Dr. Loriann A. Leota is an experienced and highly effective administrator and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Arts in Educational Administration and Doctor of Education in Educational and Professional Practice; Multicultural and Anti-racist Education. Her dissertation is titled: True Culture at War With Colonizer Culture: The Underrepresentation of Pacific Islander Students in Higher Education.
Dr. Leota has worked as both a teacher and educational leader in several settings, ranging from urban to suburban and has served diverse populations. She truly believes that all children can grow intellectually, emotionally and socially, when they are provided with a caring and engaging educator. Under her leadership, her school was able to transform their SBAC scores by more than 15% in both ELA and Mathematics, decrease the chronic absenteeism rate by almost 2% and decrease the suspension rate by 1%. A strong equity advocate, she firmly believes in meeting the needs of the whole child by building relationships, empowering students to be agents of social change and inspiring leaders.
The number of Pacific Islanders in education is less than 10%, with an even smaller percentage in administration. Further, they earn 0.1% of doctoral degrees. As a Palauan educational leader, Dr. Leota intends to break the glass ceiling for not only herself, but all Island people.