Dr. Diane Wood is completing her last year as Chairperson in the Department of Instructional Leadership and Professional Development.  Diane has been in the field of higher education for over twenty years, having held previous appointments at the University of Southern Maine, where she was Diversity Scholar for two years, and George Mason University.  Her scholarship focuses particularly on the development of professional teaching cultures, those that foster teachers’ engagement in collaborative and critical dialogue, reflection, and inquiry and on the development of school cultures that nurture student learning, development, and well-being.  Currently, she is engaged in small studies of Baltimore County schools successfully working with students in high poverty neighborhoods and on a larger study of the resilience and longevity of the National Writing Project as a professional development network for teachers.  As chairperson, Diane led the department in major redesign of the curriculum in response to new standards while maintaining an enduring commitment to equity and diversity.  She serves as the leader for the college “Leadership Goal”.  We will soon begin a national search for her replacement to begin in the 2018 school year.

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Ron Thomas has agreed to serve as the Interim Chairperson for the 2017-2018 school year.

Dr. Thomas has a long connection with the College of Education and is celebrating the 50th. year of his B.S. degree from Towson State College.  He also received his Master’s degree in Secondary Education from Towson University and his Ph.D. in Curriculum Theory from the University of Maryland, College Park.  He was a teacher and administrator in three Maryland school districts.  His last two leadership positions were as the Associate Superintendent for Instruction in St. Mary’s County and the Assistant Superintendent for Educational Accountability in Baltimore County.  He has served on the Towson faculty since 2001 and has taught a variety of school leadership courses in ILPD, both in face-to-face classes and online.  He has several publications to his credit.  His most recent article is “Data at the Speed of Teaching: Data’s Next Frontier” in the January 2017 issue of School Administrator.