Lisa Dieker

Dr. Lisa Dieker, is the Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Special Education in the School of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Kansas (KU). She serves as the Director of a Center in the Assessment and Achievement Institute called FLITE (flexible learning through innovations in teaching and education). Dr. Dieker’s research focuses on harnessing the power of teachers working across disciplines in inclusive settings, with her work focusing on teacher education, special education, and innovative uses of technology. She currently directs a U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Stepping Up grant to create a data tagging tool and to harvest resources to support STEM coaches working with special education teachers. She is also a research co-PI on a project with a public charter school to create an AI agent to support students with disabilities in STEM. She has two grants with school districts focused on systematic change for inclusion and supporting co-teaching grades K-12. She recently moved to KU from the University of Central Florida, where she directed the UCF/Lockheed Martin Mathematics and Science Academy, was the Program Coordinator for the Ph.D. program in special education, and Co-Directed the UCF Center for Research in Education Simulation Technology (CREST). She has managed over 60 grants from state, local, national, international, and foundation sources amounting to more than $22M. She provided over 150 keynotes, has produced 6 books, 100 articles and chapters; and holds 6 patents in simulation and education and 4 journal editorships.

She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois University and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Her research focuses on harnessing the power of teachers working across disciplines in inclusive settings with specific interests in STEM content areas and harnessing the impact of technology on teacher performance and student learning. Prior to UCF, she was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), where she co-directed the UWM/Milwaukee Public Schools Special Education Internship Program, increasing the number and diversity of teachers in special education. She also co-taught special education and STEM college courses with the mathematics and science department chairs. At UCF, as the Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar she worked collaboratively with STEM faculty members to direct the Lockheed Martin/UCF Mathematics and Science Academy. The Academy encompassed two programs, the K-8 teacher leadership program and a Transition to Mathematics and Science Teaching (TMAST) program, focusing on teacher preparation. She also served as the co-coordinator for the Ph.D. program in special education, advising over her time at UCF 100 students, including 22 doctoral students with disabilities and 34 scholars from culturally diverse backgrounds. In her role as Co-Director of the UCF Center for Research in Education Simulation Technology (CREST), she and two colleagues created a widely used tool in teacher education called TeachLivE, now commercialized by Mursion. In the CREST Center, she led work in developing artificial intelligence agents to support students with disabilities in inclusive settings, creating observational tagging tools, and harvesting resources for coaches and special education teachers in STEM instruction. She just completed terms as the national conference Co-Chair for the Council for Exceptional Children and in an elected position on the Innovation and Technology Committee for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education while also serving on 8 journal review boards. She has been awarded the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC): Children Advocacy Network Advocate of the Year Award, the CEC: Teacher Education Division (TED) Outstanding Service Award, the CEC: TED Outstanding Journal Article Award, the UCF Graduate Student Mentor of the Year Award, and the University of Illinois and Eastern Illinois University Outstanding Alumni of the Year Awards.