TQ Center National Issue Forum: Presenter Bios

National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality National Issue Forum

Presenter Bios

From Planning to Action: Effectively Using Your Professional Development Resources

Presenter Biographies

Gary Appel
Gary Appel is the state manager for Michigan for the Great Lakes East Regional Comprehensive Assistance Center at Learning Point Associates. He manages the Center's capacity-building technical assistance work with the Michigan Department of Education in collaboration with Great Lakes East's subcontractors, the American Institutes for Research, RMC Research, and the Center for Applied Linguistics. Since 1999, Appel has helped initiate science and mathematics lesson study groups throughout the Midwest. He has made numerous lesson study presentations to national audiences (e.g., American Educational Research Association and National Staff Development Council annual meetings). Prior to his work at Learning Point Associates, he was a professional development coordinator for the Michigan Department of Education's National Science Foundation funded Statewide Systemic Initiative. Appel earned his MS in science education from the University of Michigan and holds a California teaching credential.

Katherine Bassett
Katherine Bassett is currently serving ETS as director of educator relations for the Higher Education Division, working to support teachers and teacher preparation institutions and building teacher-oriented partnerships with like-minded organizations. During her time at ETS, Bassett has served as client relations director for states using the Praxis teacher licensure assessment program, developed the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certificates for library media and literacy, and led the revision of the Praxis test for library media specialists. She has developed partnerships leading to the establishment of the National Teacher Forum and the Educational Forum of New Jersey. Bassett enjoyed a 26-year career as a library media specialist at the middle school level. Bassett served as New Jersey's State Teacher of the Year 2000, the first library media specialist to be so honored in New Jersey. In this capacity, Bassett was responsible for many changes to the program and helped to establish the Governor's Teacher Advisory Council.

Ellen Behrstock
Ellen Behrstock is a policy associate at Learning Point Associates. She is an experienced researcher with subject area expertise in measurements of teacher shortage and the relationship between teacher supply and teachers' renumeration. Behrstock earned her M.S. from the University of Oxford and is currently pursuing her Ph.D.

Robert Campbell, Ph.D.
Robert Campbell, Ph.D., is the director of program support and development for the Hawaii Department of Education. He has worked for the past eight years providing operational, technical, and research support to the Office of the Superintendent in the areas of compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, as well as Hawaii Board of Education and Superintendent of Education initiatives. His prior work includes serving as the state director of special education, district special education administrator, grant administrator, and district lead in the Respecialization In Special Education alternative certification program. Dr. Campbell is a graduate of the University of North Texas and served as a linguist in the U.S. Air Force.

Jane G. Coggshall, Ph.D.
Jane G. Coggshall, Ph.D., is a research associate for the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality at Learning Point Associates. Dr. Coggshall facilitates the development of print and online resources for regional and state officials working to improve teacher and school leader quality. As part of this work, she wrote Prospects for the Profession: Public Opinion Research on Teachers. In addition, she is conducting research on the interstate mobility of teachers. Previously, Coggshall taught middle-level mathematics at a parochial elementary school in the Bronx and at a public junior high school on the lower east side of Manhattan. As part of her doctoral work at the University of Michigan, Dr. Coggshall conducted original research on topics related to state-level reading policy, the use of portfolios for the assessment of beginning teachers, and the local effects of national teacher quality policy. Her dissertation, High School Teacher Assignment and the New Governance of Teacher Quality, won the Lester W. Anderson Memorial Award for best dissertation in the field of secondary school administration.

Tricia Coulter, Ph.D.
Tricia Coulter, Ph.D., is director of the Teaching Quality and Leadership Institute at Education Commission of the States. She is responsible for coordinating grant-funded research and policy work related to teacher and leadership quality, overseeing staff activities, planning teacher quality related sessions at national meetings, and reporting on grant activities to funding sources. Previously, Dr. Coulter was the coordinator of the State Higher Education Executive Officers K–16 Professional Development Collaborative—the group of state-level individuals with primary administrative responsibility for No Child Left Behind—Title II Student Affairs in Higher Education Partnership grants. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Nevada–Reno.

Seth Gerson, J.D.
Seth Gerson, J.D., is United States Senator Jack Reed's (D-RI) legislative assistant for education and children's issues. He previously served as an education fellow in Senator Reed's office in the fall of 2004. Prior to joining Senator Reed's staff, Gerson was a presidential management fellow and a regulatory analyst at the United States Department of Labor. Gerson earned his J.D. from Seton Hall Law School and is admitted to practice law in Maryland and New Jersey.

Laura Goe, Ph.D.
Laura Goe, Ph.D., is a research scientist at Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton and the principal investigator for ETS for the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. She was the research director for the Bay Area Consortium for Urban Education while at completing her doctoral work at Berkeley, working to improve teacher quality and supply in urban schools. Dr. Goe also taught at-risk middle school students in Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee (special education and language arts). She is currently a coeditor of the AERA journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Her research interests include teacher qualifications, teacher quality, teacher effectiveness, and the equitable distribution of teachers, as well as school finance and resource use. She earned her doctorate from the University of California Berkeley in policy, organizations, measurement, and evaluation.

