Mrs. Dawson is an educational consultant, coach and retired, award winning Pre-K-5 public Montessori School principal with almost 30 years of experience. She has led her school in the implementation of the Understanding by Design Framework with a focus on early childhood and primary school. While principal, Dawson led her school’s implementation of Kentucky’s Teacher Effectiveness System with Danielson’s Enhanced Professional Practice: Using the Framework for Teaching. Additionally, with her school’s Professional Learning Community, Dawson has successfully worked to bring state standards to life in the classroom.
Dawson has taught, led and consulted in Title 1 and Non-Title 1 Schools and her work spans small, large, urban, rural and suburban districts. Opal supports school leaders, district leaders and teachers nationally and internationally in planning and implementing improvement initiatives, capacity building, and supporting high academic achievement for diverse student populations and instructional best practices.
In addition, Mrs. Dawson has worked extensively with educators to adapt protocols for use when analyzing student work that will lead to considering professional practice that affected the work and to inform instructional next steps. Opal has served on Educational Foundations and Boards and she holds B.S. and M.Ed. degrees from the University of Louisville.
Areas of Expertise
- Assessment
- Instructional Coaching
- Instructional Strategies
- Professional Learning Communities
- Student Work Analysis
- Teacher Effectiveness
- Understanding by Design®
Available for consulting work in:
- North America
- International locations on all continents
