Dana Chambers
Dana Chambers is deputy director of the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) and a principal technical assistance consultant with AIR, bringing with her more than 15 years of experience as a teacher, school administrator, and project leader, with specific expertise in educator quality and equity issues. As deputy director of the GTL Center, Chambers contributes to the strategic direction of the center, serving as the senior advisor to a portfolio of equity-focused technical assistance projects, and oversees the center's evaluation and reporting efforts. Chambers also leads the Talent for Turnaround Leadership Academy, a collaborative effort across the comprehensive center network to support eight state and 15 district teams in designing and implementing bold talent management strategies to attract, support, and retain excellent educators in the highest need schools. Beyond her GTL Center work, Chambers is the peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange task lead on the State Support Network, managing the design and implementation of P2Ps with states in support of school improvement efforts under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Chambers also serves as AIR’s Staff Manager Lead, providing professional development and other supports to staff managers across the organization.
Chambers recently successfully completed work on several projects related to educator quality, including leading the Maine Schools for Excellence TIF-4 project, a 5-year effort providing technical assistance to four districts as they developed and implemented comprehensive educator talent management systems; leading a project for the Texas Education Agency to develop a toolkit to support districts in developing local equitable access plans; leading a study for the George W. Bush Institute (GWBI) to develop a framework for effective principal talent management policies and practices; and serving as deputy director of a related GWBI study evaluating the impact of selected principal preparation programs.
Prior to joining AIR, Chambers served as interim director of curriculum design for Grant Wiggins’ Authentic Education, and a senior associate with edCount, LLC, a D.C.-based education consultancy firm where she provided technical assistance to school districts focused on Common Core implementation, curriculum design, school culture, formative assessment, and professional development. Chambers began her career as a public school teacher and dean of students in NYC public schools.