Teresa Lance

Dr. Teresa A. Lance currently serves as an Assistant Superintendent of Equity and Innovation. Prior to her current role, Dr. Lance served as the Superintendent in a suburban school district outside Chicago, IL. As Superintendent, Dr. Lance led with an equity lens. Her approach is evident by the significant decrease in the disproportionate number of out of school suspensions and expulsions for Black and Brown children. Additionally, under Dr. Lance’s leadership, the number of advanced placement course offerings doubled. For the first time in the school district’s history, 9th graders were allowed to enroll in advanced placement courses securing both opportunity and access for our often marginalized students. Dr. Lance was also a School Leadership Officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In her role as a School Leadership Officer, Dr. Lance was responsible for more than 11,000-students in 21 schools. While in Colorado, Dr. Lance oversaw multiple programs including: Gifted and Talented, Special Education, Emergent English Learners, and Professional Development. Dr. Lance’s career, however, began in Baltimore City, Maryland as a health and physical education teacher. It is in Baltimore City where Dr. Lance credits much of her growth; moving from teacher to assistant principal and eventually principal of both a middle and high school.

In her quest for learning and to create better outcomes for the students she serves, Dr. Lance has received training in various parts of the country, including three stints of professional learning at Harvard University’s Professional Education programs. Dr. Lance earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and defended her dissertation titled, The Contributions of a Ninth-Grade Academy on African American Males’ Promotion to Tenth Grade: A Single-Case Study. She is also contributed a chapter entitled, Leading Boldly, to Challenges to Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs in Organization. Dr. Lance has presented at several professional conferences, including The American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Association of School Administrators (AASA), and IDEAcon. More recently, Dr. Lance was appointed and proudly serves on the Advisory Board of the Region 9 Comprehensive Center, which services Iowa and Illinois.

Dr. Teresa A. Lance is a Thought Leader at TCEA 2021 through our partnership with IDEAcon.