Alyson Adams
Director & Clinical Professor
Phone
352-273-4107
Address
PO Box 117048
Gainesville FL 32611
Connect
About
As the Director of the School of Teaching and Learning (STL), I lead a faculty committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service. With over 40 faculty members working across Curriculum and Instruction, we emphasize collaboration, mutual respect, academic rigor, and transparency. I am also an active faculty member in the Teachers, Schools, and Society program within STL. My work focuses on job-embedded, inquiry-based professional learning for teachers in under-resourced schools, with professional learning communities, teacher leadership, and peer coaching serving as key strategies. I have taught and designed online courses for practicing teachers, including two rated Exemplary under our UF+Quality Matters standards.
My research interests include the measurement and evaluation of professional development and its impact on teacher practice and student learning outcomes; instructional practices; assessment of job-embedded graduate programs; teacher education; instructional collaboration; and models of professional learning such as professional learning communities and critical friends groups. I am also an affiliated faculty member in the Lastinger Center for Learning, an endowed center at UF that works to improve academic outcomes by enhancing teaching and learning practices.
My research interests include the measurement and evaluation of professional development and its impact on teacher practice and student learning outcomes; instructional practices; assessment of job-embedded graduate programs; teacher education; instructional collaboration; and models of professional learning such as professional learning communities and critical friends groups. I am also an affiliated faculty member in the Lastinger Center for Learning, an endowed center at UF that works to improve academic outcomes by enhancing teaching and learning practices.
Affiliations
- School of Teaching and Learning
- Lastinger Center for Learning
- School of Teaching & Learning
Research Interests
Collaboration and Teaming, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Integration, Diverse Learners, Early Childhood, Elementary Education, Faculty Development, Integrated Classrooms, Knowledge and Theory, Leadership Development, Middle School / Jr. High, Online and Distance Education, Primary / Elementary, Professional Development, Teacher Leadership, Technology
Education
- Ph.D. - University of Florida, 2003, Curriculum and Instruction (Inclusive teacher education, special education, teacher collaboration)
- M.Ed. - University of Florida, 1992, Elementary Education
- B.S. - University of Florida, 1988, Business Administration (Finance)
Professional Appointments
- Director & Clinical Professor, School of Teaching & Learning, University of Florida
- Associate Director for Teaching & Teacher Education, School of Teaching & Learning, University of Florida
- Associate Director, Lastinger Center for Learning, University of Florida
- National School Reform Faculty Member and National Facilitator
- Florida Department of Education Professional Development Protocol Review Team and Professional Development Redesign Team
Activities and Honors
- 2017 Rosser Educator Excellence Award
- 2023-24 Fellow for the Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium’s Academic Leadership Development Program (SECU/ALDP)
- Selected for the 2018-19 UF Academic Leaders and Administrative Personnel Leadership Training Program at UF (ALAP)
- Exemplary Course Award: Graduate Course, EDG 6047 Teacher Leadership for School Change, awarded our highest award for excellence in online courses, “Exemplary” for five-year period (2022 – 2027)
- Exemplary Course Award: Doctoral Seminar, EDG 7359 Professional Development and Teacher Learning, “Exemplary” rating for a five-year period (2019-2023)
- UF Award Winning Course: EDG 7359 for Student Satisfaction, Center for Teaching Excellence, 2020.
- Award for one of the Top Ten Most Cited Articles in Teaching and Teacher Education, 2010.
- Nate Gage Prize for Best Article in Teaching and Teacher Education, 2010
- AERA / Spencer Foundation Pre-Dissertation Fellow, 2001- 2002
- Golden Apple Rookie Teacher of the Year, Marion County, 1995
Selected Grants
21st Century Community Learning Communities Administrative Project
Role
- PI
Funding Agency
- Florida Department of Education
Project Period
- 2011-2012
Award Amount
- $1,688,100
Miami Counts
Role
- PI
Funding Agency
- Miami-Dade Public Schools
Project Period
- 2009-2013
Award Amount
- $1,750,000
Ready Schools Florida
Role
- Co-PI
Funding Agency
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Project Period
- 2007-2012
Award Amount
- $7,000,000
Lastinger Center School Improvement/PD Model - Design, Implementation, Evaluation of PD Model
Role
- Co-PI
Funding Agency
- Wachovia Teachers and Teaching Initiative
Project Period
- 2004-2008
Award Amount
- $1,000,000
Selected Publications
- Adams, A., & Jeter, G. (2021). Creating Community in EdD Programs during COVID-19: Challenges, Strategies, and Opportunities. Impacting Education: Journal on Transforming Professional Practice, 6(2), 1–4. DOI: 10.5195/ie.2021.161
- Dogan, S. & Adams, A. (2020). Augmenting the Effect of Professional Development on Effective Instruction through Professional Communities. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice. DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2020.1832064
- Dogan, S. & Adams, A. (2018). Effect of professional learning communities on teachers and students: reporting updated results and raising questions about research design. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2018.1500921
- Ma, V.W., Dana, N.D., Adams, A., & Kennedy, B. (2018). Understanding the Problem of Practice: An Analysis of Professional Practice EdD Dissertations. Impacting Education: Journal on Transforming Professional Practice 3 (1), 13-22.
- Vescio, V. & Adams, A. (2015). Learning in a Professional Learning Community: The Challenge Evolves. In D. Scott & E. Hargreaves (Eds.) The Sage Handbook of Learning (ch 26; pp. 274-284). London: Sage.
- Adams, A., Bondy, E., Ross, D., Dana, N.F., & Kennedy-Lewis, B. (2014). Implementing an online professional practice doctoral program in a Ph.D. environment: Managing the dilemmas. Journal of School Public Relations, 35 (3), 363-382
- Adams, A. & Ross, D.D. (2014). Clinical partnership at a distance: A design that transforms teaching and leadership. Peabody Journal of Education, 89, 533-546. doi: 10.1080/0161956X.2014.939007
- Ross, D.D., Adams, A., Bondy, E., Dana, N, Dodman, S., Swain, C. (2011). Preparing teacher leaders: Perceptions of the impact of a cohort-based, job embedded, blended teacher leadership program. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27 (8), 1213-1222. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2011.06.005
- Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2008). A review of research on the impact of professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 80-91. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2007.01.004
- Bondy, E., Ross, D., Adams, A., Nowak, R., Brownell, M., Hoppey, D., Kuhel, K., McCallum, C., & Stafford, L. (2007). Personal Epistemologies and Learning to Teach. Teacher Education and Special Education, 30 (2), 67-82.
- Brownell, M.T, Adams, A., Sindelar, P.T., Waldron, N., & vanHover, S. (2006) The role of teacher qualities in collaboration. Exceptional Children, 72 (2), 169-187.