Resume

Career Experience

Hallsville R-IV School District   Hallsville, Missouri
Director of Curriculum & Instruction
July 2008–Present
Full time district administrator, working principally in the areas of faculty professional development, new teacher induction, curricular and instructional improvement, data team facilitation, teacher coaching/mentoring, assessment, educational data collection and analysis, and state data reporting.

Awards presented to the Hallsville School District
Missouri Commissioner’s Award for High Quality Professional Development, 2012
Missouri Professional Learning Communities Exemplary Schools Award, 2011
Accreditation with Distinction in Performance, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005

Lead Teacher
Fall 2002–Spring 2008
Full time service in instructional leadership role, working primarily in the areas of faculty professional development, mentoring, pre-service teacher education, teaching, curriculum development, grant writing/administration, and data analysis. Please see the attached listing of projects completed under my purview while in this position.

Music Teacher
Fall 1997–Spring 2002
Full time music teacher for approximately 450 students (ten class sections per day). Enhanced and expanded music program: developed and implemented standards-based district music curriculum; established 55-member honor choir; expanded elementary music performance opportunities to 13 annual events. Budgeting and other administrative duties.

Other professional opportunities at Hallsville
Ex-Officio Member; Professional Development Committee and Technology Committee; Spring 2008-Present
Member, PRIDE Academy Advisory Board, Fall 2009-Present
Chair-Elect, University of Missouri Partnership for Educational Renewal (MPER) Operations Council, Present
District Representative, University of Missouri Partnership for Educational Renewal (MPER) Operations Council, Fall 2002–Present
Member, Hallsville R-IV School District Professional Learning Communities Leadership Team, 2006–2009
Member, Hallsville R-IV School District Salary and Benefits Committee, Fall 2002–Spring 2008
Member, Hallsville R-IV School District Primary School building planning committee, Fall 2004–Spring 2005
Regional Delegate, Missouri Service-Learning Council (MSLC), Fall 2003-Summer 2005
Senior Leader, Heart of Missouri Regional Professional Development Center (RPDC)/ Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) Class 8, Fall 2001–Spring 2003
Chair, District instructional practices committee in preparation for state accreditation (MSIP) review, Fall 1999–Spring 2000
Director, Title I after-school Academy program, Fall 1998–Spring 1999
Member, Hallsville Elementary School Reading Task Force, Fall 1998–Spring 1999

University of Missouri–Columbia   Columbia, Missouri
Clinical Associate Faculty
Fall 2002–Present
Facilitate Classroom (Action) Research course for university graduate credit every year. Served as lead instructor for Inquiry into Schools, Communities, and Society College of Education course for undergraduate and graduate students. Served as mentor teacher to participants in the University of Missouri Partnership for Educational Renewal’s (MPER) Teaching Fellowship Program. Coordinated and implemented MPER’s Senior Year On-Site Program within Hallsville R-IV Schools District. Served as university supervisor to student teacher interns (an average of five per year) and coordinated all field placements (typically 30 per school year). Please see the attached listing of other opportunities completed while in this position.

Missouri Fine Arts Academy   Springfield, Missouri
Faculty
Spring and Summer 2003
Collaboratively and independently planned, developed, and facilitated daily courses for Missouri high school students identified as gifted and talented in the fine arts: Experiments course on collaborative, improvisatory music composition within a chamber ensemble setting; Interdisciplinary course included experiential process-oriented activities integrating fine arts disciplines. Leader-participant in daily collaborative sessions producing an embedded professional development outreach event for Missouri educators of all disciplines. Conducted workshop in musical instrument design and construction.

Miami University   Oxford, Ohio
Graduate Assistant
Fall 1995–Summer 1997
Served as guest lecturer on music education, composition, arranging, and technology topics for the following undergraduate courses: Music Composition; Electronic Music; Instrumental Methods for Vocal Majors; Seminar Practicum in Music Education; Instrumental Music, Elementary and Secondary. Served as instructor for the applied Intermediate Electronic Music Composition course. Accompanied pre-service teachers on several field experiences and provided evaluative feedback on performance. Teaching Assistant for Electronic Music courses. Administered university’s Music Recording Service, including personnel, equipment, and billing.

