Allison Swan Dagen

Allison Swan Dagen, PhD, is a professor in the School of Education at West Virginia University, where she serves as Program Coordinator for the Literacy Education/Reading Specialist graduate program and holds the Chester E. and Helen B. Derrick Teacher Education Endowed Professorship. A former middle school reading teacher and Title I math specialist in Pennsylvania’s Pleasant Valley School District, she is a certified reading specialist and elementary educator whose research focuses on professional learning and leadership for literacy educators, the preparation and roles of specialized literacy professionals, National Board Teaching Certification, emergent literacy practices, and online teaching.

Dagen is editor or coeditor of Best Practices of Literacy Leaders: Keys to School Improvement (second and forthcoming third editions) and has contributed multiple chapters on teachers as literacy leaders and the role of literacy leaders in schools. She wrote the foreword to Cultivating Coaching Mindsets: An Action Guide for Instructional Leaders, extending her work on literacy coaching and instructional leadership. Active in professional organizations, she has served on the Standards Committee of the International Literacy Association, including work on standards revision, and is a longtime member and contributor to ILA publications.