Debora L. Scheffel, PhD

Dr. Debora Scheffel was appointed July, 2008 as the Dean of the School of Education at Jones International University. Previous to her appointment at JIU, she held a tenured professorship at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado and also served as the Director of Competitive Grants and Awards/Literacy Grants and Initiatives at the Colorado Department of Education, as well as special assistant to the Commissioner of Education in Colorado.

Dr. Scheffel has an extensive background in academic assessment, serving as the Director of Academic Assessment at two universities, and has been a visiting scholar at the United States Air Force Academy in assessment. Her academic background is in communication sciences and disorders and special education with research interests in cognitive psychology and learning theory as related to implications for learning environments, brain-behavior relationships and learning, and reading and oral language development and disabilities in children.

She has worked in six states in a variety of post-secondary educational contexts, and is a published author in literacy, special education, and higher education assessment. Her professional affiliations include the International Neuropsychological Society, the International Dyslexia Association, and the Council for Exceptional Children. She was elected to the Colorado State Board of Education in November, 2010, representing the 6^th Congressional District.   She serves on the editorial boards of Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, Colorado Reading Council Journal (CRCJ) and Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.