Akron Public Schools   Akron, Ohio
Music Teacher
Fall 1994–Spring 1995
Full time music teacher of middle school orchestra, band, and eleven sections of general music. Prepared individual students and chamber ensembles for Ohio Music Education Association Solo and Ensemble Contest and citywide honors ensembles.

Bandettes Drum and Bugle Corps   Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, Canada
Brass Caption Head
Spring 1994–Winter 1995
Rehearsed and chaperoned brass section of high school students in Division III drum and bugle corps. Directed corps in all monthly (October–May) and daily (June–August) rehearsals. Arranged and edited music. Assisted with on-field marching instruction.

Kent State University Department of Resident Services   Kent, Ohio
Resident Assistant
Fall 1991–Spring 1994
Supervised, mentored, and counseled 60 undergraduate students and performed duty responsibilities in a residence hall of 450 students. Planned, organized, and implemented educational programming. Performed administrative duties. Extensive training and experience in crisis/conflict management.

Other Volunteer and Field Experiences

Cub Scout Pack 733   Columbia, Missouri     Fall 2008-Spring 2011
Columbia Public Schools Comprehensive School Improvement Program (CSIP) Committee   Columbia, Missouri     Spring 2010
Talawanda Public Schools   Oxford, Ohio     Fall 1996–Spring 1997
Louisville Public Schools   Louisville, Ohio     Spring 1994
St. Patrick Elementary School   Kent, Ohio     Fall 1992
Ravenna High School   Ravenna, Ohio     Spring 1992
Chippewa High School   Doylestown, Ohio     Spring 1989–Fall 1990

Education

Miami University   Oxford, Ohio
Master of Music in Music Education, GPA 3.96
August 1997

Kent State University   Kent, Ohio
Bachelor of Music in Music Education, Cum Laude, GPA 3.53
May 1994

Honors

University of Missouri–Columbia   Columbia, Missouri
Fall 2002–Spring 2008
Selected as mentor teacher for Teaching Fellowship Program and Clinical Associate faculty appointment to the College of Education. Videotapes of ten music class sessions placed in local university library for review by future pre-service elementary and secondary educators.

Missouri Teachers Academy   Springfield, Missouri
Spring and Summer 2002
Nominated by district administration and selected by competitive review to work with students in the Missouri Fine Arts Academy and simultaneously develop a model interdisciplinary professional development workshop with eleven other Missouri arts educators.

Hallsville R-IV School District   Hallsville, Missouri
Fall 2000–Spring 2002
Hosted more than 55 pre-service elementary educators to model innovative, standards-based music instruction for young children. Presented with the faculty Lighthouse Award twice, 2002 and 2003.

Miami University   Oxford, Ohio
Fall 1995–Summer 1997
Graduate Assistantship
Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society

Akron Public Schools   Akron, Ohio
Spring 1995
Riedinger Middle School Principal’s Award

Kent State University   Kent, Ohio
Fall 1989–Spring 1994
Golden Key National Honor Society
Department of Residence Services Outstanding Leadership Award, 1993, 1994
Department of Residence Services Outstanding Programming Award, 1994
College of Fine and Professional Arts Dean’s List, seven of nine semesters
National Dean’s List

Facilitations and Presentations

Powerful Learning Conference   Lake Ozark, Missouri
Presentation on education data analysis and presentation tools and techniques, January 2012
Presentation on education data analysis and presentation tools and techniques, January 2011

Poplar Bluff School District   Poplar Bluff, Missouri
Team presentation on effective Professional Learning Community practices, December 2011

Marceline Public Schools   Marceline, Missouri
Facilitated first annual district Curriculum Camp, May 2010

University of Missouri–Columbia   Columbia, Missouri
Facilitated roundtable sessions on teaching the Action Research course for university fellows, June 2007
Facilitated roundtable sessions on conflict resolution for university supervisors of student teacher interns, December 2004

Little Dixie Conference   Boone County, Missouri
Facilitated professional development workshop on integrating fine arts activities into regular classroom instruction with fellow Missouri Teachers Academy cohort member, August 2002.

Please see the attached listing for other facilitations completed while in the Lead Teacher position.

