Michele R. Dean, Ed.D.

About

Dr. Michele R. Dean, University Field Placement Director and Senior Lecturer joined the CLU, GSOE, Department of Learning and Teaching faculty in October 2015 after a 37-year career in Pre-K-12 public education across Ventura County. Her teaching and administrative experience spans four Ventura County school districts having served as a K-8 bilingual teacher, district mentor teacher, instructional coach, professional development administrator, middle school assistant principal and an elementary school principal.

Dr. Dean led Montalvo Elementary School in the Ventura Unified School District to earn a California Department of Education, Title I Achieving Schools Award. In her leadership role as principal at Montalvo Elementary School, the school earned the first California Association for Bilingual Education Seal of Excellence in Ventura County for their exemplary dual language program.  

Before joining the CLU faculty (2011-2015), Dr. Dean served as the Coordinator of the Ventura County Indian Education Consortium, a federal education program implemented across several Ventura County school districts. While serving as the Consortium Coordinator, Dr. Dean taught Indian Education classes at seven Ventura County high schools.

Recognition includes:

On October 26, 2002, Dr. Dean was a dedication speaker at the opening of the CLU Spies-Bornemann Center for Education and Technology Building.

Since 2004 to the present, Dr. Dean serves as a manuscript reviewer for Corwin Publications. She has reviewed over 20 books in the areas of English learner instruction and programs and topics of equity, inclusion and diversity in Pre-K-Grade 12 settings.  

In 2008, Dr. Dean was honored by El Concilio del Condado de Ventura with a Latino Educational Leadership Award. 

Dr. Dean was a 2012 CLU 25th Anniversary Alumni Honoree. 

Dr. Dean earned the 2020-2021 GSOE Faculty Service Award.

Education

B.A.  Liberal Arts with a minor in Spanish

M.A.  Education Administration with an Emphasis in Bilingual Education, Title VII Bilingual Program Graduate

Ed.D. K-12 Educational Leadership

Credentials

Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential-Life

Bilingual Cross-Cultural Emphasis Credential-Spanish

Administrative Services Credential

Expertise

Working with English learners
Dual language programs K-8
Second language acquisition
Teacher development

Since the inception of the California Lutheran University Community Scholars for Black Lives Fellowship Program in 2020, Dr. Dean has served as a Faculty Mentor. To date (2024) she has mentored five scholars to successfully complete and present their public scholarship and research projects. 

Publications

Doctoral Dissertation: Dean, M.R. (May 2006), "Do Teacher Expectations and Behavior Influence Students' Academic Achievement and Acquisition of Second Language Proficiency in an Elementary Bilingual Two-Way Setting?"

Dean, Michele R. (2021). "My Journey in Spanish Language Acquisition and Dual Language Leadership as an African-American Woman." California Association For Bilingual Education Multilingual Educator, March 2021, 33-34.

California Lutheran University: EDUCAL: Future Teachers Network/Teacher Talk Video Series: Meet Dr. Michele R. Dean (YouTube, 2021)

 CLU/ECHO/ECO December 6, 2022

https://cluecho.com/22598/el-eco/importancia-beneficios-de-la-educacion-doble-inmersion/

Ventura Unified School District: Educator Affinity Group (African American Educator Reflection) 

https://venturaunified.instructuremedia.com/embed/5fdab03f-5571-4d11-8e22-fd39c24af5a7

Grant Funding

Graduate School of Education
Center for Innovative Learning Grant Awarded ($1,000.)

Targeted Audience: GSOE Adjunct Faculty: University Field Supervisors Social Emotional Learning/Book Club Project
Book selected for the project:
"Teaching with Light: Ten Lessons for Finding Wisdom, Balance & Inspiration" by Carol Pelletier

Implementation Period: August 2022- May 2023