Rosemary B. Harrigan
Rosemary B. Harrigan is the executive director of the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center in Schodack, New York. Previously, she taught in the public school system for 23 years. She was a leader in the drive to support teachers seeking National Board Certification and in advocacy for professional development for educators in New York State. In November 2007, Harrigan visited Shanghai, China, to develop Sino-American relations between educators of both nations (especially New York State teachers and Shanghai teachers). Harrigan earned her M.A. in social studies from the State University of New York at Albany.

Stephanie Hirsh, Ph.D.
Stephanie Hirsh, Ph.D., is the executive director of the National Staff Development Council. The council is the largest nonprofit membership association focused solely on improving student learning through high-quality professional development and school improvement. Prior to accepting her position with the council, Dr. Hirsh completed 15 years of district and school-based leadership positions including teacher, community college teacher, consulting teacher for free enterprise, and program and staff development director. She completed three terms as a school board trustee in the Richardson Independent School District. Dr. Hirsh has been recognized by the Texas Staff Development Council with a Lifetime Achievement Award, by the University of North Texas as a Distinguished Alumna, and by the Texas Association of School Boards as master trustee and a member of an Honor School Board. Dr. Hirsh serves many organizations including Microsoft Partners in Learning (National Working Group), University of North Texas Jewish Studies Program (Advisory Board), National Center for Culturally Responsive Education (National Advisor), The University of Texas College of Education (Foundation Advisory Committee), and First Alliance, (Board Member).

Marty Hougen, Ph.D.
Marty Hougen, Ph.D., is the project manager of the Texas Reading First Higher Education Collaborative (HEC) at Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. The HEC is a forum that provides ongoing professional learning opportunities for teacher educators about scientifically based reading research and instruction and how to integrate that research into teacher preparation courses. For the past 38 years, Dr. Hougen has worked with struggling readers as a general and special education teacher and administrator, and as a faculty member at several universities. Her research has focused on striving secondary readers and students with dyslexia. She presents at numerous international, national, and state-level conferences each year on a diverse range of topics, including vocabulary development, teaching for fluency, response to intervention, the special education and Reading First connection, and dyslexia. She is a national trainer for the Teacher Reading Academies, the Strategic Intervention Model, and other programs. Recently, Dr. Hougen was the recipient of the Outstanding Administrative Leadership in Reading Award presented by the Texas State Reading Association and the Outstanding Educator of the Year Award from the Division for Learning Disabilities, Council for Exceptional Children.

M. René Islas
M. René Islas joined B & D Consulting after several years of experience in education public policy, working in the government and nonprofit sectors. He is widely recognized on Capitol Hill and in education advocacy communities as an expert in elementary and secondary education policy. Islas leads B & D Consulting's education practice group, bringing an in-depth understanding of the complexities of the regulatory and legislative process. Islas previously served as the chief of staff to the assistant secretary of education. He managed the overall operations, policy development, and administration of programs within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, particularly programs within the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Islas advised on the implementation of NCLB and oversaw the department's compliance monitoring of the highly qualified teacher provisions of NCLB. Islas also has experience representing the Department of Education on issues of teacher quality and working with coalitions of state government education agencies in an effort to address teacher supply and demand. He advised and supported the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

Amy Jackson
Amy Jackson is deputy director of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. She has extensive experience and expertise in teacher quality program development and implementation as well as examination design. Previously, Jackson worked with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing for eight years. As administrator of examinations, teacher development, and research, she directed teacher examination programs focused on basic skills, subject-matter content, English language development, reading instruction, and performance assessment. She also was responsible for the administration of the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment program and worked at the Connecticut and Virginia Departments of Education. Jackson is pursuing a doctoral degree from the University of California–Berkeley.

Paul L. Kimmelman, Ed.D.
Paul L. Kimmelman, Ed.D., is senior advisor in the office of the CEO at Learning Point Associates and has served as a consultant to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in England and senior consultant to Project 2061 Professional Development Programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He worked in K–12 education for more than 30 years as a teacher, assistant high school principal, middle school principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent and has been an adjunct professor at several colleges and universities. Dr. Kimmelman has authored numerous articles and publications on education and presented at national and state education meetings. He was appointed by former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley to the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century and served on the TIMSS Technical Review Panel. He also was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige to serve on the Teacher Assistance Corps and participated in the Teacher to Teacher project offering sessions on Building Teacher Leaders. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Toledo.

