Nancy W. Sindelar, Ph.D.

Nancy W. Sindelar, Ph.D. has spent over 30 years in education as a teacher, administrator, university professor and consultant and has published numerous articles and three books on educational topics. Working with schools across the country to improve student achievement, she focuses on standards-based curriculum and assessment alignment, collection, use and interpretation of student test data, legal issues in education and teacher mentorship and the development of high performing teacher teams. Nancy’s consulting efforts have moved schools from state academic “watchlists” to “most improved status,” based on state test scores.

Nancy’s Hemingway biography, Influencing Hemingway, was inspired by her background in teaching. She states, “As a former English teacher at Hemingway’s alma mater, Oak Park and River Forest High School, I first explored Ernest’s high school years as a means of engaging my students in his novels. I studied Ernest’s yearbooks, his high school writing and even met some of his former teachers. Together my students and I learned that the man who became an international literary figure and sports legend also was a high school athlete, the editor of the school’s newspaper, a contributor to the literary magazine and that he played the cello in the school’s orchestra and participated in the school play.” After additional research, including trips to France, Switzerland and Cuba, Influencing Hemingway was written to document how Ernest Hemingway’s early years and the people and places Ernest was drawn to in his adult life contributed to his writing.

Professional Background

Nancy is an Executive Consultant on assessment for the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), a peer reviewer of REL products for Mathematica Policy Research and the subject matter expert and speaker for two fifteen-part video series produced by Savant Learning: Assessment for Teaching and Learning and Using Data to Manage Change. Nancy has worked with the Gates Foundation on “Closing the Gap” materials and spoken at numerous national conferences, including meetings of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the National Association of School Boards (NASB). She is skilled in helping Illinois schools meet the teacher evaluation demands of PERA and schools across the country meet the curriculum and assessment demands of the Common Core State Standards. Her customized seminars and online presentations reflect her years of professional practice as a teacher, administrator, university professor and national consultant.

Nancy received her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, a master’s degree from DePaul University, a certificate of advanced studies from Concordia University, and a doctor of philosophy degree from Loyola University of Chicago. She was a visiting scholar with the English faculty at Cambridge University, England and served a four-year term as president of Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy Alumni Board. Her publications include Using Test Data for Student Achievement: Answers to No Child Left Behind, Assessment-Powered Teaching, Developing an Effective Mentor Teacher Program, and Influencing Hemingway.