Dr. Michelle Fitzgerald has been an educator for 28 years. In that time, she has served as middle school teacher, building administrator, district curriculum coordinator, assistant superintendent, and area superintendent – principal supervisor. Dr. Fitzgerald has worked in three different states and has experience in different types and sizes of districts – from suburban Chicago school districts; to the 7th largest district in the country; and a district that is 100% urban. She has experience with standards-based curriculum development, best practices in instructional delivery, and assessment with a focus on data-driven instruction.  Dr. Fitzgerald built instructional leadership in principals and assistant principals capitalizing on her extensive experience in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

During her time in Florida, Dr. Fitzgerald worked with some of the most struggling schools. She worked with the instructional leadership team of the schools through school turn around. Due to the systems and structures put into place and an intentional focus on instruction, many of her schools saw great gains and were continuing to see improvements in student achievement.

Dr. Fitzgerald holds a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from Illinois State University, a Masters of Arts in Educational Leadership from Aurora University, and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Northern Illinois University. Her dissertation is titled, Student Involvement in the Formative Assessment Process, drawing upon her belief that students could and should be active participants in their own learning and that all education should be data-driven.