Alana Oif Telesman

Alana Oif Telesman

Alana Oif Telesman, PhD, is the director of the First Education Experience Program at The Ohio State University. This program provides field experiences to college students considering careers in education while also focusing on areas of inequity, social justice, and diversity within schools. She also teaches several undergraduate and graduate courses in special education and applied behavior analysis. Alana was formerly a special education teacher in Chicago Public Schools, where she taught culturally and linguistically diverse students with wide-ranging academic and behavioral needs. She was also a reading specialist for the past decade and has seen significant progress for her students with reading challenges. Her research interests focus on reading and behavioral interventions for students in high-poverty areas.

Alana is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, and she was selected as a doctoral research scholar in 2020. She has written numerous research publications, including a study published in the esteemed Journal of Special Education. She has also cowritten several chapters for education textbooks about evidence-based practices for diverse populations of students with exceptionalities. Alana has presented her research on reading and behavior interventions at local, national, and international conferences. She has also provided professional development and coaching to school districts in the areas of reading and behavioral interventions, specifically for elementary students.

Alana received a bachelor’s, a master’s, and a doctoral degree in special education and applied behavior analysis from The Ohio State University.