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David A. Sousa

David A. Sousa, EdD, is an author and international consultant. He has received numerous awards from professional associations, school districts, and educational foundations for his commitment to research, staff development, and science education.

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David A. Sousa

David A. Sousa, EdD, is an author and international consultant. He taught high school science and served as a K–12 director of science, a supervisor of instruction, and a district superintendent in New Jersey schools. He has also been an adjunct professor of education at Seton Hall University and a visiting lecturer at Rutgers University.

A member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, he has conducted workshops in hundreds of school districts on brain research, instructional skills, and science education at the pre-K–12 and university levels. He has made presentations to more than 200,000 educators at national conventions of educational organizations and to regional and local school districts across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Prior to his career in New Jersey, Dr. Sousa taught at the American School of Paris (France), and served for five years as a Foreign Service Officer and science advisor at the USA diplomatic missions in Geneva (Switzerland) and Vienna (Austria). Dr. Sousa has been interviewed on NBC’s Today Show and by National Public Radio about his work with schools using brain research.

Dr. Sousa has edited science books and published dozens of articles in leading journals on staff development, science education, and educational research. He is author of The Leadership Brain, How the Brain Learns, How the Special Needs Brain Learns, How the Gifted Brain Learns, How the Brain Learns to Read, How the Brain Influences Behavior, How the ELL Brain Learns, and How the Brain Learns Mathematics, which was selected by the Independent Publishers’ Association as one of the best professional development books of 2008, among others. His books have been published in French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, and several other languages.

Dr. Sousa is past president of Learning Forward. He has received numerous awards from professional associations, school districts, and educational foundations for his commitment to research, staff development, and science education. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award and an honorary doctorate from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and an honorary doctorate from Gratz College in Philadelphia.

Dr. Sousa has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bridgewater State University, a master’s degree in science from Harvard University, and a doctorate from Rutgers University.

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Presentations by David A. Sousa

  • Educational Neuroscience
  • Translate Current Brain Research Into Strategies for Improving Learning
  • Differentiation and the Brain