Dr. Cummings earned a Ph.D. in Secondary Education with an emphasis in teacher preparation at the University of Illinois in 1989. Prior to that time, she was a high school teacher and counselor in Fargo, North Dakota. Cummings directed the secondary education program at North Dakota State University before moving to Western Michigan University in 1999. She has coordinated the School/University Partnership Team at WMU and was co-coordinator of the CITE Collaborative with Kalamazoo Public Schools in 2002-03. Currently, Cummings serves as the associate dean of the College of Education and Human Development at WMU and provides technical assistance in the assessment of student learning for academic and student services programs. Her research interests include the assessment of candidates in teacher education, the use of benchmarking to build assessment skills in preservice and in-service teachers, and program evaluation in higher education. Nationally, she has served as a member of the NCATE Board of Examiners and on the Association of Teacher Educators’ Commission on Teacher Induction and Retention.
