Joan Pedro, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Joan Yvonne Pedro was appointed Dean of the College of Education in May 2020 at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Previously, she served as the Associate Dean for three years.

Among her many achievements is the creation of the college’s first Board of Advisors to assist in generating support for the college’s initiatives. In addition, she created the Middle School Pipeline in Dickinson Independent School District, which supports and assures success for middle school students and teachers in STEM fields. Currently, Dr. Pedro collaborates with Enrollment Management and College of Education faculty and staff to implement student success initiatives that will engage the students in innovative 21st century learning practice, thereby increasing program enrollment and retention.

Previously Dr. Pedro was at the University of Hartford for 15 years where she served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for nine years in the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions. During her time at Hartford she also served as the Coordinator of Teacher Education, the University of Hartford’s Certification Officer, and the Interim Department Chair as well as Coordinator of Accreditation for the Department of Education. She also served as Vice-President of the Connecticut College of Education Deans Association.

Dr. Pedro received her Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech.) in Curriculum and Instruction, and a Masters in Special Education from the University of Miami. Dr. Pedro is a national of Trinidad and Tobago who has more than 48 years’ experience as an educator at multiple levels, including both in her native country and here in the United States. She served the University of Sheffield, UK, as a program director of a distance-learning program for six years and conducted numerous workshops and presentations in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean which were commissioned by the Ministry of Education, University of Manitoba, CIDA, and UNESCO. Her scholarly field and research interests are in teacher development, leadership and reflective practice. She has participated in numerous conference presentations at regional, national and international conferences. Dr. Pedro has consulted and conducted workshops both in the United States and in the Caribbean in many areas of teacher education. She is an active member of many professional organizations and has worked with Counselors in the field sharing her knowledge of Special Education and Clinical Psychology.

 

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Areas of Expertise

• Teacher Development
• Special Education
• Leadership and Reflective Practice

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