Lori Dassa
Director of Clinical Experiences/Clinical Associate Professor
About
As the Director of Clinical Experiences and Partnerships it is my role to support the College of Education and all programs that reside within the college. As a faculty member, I have the opportunity to link theory and practice through my knowledge base, experiences and relationships. I have demonstrated this through the redevelopment and teaching of the Clinical Education training courses, Ethics course and School Safety Course over the past three years. Through the partnerships I have continued this theory to practice work as the College of Education representative on the Howard Bishop Community School Cabinet working on needs assessments, analyzing data and creating professional development opportunities. I have written several grants linking the college of education with our districts including Alachua County, Marion County and the NEFEC Consortium, and I developed community relationships including connecting Gainesville Bridge and our reading practicum faculty.
Affiliations
- School of Teaching and Learning
Research Interests
Clinical Training and Internship, Early Childhood, Elementary Education, Higher Education, Preservice Teacher Education, Professional Development, Teacher Evaluation
Education
- Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, 2003 Nova Southeastern University
- M.S. in Early Childhood Education, 1999 Nova Southeastern University
- B.S. in Elementary Education, 1997 York College of Pennsylvania
Activities and Honors
- Rosser Education Excellence Award 2026
- Echo360 Innovator Award 2025
- Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Teacher of the Year, Florida Atlantic University (2018)
Selected Grants
Project ECHO: Revolutionizing Teacher Preparation with Augmented Reality.
Role
- Co-PI
Funding Agency
- Presidential Strategic Funding Grant
Project Period
- May 2023 – present
Award Amount
- $467,947
Pathways to Career Opportunities Grow Your Own Teacher Grant (PCOG)
Role
- Investigator
Funding Agency
- US Department of Education
Project Period
- December 2023-present
Award Amount
- $1,360,911
ALTER-Math: AI-augmented Learning by Teaching to Enhance and Renovate Math Learning
Role
- Investigator
Funding Agency
- Schmidt Foundation
Project Period
- Oct 2023 – Sep 2027
Award Amount
- $10,000,000
Selected Publications
Presentations
- Dassa, L., & Mathien, T. (April 2025). Reconceptualizing clinical practice in an online teacher prep program. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for the National Field Experience Conference (NFEC), Nacogdoches, TX.
- Dassa, L., Colon, E., & Mathien, T. (February 2024). To listen is to learn: Lessons from a statewide apprenticeship task force. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), Denver, CO.
- Dassa, L., & Antonenko, Y. (February 2025). Unleashing synergy: Pedagogy meets instructional design. Paper presented at the University of Florida Intersections: Online Learning + Innovation in Higher Education, Orlando, FL.
- Dassa, L., & Colon, E. (July 2022). Enhancing institutional structures to impact clinical partnerships and intern experiences. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for Association of Teacher Educators (ATE), Nashville, TN.
- Dassa, L., Dana, T. , & Colon, E. (February 2021). Respecting the voices of all stakeholders in the preparation of prospective teachers. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for Association of Teacher Educators (ATE), Virtual (COVID).
Articles
- Colon, E.P., Dassa, L.M., Dana, T.M., & Hanson, N.P. (2024). Agree to disagree: Multiple methods to assess rater agreement during student teaching. Action in Teacher Education, 46(4), 278-295. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2024.2344554.
Other Publications
- Dassa, L. (2011). So now what? New elementary teacher survival guide 2nd Ed. Boston, MA. Pearson Custom Publisher.
- Dassa, L. (2018). Continous teacher training. TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. Wiley Publications 1-6.
- Dassa, L., & Nichols, B. (2019). Self-efficacy or overconfidence? How student teacher self-perceptions of their content knowledge and subject specific teaching abilities compare to the perceptions of their clinical educators and university supervisors. The New Educator, 15(2), 156-174.
- Rhone, A, Dassa, L, & Hotchkiss, V. (2018). The merge: Educational psychology and preservice teachers together shaping the urban environment. Journal of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, 48-59.
- Dassa, L., & Derose, D. (2017). Get in the zone: A perception study of preservice teachers. Issues in Teacher Education, 26(1), 101-113.
- Dassa, L., & Sampson-Gruener, G. What do school boards need to know about the recent changes in educator accreditation? American School Board Journal, February 2016.