Dorothea Edgecomb Speaking at USF Symposium

The Honorable Dorothea Edgecomb, a USF College of Education alumna, has been invited to speak on campus on April 11, 2007 at a symposium co-sponsored by the Institute on Black Life and the Florida Education Fund.  The theme of the symposium is “The Achievement Gap:  Strategies and Solutions.”  Ms. Edgecomb was elected to the School Board (District 5) in the August 2004 primary election.  She is one of seven members responsible for making policy decisions and overseeing a budget of $2.6 billion for the 8th largest school district in the nation and the county’s largest employer with 30,000 employees. 

Ms. Edgecomb graduated from the College of Education with a Master’s degree in Reading Education, K-12 and is certified in Educational Leadership. She has held several positions in the same school system where she was a student and where her daughter Allison is now a middle school assistant principal.  An educator for 42 years, she has held positions as a reading teacher, middle school learning specialist, tutorial teacher, coordinator for secondary drug education, Title I parent involvement coordinator, Title I reading supervisor, and elementary principal.

In 1996 after retiring from the school district, Ms. Edgecomb joined the Educational Testing Service (ETS) as a trainer, program developer, and technical assistance advisor.  She has also taught reading courses to pre-service teachers in the USF College of Education and is actively involved in numerous professional, civic, social, and community organizations.