Gerald Dryer
Educational Leadership and School Transformation
jerry.dryer@gmail.com | 608-438-1718
I’m passionate about providing my students with transformative educational experiences, rooted in social justice and critical thinking. My scholarship and teaching aim to cultivate ethical leaders who contribute meaningfully to the world.
I’m a lifelong learner who soaks up new experiences and ideas. Equally psyched to learn about a new theoretical framework or recipe.
2026 PhD in Education Leadership and Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education.
2011 Master of Arts in Education - Goddard College, VT
2008 Wisconsin Alternative Education License, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
2005 Bachelor of Arts in Education - Goddard College, VT
As a career educator, I’ve taught everywhere: classrooms, online and around campfires. I work to build trusting relationships with my students that allow us to pursue challenging learning.
2024-now Director, Educational Leadership EdD program - Gonzaga University. Teach and advise students completing Doctoral studies. Design courses, hire adjuncts and admit new students.
2019-23 Teaching Assistant - UW-Madison School of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Co-taught educational technology and leadership courses.
2012-13 Instructor - UW-Whitewater. Taught courses in the At-Risk Educator certificate program.
2006-17 English / Language Arts Teacher, Prairie Phoenix Academy High School, Sun Prairie Wisconsin
2015-now Lead Guide, Devil’s Lake Rock Climbing Guides, Baraboo Wisconsin
1999-06 Experiential Recreation Specialist / Youth Counselor, SPRITE Program, State of Wisconsin Dept of Corrections, Div of Juvenile Corrections
1997-99 Wilderness Trip Leader / Ropes Course Director, Camp Manito wish YMCA
1995-98 Founding Member, Adventure Learning Programs, UW-Madison
I’m a skilled research designer who gravitates towards critical ways of knowing. Solving the social inequities at the core of our educational systems requires that we challenge our assumptions and privilege in order to build new and equitable practices.
2025 Research Assistant, Office of the Provost, UW-Madison - Analysis of a large scale survey of stakeholders. Essential quantitative measures plus data mining of open text responses to understand the strategic priorities of faculty, staff, students and alumni.
2023-24 Researcher, Institute for Innovative Assessment - designed and conducted research and evaluation activities investigating the efficacy of ONPAR, an online middle-school science assessment platform.
2021-23 Research Assistant, CALL for Equity Centered Leadership - research design; data collection, qualitative data cleaning and analysis; project management; leading graduate student researchers.
2017-now Lead Designer, CALL for Personalized Learning - a formative feedback system for educators that supports the practices of Personalized Learning. I led the design development and testing of CALL-PL including conceptualization, item construction, validation work, literature review, focus groups and interviews and descriptive statistical analysis.
Leger, M; Dryer, G; Gomez, L. (2024). Access, Achievement, Identity, Power: Conceptualizing Equity Centered Leadership Practice Through the Lens of Multidimensionality. AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
Wright, L; Malkin, L; Henson, R; Dryer, G. (2024). Actionable Assessment: Designing Meaningful Score Reports to Support Student Engagement. National Council of Measurement in Education, 2024 Classroom Assessment Conference. Chicago, IL.
Dryer, G. (2023). Designing for Equity: Using Game Design tools to Create Social Justice. ISTELive23, Philadelphia, PA
Dryer, G. (2023). Differences in Practice: Initial Data from a Study Comparing Personalized Learning Practice in Charter and Non-charter Schools.” AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Dryer, G. (2022). A Framework for the Key Practices of Personalized Learning: Designing Instructional Routines for Student Agency. In Dryer, G. (Chair). Innovative Technology-Related Practices to Support Equitable Schooling. [Symposium]. AERA Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
Wu, Y., Wang, M., Yang, X., Rapp, H., Dryer, G., Tang, H. (2021). How K-12 Schools Districts in Wisconsin Communicate to Parents During the Outbreak of Covid-19: A Content Analysis from School District Websites. Emerging Researchers’ Conference - European Conference on Educational Research.
Halverson, R. R., Lee, C., Vadas, J., & Dryer, G. (2021, Apr 8 – 12). The Impact of Personalized Learning on Student Achievement and Behavior [Poster Session]. AERA Annual Virtual Meeting.
