Dana Lillis

Dana Lillis

Dana Lillis serves as the director of teaching and learning for Carlisle Community Schools in Iowa. Dana’s passion is developing agency in teacher leaders and administrators to ensure they have the knowledge, skills, and tools to lead and support the PLC process. Dana’s extensive experience as an educator provides a unique perspective into the diverse needs of districts, schools, staff, and students. Before transitioning to an administrative role, Dana held positions as a classroom teacher at all elementary grade levels, spanning from kindergarten through 8th grade. Her teaching experience encompassed diverse settings, including talented and gifted programs, as well as middle school mathematics.

Dana’s classroom career spanned over four states and in districts ranging from 200 to 30,000 students. Dana has mentored teachers, teacher leaders and administrators throughout her career. She was instrumental in the design and development of a teacher leadership model that enabled over 50 teachers to enter into a leadership role. As a central office administrator, Dana worked alongside her team to lead Carlisle Community School District to first achieve Model PLC at Work® status in 2018. Dana has also been instrumental in creating a district-wide professional development system which maximized district resources while being responsive to building needs. She developed a curriculum and instruction review process centered on continuous improvement and grounded in collaboration that has proven to be effective through improved student learning and increased teacher efficacy. Dana earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming in elementary education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from University of Missouri, Columbia. She completed additional coursework in educational leadership at Viterbo University.

PLC at Work^®

PLC at Work® experts have proven success in leading the PLC at Work process in a school or district. Work with them to implement a focus on learning, build a collaborative culture, and create a results orientation that leads to sustained, substantive school improvement.

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