Jerita Whaley

Dr. Jerita Whaley ‘s formal training is in reading, literacy, and educational leadership where she has served in various roles over her 50+ year career. Dr. Whaley served as a teacher and administrator in the Stillwater Public Schools where she was also curriculum director and Director of the Professional Development Center. She then moved into higher education positions related to teacher preparation, in reading, writing, and literacy in a brick and mortar university. She has been at Walden University since 2007, where she has taught courses in teacher leadership, qualitative research methods, and served on numerous dissertation committees. She is currently the academic coordinator for the Teacher Leadership Program EDD EDS, Reading Literacy Assessment and Evaluation Program Ph.D. Ed.D Ed.S, Early Childhood Leadership and Advocacy Program Ph.D. Ed.D Ed.S, and Early Childhood Special Education Program Ph.D. EDD EDS. Dr. Whaley’s research interests focus primarily on teacher efficacy and effective teacher professional development that has included work with professional development for teachers involved in the National Teacher Certification process. She has written several Teacher Quality Grants and conducted teacher professional development for elementary and middle school teachers in several districts in West Texas using an adapted model for the Japanese Lesson Study. Dr. Whaley has presented her research to numerous organizations and has published to a peer-reviewed journal in Australia.