Michele R. Dean

Dr. Michele R. Dean serves as Senior Lecturer and Field Placement Director in the Department of Learning and Teaching at California Lutheran University's Graduate School of Education. She joined the faculty in October 2015 following a 37-year career in Pre-K-12 public education across Ventura County school districts.

Her expertise encompasses:

• K-8 dual language instruction/programs development
• Equity-centered approaches for diverse student populations
• Comprehensive school/district leadership models
• Community engagement strategies for educational institutions

Dr. Dean has received significant recognition including:

• California Department of Education Title I Achieving Schools Award for Montalvo Elementary leadership
• First Ventura County California Association for Bilingual Education Seal of Excellence
• Latino Educational Leadership Award (2008)
• CLU 25th Anniversary Alumni Honoree (2012)
• GSOE Faculty Service Award (2020-2021)

As Field Placement Director, she oversees clinical education components while leveraging her extensive administrative background as elementary principal, assistant principal, instructional coach, and professional development administrator. Her service includes manuscript reviewing for Corwin Publications since 2004 and coordination of the Ventura County Indian Education Consortium federal program.