journal of Social Studies Research. She has presented at state and national conferences and is a member of the National Council for the Social Studies and the American Educational Research Association.

Ayanna F. Brown, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Brown holds a B.A from Tuskegee University in Secondary Education, Language Arts Education. She taught 7th grade language arts while earning her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership from Vanderbilt University Peabody College. After teaching middle school, Dr. Brown became a Scholarships Coordinator for both Project GRAD and Imagine College, which was a consortium between Metro Nashville Public Schools and Vanderbilt University. Her work centered around family, school, and academic planning for high school students, most of whom were first generation future college students. She completed her Ph.D  at Vanderbilt University in Interdisciplinary Studies in Language, Literacy, and Sociology where her research focuses on discussions of “race,” contemporary African American Studies, and Discourse Analysis. Her research has been presented nationally and internationally including in Australia, Canada, and will begin creating a research agenda in Senegal, West Africa. She has served the education profession as a member of the National Commission on Reading, the National Council of Teachers of English, the American Education Research Association, and the International Federation of Teachers of English. Dr. Brown has been a guest lecturer, curriculum consultant, and program coordinator for both public and private institutions.

Lisa Burke, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Ms. Burke earned a M.S. from Northern Illinois University in education and holds LBS1 certification. She was a special educator for 16 years before joining the faculty at Elmhurst College in 2001. She was a teacher to K-8 students with moderate to severe disabilities, a learning disabilities resource teacher, and then was an inclusion facilitator for students with mild to moderate disabilities. Ms. Burke specializes in differentiated instruction and adapting curriculum, collaboration, consultation, and working with paraeducators. She is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children and the honorary society of Kappa Delta Phi. Ms. Burke established the first student chapter of Council for Exceptional Children at Elmhurst College. She received KDP’s Educator of the Year award in 2003 and 2005.

Linda Dauksas, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Dauksas earned her B.A. in special education/elementary education from the University of Northern Iowa, her M.A. in educational administration from Governors State University and her doctorate in instructional leadership from National Louis University. She has spent thirty years teaching and leading programs for children with special needs. Her specialty area is early childhood special education. She has designed programs and delivered services for children from birth through eight years of age. Her ethnographic research portrays the importance of a paradigm that honors people first and along with her responsibility to teach others, it weaves her work as a school leader with educational practices creating possibility and promise for all young children, most importantly those with significant disabilities. Dr. Dauksas holds membership in the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Council for Exceptional Children, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Illinois Principals Association and the Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education.

LuEllen Doty, Ed.D.
Professor
Dr. Doty earned a doctorate from the University of Kentucky and a M.Ed. from the University of Louisville in special education. Her undergraduate degree was from Indiana University in elementary education. Her areas of specialty include early childhood special education and applications of technology in special education. Dr. Doty is the author of several educational publications, and has a forthcoming book from Magnum Press, Meeting Instructional Objectives for the Inclusive Classroom, co-authored with Dr. Michael Feldman. She is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children and the honor societies of Kappa Delta Phi and Phi Kappa Phi.  Dr. Doty has served on the executive board of the Illinois Council for Exceptional Children and has presented nationally. She is the recipient of the Academic Advisor of the Year Award.

Judy Fiene, Ed.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. Fiene earned a B.S. from University of Illinois at Chicago in physical education. Subsequently she acquired additional certification in elementary education and school administration. She has taught grades 4, 5, 6, physical education, and has served as an assistant principal in an elementary school. Her doctorate is in Reading and Language. Her specialty area is in reading development, specifically reading comprehension and classroom instruction. She has presented her research at local and national conferences. Dr. Fiene has developed a reading clinic at a local elementary school and is currently working with teachers in a primary school with a diverse population to assist them in the area of reading instruction. She is a member of the International Reading Association, National Reading Conference, and Illinois Reading Council. She holds membership in Kappa Delta Pi honorary society and is also the faculty councilor for the Elmhurst chapter.

Debra K. Meyer, Ph.D.
Professor
Dr. Meyer earned a B.A. from Purdue University in education and psychology. She taught in a 5th/6th grade team and in a developmental second grade in Mesa, Arizona before earning her Ph.D. from the University of Texas-Austin in educational psychology. Her research examines the relationships among classroom characteristics and student motivation, emotion, and learning.  She has presented at national and international conferences and authored over 25 publications. Dr. Meyer serves as the liaison professor at an elementary professional development school, where she supervises interns and practicum students. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, American Education Research Association, National Reading Conference, International Reading Association, Illinois Reading Council, and Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. She has received several awards for teaching and advising, and holds memberships in Phi Kappa Phi, Kappa Delta Phi, and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies.

Kathryn L. Servilio, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Servilio earned a doctorate from West Virginia University in special education. Her B.S. in mult-disciplinary studies and M.A. in elementary education were also from West Virginia University. She acquired additional certification in multi-categorical special education and early childhood education. She has taught inclusion for reading and mathematics in grades K, 1, and 2, and has taught in a self-contained setting for grades 9-12. Dr. Servilio specializes in collaboration, differentiated instruction, and teacher training. She is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and American Council on Rural Special Education. Dr. Servilio serves as a representative on the executive board of the Council for Exceptional Children. Her current scholarship focuses on teacher training and professional development.

Dennis Smithenry, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Smithenry earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana. He also conducted postdoctoral research in science education and environmental engineering at Stanford University. Smithenry is certified in secondary education with endorsements in chemistry, physics, and mathematics, and taught for five years in Illinois and Iowa. His current research examines how to transform the typical science classroom into one where the students and their teacher participate in a community of scientific practice. He is particularly interested in understanding how teachers can design participant structures in the classroom so that their students assume full responsibility for working together as a whole class to collectively solve a problem. Smithenry brings to this research a range of previous career experiences that span the fields of science research and science teaching.

Therese Wehman, Ph.D.
Professor
Dr. Wehman earned her doctorate in child development from the Erikson Institute, Loyola University-Chicago. Her specialization includes children birth to six with disabilities, early childhood program administration, organizational development, and team building. She holds advanced degrees and Illinois certification in educational administration, elementary, early childhood and special education and has extensive experience designing and administering early childhood intervention programs. Her research involves early intervention system change, parent-professional partnerships, leadership development, teacher mentorship and inclusion. Dr. Wehman holds memberships in the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Council for Exceptional Children, Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (National and Illinois), and Association of Infant Mental Health (World and Illinois). She serves as the Governor’s appointed Personnel Preparation Representative on the Illinois Interagency Council on Early Intervention. Dr. Wehman has published articles, curriculum materials, and a textbook, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Toward Full Community Inclusion (2005, PRO-ED).