Lancaster, Paula

Biography

Dr. Paula Lancaster began her role as the Dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Central Michigan University in July 2020. 

She is a professor of special education and has served in the roles of Department Chair and Director of Teacher Education. After receiving her B. S. in Special Education, she was a high school special education teacher for eight years. During this time she completed her M.S. in Curriculum and Supervision and a certification in Educational Leadership while becoming a building level administrator. She completed her Ph.D. in Special Education in 1999 at the University of Kansas, where she also worked at the Center for Research on Learning. 

Her research has focused on effective instruction and instructional technology for adolescents with high incidence disabilities. Recently, her work is centered on the development and implementation of practice-based approaches to educator preparation with a particular interest in collaborations between university-based preparation programs and PK-12 school environments. She is active in state-level educator preparation work, serving on multiple committees and task forces, and is a founding member of the Michigan Teacher Education Network, an organization dedicated to disrupting patterns of inequity in teaching and teacher education.