Good, A., Hara, M., Dryer, G., Harper, J. (2020). Teachers and Educational Policy Advocacy: Capacity, Agency, and Implications for Practice Advocacy in Education, in Ethridge, E., Davis, J., and Winterbottom, C. (ed): Advocacy in Education: Research-Based Strategies for Teachers, Administrators, Parents, and the Community
Dryer, G. (2020, March 31-April 3). Assessing the Distribution of Practices of Personalization Across Districts. Carnegie Summit on Improvement in Education, San Francisco, CA. https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/summit/ (online summit)
Dryer, G.; Lee, C.; Arrigoni, J.; Strikwerda, A. (2020, April 16-21). Mapping Key Instructional Practices for Equity in Personalized Learning. AERA 2020 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. https://www.aera20.net/. (conference canceled)
Good, A., Hara, M., Dryer, G., Harper, J. (2020, April 16-21). Teachers and Educational Policy Advocacy: A Review of the Research on Capacity, Agency, and Implications. AERA 2020 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. https://www.aera20.net/. (conference canceled)
Dryer, G. (2019). Mapping Personalized Learning. Connected Learning Summit 2019, Irvine CA.
Rawat, T., Dryer, G., (2018). A Model of Technology in Personalized Learning in Kallio, J., (chair) Personalized Learning: Perspectives from the Field and an Agenda for Research, University Council of Educational Administration Conference, Houston, TX (November 14-17).
Dryer, G. (2019). Crystal City: modeling structural racism through game design. Connected Learning Summit, Irvine, CA
Kallio, J., Dryer, G. (2018). Personalized Learning in K-12: Insights for Higher Education. Education Innovation Initiative, Office of the Provost, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI.
2022 Teacher Powered Schools Summit (Minneapolis)
2021 Institute for Personalized Learning Convening (Milwaukee)
2021 Innovative Schools Network - Designing for Equity (Wisconsin Dells)
2018 Institute for Personalized Learning National Convening (Milwaukee) - Mapping Personalized Learning
2019 Play Make Learn (Madison); Innovative Schools Network (Wisconsin Dells); Minority Student Achievement Network (Madison) - Designing for Equity
2017 Institute for Personalized Learning Convening - Networked Improvement Communities
2024 Consult - Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction - EIR grant application
2020-22 AERA Campus Liaison for UW-Madison School of Education
2020-21 Co-founder PBS Wisconsin Click Youth Media Challenge
2020-21 UW ELPA HR Committee Student Representative
2020-21 Play Make Learn Conference organizing committee
2020 Panel - Assistantships in Graduate School - UW Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
2019 Founder - We Need a Better Name graduate student writing group
2019 Consult - Prairie Phoenix Academy - design processes to improve school engagement
2019 Consult - Community by Design Charter School
2019 Charter school authorization review committee - UW Office of Educational Opportunity
2019 Faculty Search Committee - UW ELPA
2018-24 Peer Mentor - UW ELPA - peer mentor for fellow graduate students
2018 Consult - Valley New School - qualitative research methodologies for student projects
2018 Consult - Dodgeville School District - implementing personalized learning
2018 Consult - Madison Metropolitan School District Innovation Team
2017-22 Fellow, Wisconsin Center for Education Research Clinical Program - develop policy briefs, conduct workshops for teachers as policy agents
2012 AEE International Conference - Host/Organizing Committee
2021 David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration & Policy
2021 Kemper Knapp grant $2500 - as part of the Play Make Learn Conference Committee
2019 UW SoE Department Travel Grant $350
2016-18 Kiefer, K. Wisconsin Statewide Longitudinal Data System Project. US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. $6.5 Million. PI: Richard Halverson, our team participates in a $2.1 million subcontract to the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. My role: data collection and analysis.
2016-2018 Rickabaugh, J. Joyce Foundation Awarded $125,000 over 18 months. PI: Richard Halverson. Our team participates in a subcontract for research in Personalized Learning. My role: developing research tools (survey), data collection and analysis.
2023 Q&A (with Clif Conrard) in Wallet Hub: Most and Least Educated States
2020-21 Podcast Co-Producer: Leadership for Learning Technologies in the Time of Covid-19
2020 Blog Post: WCER Clinical Program Professional Development and Teacher Empowerment
2019 Interview: Personalized Learning with Matt & Courtney podcast
2019 Co-host: New Books Network Education Channel episode: “Teachers at the Table: Voice Agency and Advocacy in Educational Policymaking.”
2019 Interview: Adventure Learning Programs promotional video
2017-now LinkedIn
MS Office, GSuite, Maxqda, STATA, Qualtrics, video editing
Wisconsin Secondary English & Alternative Education
AMGA Single Pitch Rock Climbing Instructor
WMA Wilderness First Responder
American Education Research Association
American Mountain Guides Association
Association for Experiential Education
Carnegie Project of the Educational Doctorate
Innovative Schools Network
National At-Risk Education Network
National Council of Teachers of English
United Council of Education Administration
Wisconsin Association of Environmental Education