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Dr. Tiffini Brigola is the Coordinator of the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, Vice President of the Louisiana Educational Research Association, and Executive Board Member of the Raphael-Evelyn Ofodum Education Foundation. A former State Assistant Principal of the Year, she is the creator of the Whole School Optimization Model and winner of LERA’s Rayma Harchar Outstanding Paper Award. Her work focuses on innovative leadership, teacher expertise, and resolving wicked problems in K–12 education. She is passionate about educational equity, systems thinking, and preparing leaders who uplift schools and communities.

Doctor of Education in K-12 Educational Leadership, 2023
University of Louisiana at ɫ��AV

Master of Education in Educational Leadership, 2017
University of Louisiana at ɫ��AV

• Wicked Problems in Education 
• Whole System Design and System Thinking 
• Authentic School Improvement 
• Dispositions and Practices of Effective School Leadership 
• Self-Awareness and Personal Development in Leadership 
• Expert Teaching and Teacher Leadership 
• Innovation and the Flow Experience (Individual and Group Flow) 
• The Human Development Index (HDI) and Its Impact on Education
• AI and Its Impact on the Arts and Education

• Brigola, T. (2025). The whole school optimization model: Using innovative leadership and teacher expertise to overcome wicked problems in K-12 education. Research Issues in Contemporary Education, 10(1). ISSN 2690-9251
• Brigola, T. (2023). The whole school optimization model: A sequential, mixed-methods, multiple-case study of effective leadership and the utilization of irreplaceable, expert teachers in innovative roles to solve wicked problems in authentic school improvement [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Louisiana at ɫ��AV]. ProQuest LLC, Dissertations and Theses. ISBN: 979-8-3811-5862-5
• Brigola, T. & Mayeaux, A. (2025, April 23-27). The whole school optimization model: Reconceptualizing school improvement through shared, expert leadership [Paper presentation]. American Educational Research Association Conference 2025, Denver, CO, United States
• Brigola, T. (2025). Something Wicked this Way Comes: Applying the Whole School Optimization Model [Presentation]. New International Virtual Association Conference Spring Program, Florida, United States
• Brigola, T., Comeaux, A., Hill, C., Bertrand, R., Boutte, N., Gardner, C., LeJeune, C., Buche, J., Wilkinson, S., Viator, J., Caesar, C., Toups, C., & Gilliam, A. (2025, March 11-14). Something wicked this way comes: Innovative approaches to tackling unrelenting issues in today’s educational climate [Conference symposium]. LERA Conference 2025, ɫ��AV, LA, United States
• Autin, N., & Brigola, T. (2025, March 11-14). Using action research as a catalyst in designing implementation steps for improvement [Conference symposium]. LERA Conference 2025, ɫ��AV, LA, United States
• Brigola, T. (2024). Something Wicked this Way Comes: Wicked Problems in Education and How to Solve Them [Presentation]. New International Virtual Association Conference Fall Program, National Social Science Association
• Brigola, T. (2022). Wong and Wong’s Classroom Instruction Book: A Whole Group Book Study [Presentation]. Gueydan High School, Vermilion Parish Schools, Year-long Professional Learning Program
• Brigola, T. & Lepretre, N. (2021). Teachers are leaders: Improving classroom management through leadership theory [Presentation]. Vermilion Parish School System District-wide Professional Development

• 2025 – Vice President, Louisiana Educational Research Association 
• 2025 – Rayma Harchar Outstanding Research Paper Award, Louisiana Educational Research Association
• 2024 - Appointment to UL ɫ��AV Graduate Faculty 
• 2024 – Louisiana Association of Principals State Assistant Principal of the Year 
• 2023 – Executive Board Member, Raphael-Evelyn Ofodum Education Foundation 
• 2022 – Yearbook Dedication Recipient: “Behind the Scenes”, Gueydan High School 
• 2021 – Louisiana Aspiring Principal Fellow, Pilot Cohort, LDOE 
• 2019 – Scholarship Recipient, Louisiana BESE Tuition Program for Teachers 
• 2017 – Inductee, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, UL ɫ��AV Chapter
• LERA’s Rayma Harchar Outstanding Paper Award