Diana Sharp is a Senior Research Associate at RMC Research Corporation. She supports the Region 7 Comprehensive Center’s work with Florida in PreK–3 literacy, and she also works with the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast. She served for three years as RMC’s REL Southeast Project Director, and she currently manages the REL’s work with Florida Virtual School, focusing on effective online teaching and family engagement practices for K–3 literacy. In 2013, Diana created the Fascinate Forward project, a Tampa initiative to help low-income families build their children’s early language and literacy skills through visits to museums, zoos, libraries, and other cultural venues. This work resulted in community partnerships and a summer program, now in its ninth year.
Prior to joining RMC, Diana spent 13 years on the research faculty of Vanderbilt University’s Learning Technology Center. She also formed a consulting company for educational leaders. In 2010, she created the free Reading Machine iPhone/iPad app for beginning and struggling readers, which has been featured by the University of Michigan’s DyslexiaHelp center and Reading Is Fundamental. She is currently partnering with the Florida Center for Reading Research to create universal decoding and phonics support that can be integrated into every digital device.
EDUCATION: Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Vanderbilt University; B.A. in Psychology from Dickinson College
AREA OF EXPERTISE: Literacy, personalized learning, technology support for learning, family and community partnerships
