Dr. Dana Karraker
Assistant Director for Educational Development Programs
Center for Integrated Professional Development
- About Dana
- Professional
- Scholarship
- Curriculum Vitae
Biography
Dana joined the Center for Integrated Professional Development in July of 2013. She brings years of teaching experience in the School of Teaching and Learning (formerly Curriculum and Instruction) and years of professional development experience at the Regional Office of Education. She plays an active role in designing and delivering the Center’s program of professional development events. She also provides one-on-one consultations and conducts Midterm Chats. She has particular expertise in assessment practices, grading practices, and instructional strategies for interactive classrooms.
Dana completed her doctorate in Education in 2018. In addition to teaching at the university level, she has spent time mentoring pre-service and in-service teachers, serving on curriculum committees, and participating in course redesign projects. In addition to her work at the center, she teaches literacy methods courses for elementary education majors in the School of Teaching and Learning. During her spare time, Dana enjoys road biking with her husband, Kyle, and her friends. She also enjoys reading historical fiction, traveling, and cooking.
Functions at the Center
As the Assistant Director for Educational Development Programs, Dana leads the Center’s programming efforts. One of her primary responsibilities is to plan and facilitate New Faculty Orientation and mentor early career faculty. She also leads the centers civic and community engagement work. In collaboration with the Center for Civic Engagement, she develops and facilitates the Redesign your Course for Civic Engagement workshop series and leads Professional Learning Communities focused on integrating civic learning into teaching. Dana is a Deliberative Dialogue facilitator and supports faculty on integrating them into their courses. Each year, she works with center staff to plan and host the University-Wide Teaching and Learning Symposium which brings faculty, staff, and graduate students from across campus together to share and discuss innovative teaching practices. She regularly consults with course instructors, conducts Midterm Chats (Small Group Instructional Diagnoses) and Classroom Observations. She partners with academic units to provide workshops by request and implement peer feedback on teaching. Her scholarly work includes research on integrating student voice in faculty development programming, new teacher development, and effective classroom practices.
Awards and Honors
2024 Illinois State University College of Education Hall of Fame Inductee
2022 Civil Service Staff Civic Engagement Award
2021 STAR Award, recognizing Promotion of Diversity on a Team (CRCC), Division of Student Affairs
Leadership Illinois Class of 2021
Illinois State University’s Leadership Initiative. Fellow (2016-2017)
National Writing Project Fellow (2005)
Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education
Literacy Research Association
International Literacy Association
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Cuenca-Carlino, Y., Friberg, J. C., Giovagnoli, D. J., Meyers, D. J. H., Catanzaro, S., & Karraker, D. (2023). Creating the Framework for inclusive teaching evidence. International Journal for Academic Development, 6(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2022.2158834
Karraker, D. (2018). Exploring teacher candidates’ civic efficacy through civic engagement and critical literacy in a literacy methods course. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Illinois State University
Handsfield, L. J., Karraker, D., MacPhee, D. & Wedwick, L. (2012). Leveling, text complexity, and matching students with text: Where is the child? Illinois Reading Council Journal. 41(1), 3-5.
Select Presentations
Friberg, J.; Karraker, D., Nakamura, M. & Giovagnoli, D. (2023, November 10). The development and integration of the Learn-Apply-Study Framework for educational development [Poster]. Annual Conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Karraker, D. (2022, November 16-20). Redesign your course for civic engagement. [Conference presentation]. PDO Network Annual Conference, Seattle, WA.
Cuenca-Carlino, Y., Friberg, J., Karraker, D., Giovagnoli, D. (2022, February 14). Using data to plan, implement, and evaluate equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. Conference presentation at the EDI Leaders Circle Symposium, Normal, IL.
Steinbach, H., Gilbert, J., & Karraker, D. (2021, June 3). Institutionalizing Deliberative Dialogues. [Virtual Conference Presentation] Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Conference.
Karraker, D. (2019, December 4). Exploring teacher candidates’ civic efficacy in a content area literacy course. In C. Hunt (Chairperson) Disrupting deficit ideologies and whiteness in teacher education. Conference conducted at the meeting of the Literacy Research Association, Tampa, FL.
Karraker, D. (2019, December 4). Exploring teacher candidates’ civic efficacy in a content area literacy course. In C. Hunt (Chairperson) Disrupting deficit ideologies and whiteness in teacher education. Conference conducted at the meeting of the Literacy Research Association, Tampa, FL