Donald D. Deshler

Don Deshler is director of the Center for Research on Learning (CRL) and a professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas. The work of the CRL focuses on the validation of academic strategies to enable for adolescents to meet state assessment standards and succeed in post secondary education and employment. The CRL's work addresses ways to close the large "achievement gap" and reduce the escalating drop out rate within a world in which students must be prepared to meet increased academic and employment standards. Deshler and his colleagues have completed in excess of $90 million of contracted R & D work related to the Content Literacy Continuum - a framework for raising literacy achievement for all adolescents in secondary schools. Deshler serves as an advisor on adolescent achievement to several organizations including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National Governor's Association, the Alliance for Excellent Education, the Council on Families and Literacy, and the U. S. State Department. He has presented on matters of educational policy regarding adolescent literacy to the nation's governors at the James B. Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy and has testified in Congress and several state legislatures on secondary school reform. Through the Aspen Institute, he has worked with members of Congress to shape policies addressing the challenges of high school reform. Deshler is the recipient of numerous awards including the J.E. Wallace Wallin Award for leadership in educational research, the Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award, and the Higuchi Research Achievement Award. He began his career in education teaching Eskimo children in northern Alaska.

National Institute for Literacy Advisory Board

Last updated: Thursday, 10-Sep-2009 15:50:45 EDT