Funding

Missouri Partnership for Educational Renewal Study Group Funding
Secured $2,500 competitive grant for implementation of faculty professional development on educational best practices, Fall 2011-Spring 2012
Secured $1,500 competitive grant for implementation of faculty professional development on educational best practices, Fall 2010-Spring 2011
Secured $1,250 competitive grant for implementation of faculty professional development on effective communication and relationship-building techniques, Fall 2009-Spring 2010
Secured $1,000 competitive grant for implementation of faculty professional development to improve student achievement, Fall 2007-Spring 2008

Missouri Service–Learning (Federal Learn and Serve America Grant)
Secured and administered $8,000 competitive grant for implementation of Service–Learning within Hallsville R-IV School District, Fall 2004-Spring 2005
Secured and administered two $8,100 competitive grants for implementation of Service–Learning within Hallsville R-IV School District, Fall 2002-Spring 2004

Professional Memberships

Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA), 2008-Present
Show-Me Curriculum Administrators Association (SMCAA), 2002-Present
Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA), 1997–2008
Hallsville Community Teachers Association, 1997–1999, 2001–2008
Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, 1997–Present
Missouri Music Educators Association (MENC), 1997–2008
Delta Omicron Music Honorary; Officer, 1991–1997; Alum, 1997-Present
Ohio Music Education Association (MENC), 1989–1997
ARS NOVA, Kent State University Composers Forum, 1993

Grant Reading

Serve on the reading team for the MU Partnership for Educational Renewal Study Group Funding grant project, Summer 2009-Present
Served as a reader for the Missouri Service Learning (Learn and Serve America) grant project, Spring 2004

Research

Research paper, The Effect of Imitative Pitch– and Interval–Matching Activities on the Instrumental Music Performance Proficiency of Sixth Graders, was subjected to blind peer review and accepted for presentation at the 1997 Ohio Music Education Association Conference in Toledo, Ohio.

Certifications

Missouri Professional Career (K-12), valid through 2104

Additional Courses

University of Missouri–Columbia   Columbia, Missouri
Art for Children
Reflections on Literacy
Classroom (Action) Research
Special Topics in Educational Leadership: Teachers and the Law
Foundations of Educational and Psychological Measurement
The Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals
Teaching Reading in the Content Areas

Missouri State University   Springfield, Missouri
Interdisciplinary Strategies for the Elementary and Secondary Teacher

Miami University   Oxford, Ohio
Applied Composition (five semesters)
Independent Study in Advanced Wind Ensemble Repertoire (two semesters)
Independent Study in Undergraduate Education Curriculum Analysis and Development
Independent Study in Educational Software Development
Applied Composition for Film and Television

Kent State University   Kent, Ohio
Applied Trumpet Performance (two semesters)
Applied Voice Performance (two semesters)
Applied Composition (six semesters)
Applied Jazz Studies (one semester each of jazz composition, arranging, and improvisation)
Electronic Music Composition
Folk Guitar

Commissions

I have produced a large number of commissioned arrangements for pedagogical use. In one especially successful collaboration, a co-arranger and I crafted more than forty musical works for advanced high school vocalists and instrumentalists. Typically, the quality of these arrangements exceed the original works in detail, interest, and musical style. In competition, our arrangements receive high praise from judges.

These works were produced on commission for several school districts: Unified School District of DePere (Wisconsin); School District of New London (Wisconsin); San Francisco (California) Unified School District.

Interests and Skills

A strong communicator, I easily collaborate on projects; however, I am also self-directed and assess needs, identify potential solutions, and complete multiple projects independently. While I take a creative, open-minded approach to solving problems, I have the organizational skills required to attend to all details of a project. I have substantive knowledge of educational issues and best practice.

I have a profound interest and extensive experience with educational technology, including data analysis software (SPSS, ClearAccess, Crystal Reports); web content development (Dreamweaver, Flash, raw HTML coding); word processing and spreadsheet software (Microsoft Office); presentation software (Keynote, Powerpoint); desktop publishing (PageMaker, InDesign); image preparation (Photoshop); electronic music (including both MIDI and digital audio applications of all kinds); and organizational/planning software from a variety of vendors.

I also enjoy educational software development; music composition; recreational reading; writing; black and white photography; walking, hiking, and exploring; and spending time with my family.



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About J.

J.I'm an educator, interdisciplinary artist, technophile, and jack of all trades living and working in the heart of America. Detailed biographies are available for those who have nothing better to do this afternoon.

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3109 Bray Avenue
Columbia, Missouri 65203
573.489.8471 (mobile)
573.219.9374 (home)
j@davidjdowns.com