Don Deshler

Director - Center for Research on Learning
Professor of Special Education
University of Kansas

Donald D. Deshler, Ph.D., is director of the Center for Research on Learning (CRL) and a professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas. He is also a co-principal investigator with the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD). Don's work addresses ways to close the large "achievement gap" and to reduce the escalating drop-out rate for struggling adolescent learners. His work also focuses on designing instructional routines that can be used by secondary teachers to help them more effectively teach subject-matter content to academically diverse classes in secondary schools. The work of CRL focuses on the validation of academic strategies for adolescents who struggle with becoming good readers, writers, and learners. Researchers at CRL have completed in excess of $80 million worth of contracted R&D that has resulted in the validation of the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM), a comprehensive instructional model for improving outcomes for at-risk adolescents.

Don serves as an advisor on adolescent achievement to several organizations, including the Carnegie Foundation, the National Governor's Association, Alliance for Excellent Education, Council on Families and Literacy, and the U.S. State Department. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the J.E. Wallace Wallin Award from the Council for Exceptional Children and the Learning Disabilities Association Award from the Learning Disabilities Association of America for outstanding research and service for at-risk populations.

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