Sabrina Laine, Ph.D.
Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., is a chief officer at Learning Point Associates and director of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. Dr. Laine has a diverse background in educational policy research and teacher quality and has spearheaded efforts to contribute to policy research and resource development related to issues of teacher quality and quantity. Her work includes several published studies on teacher supply and demand, teacher professional development, alternative certification, teacher recruitment and retention, and teacher turnover. As former chief officer for research and development at Learning Point Associates and acting director of the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, Dr. Laine was responsible for a full-time staff of 45 and a $9 million annual budget. Her responsibilities also included managing state and federal contracts to conduct research and development. She is skilled in working closely and effectively with local, state, regional, and federal education agencies; sensitive to the challenges faced by educators in urban, rural, and low-performing schools; agile in establishing and sustaining collaborative relationships with other organizations; and efficient in managing both financial and human resources. She earned her doctoral degree from Indiana University.

Marsha Levine
Marsha Levine began her career as a teacher in the New York City Public Schools. Her teaching experiences laid the foundation for her professional commitment to developing support for public school reform. Through policy studies, research, and development activities, she has built links between P–12 schools and the business community, teacher organizations, and higher education. Dr. Levine is a senior consultant for professional development schools for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, where she directed a project to design and field test standards and an assessment process for these innovative institutions. The NCATE Professional Development Schools (PDS) Standards and assessment process are being used in PDS partnerships throughout the country. Her current projects focus on addressing teacher quality gaps in urban education through the expansion of PDSs to include induction and urban teacher residencies.

Joyce Lieberman, Ed.D.
Joyce Lieberman, Ed.D., is a senior curriculum project associate at Learning Point Associates. In this capacity, she participates in state and district support for curriculum, instruction, and assessment services; works with states and districts to develop curricular criteria and frameworks; and develops diagnostic tools for evaluating curriculums. Prior to joining Learning Point Associates, Dr. Lieberman served as a faculty member in higher education for seven years. Her primary responsibility was teaching graduate level courses in curriculum leadership, education policy/change, professional development, program evaluation, and review of research in curriculum and instruction. During her tenure in higher education, Dr. Lieberman conducted, presented, and published research in teacher professional development, standards-based teaching and learning, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. In addition, Dr. Lieberman was a Chicago Public High School teacher, and she worked in the business world for an international commodity firm. She earned her doctorate in education policy from The George Washington University.

Jeffrey Max
Jeffrey Max is a research associate who specializes in the area of teacher quality at Learning Point Associates. In this capacity, he coordinates and conducts data collection activities using a variety of methodologies, including interviews, surveys, and focus groups. As a research analyst at Mathematica Policy Research, Max gained experience designing and conducting qualitative analyses. He has experience developing protocols, coordinating site visits, conducting interviews, and analyzing site visit data from multiple sites. Max coauthored a report that assessed the feasibility of designing and evaluating a teacher incentive program. The report identified and addressed implementation issues of a program to identify effective teachers and offer them an incentive to transfer to high-needs schools. Max also contributed to a report that identified existing teacher incentive programs across the country that could be studied using quasi-experimental methods. His quantitative experience includes analyzing school and district data from the Common Core of Data and gathering state adequate yearly progress data. Max is also proficient in Stata and has experience working with large datasets to analyze data and produce reports. Max earned his M.P.A. from Columbia University.

Heidi A. Ramírez, Ph.D.
Heidi A. Ramírez, Ph.D., is the director of the Urban Education Collaborative at Temple University where she is the principal liaison between the College of Education, the Center for Research in Human Development and Education, and the School District of Philadelphia and other regional districts and schools. Her portfolio includes a variety of projects in three key areas of urban school improvement: leadership development, teacher quality, and climate for learning. Prior to coming to Temple University, Ramírez was an education program consultant at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where she provided advice on investments in urban education, district-level reform, and initiatives to improve teaching and learning for English language learners. As a researcher at the Center for Research on the Context of Teaching at Stanford University, she focused on the study of districtwide reform initiatives and professional learning communities. Dr. Ramírez also held the position of special assistant to the deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Education. In this role, she was responsible for developing legislative and public policy proposals in support of standards-based education reform, particularly in regard to the administration's proposal for the 1999–2000 reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the National Educational Research and Statistics Act. Ramírez earned her M.A. in sociology from Stanford University, her Ed.M. in education policy and administration from Harvard University, and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University.

Daniel J. Reschly, Ph.D.
Daniel J. Reschly, Ph.D., is professor of education and psychology in Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, where he is the chair of the Department of Special Education. From 1975 to 1998, Dr. Reschly directed the Iowa State University School Psychology Program. He has published on the topics of response to intervention, special education system reform, overrepresentation of minority children and youth, and classification procedures. He has been active in state and national leadership roles, including president of the National Association of School Psychologists and editor of School Psychology Review. Dr. Reschly served on the National Academy of Sciences Panels on Standards-Based Reform and the Education of Students with Disabilities (member), Minority Overrepresentation in Special Education (member), and Disability Determination in Mental Retardation (chair). He also is codirector of the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Oregon.

George Ann Rice, Ph.D.
George Ann Rice, Ph.D., retired as associate superintendent, Human Resources Division, and chief negotiator of the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2007. She served as a teacher and department chairperson at Western High School and as assistant principal at Eldorado High School. She resigned her position with the school district in 1982 to pursue an education in the legal field and practiced law in California as a civil litigator for more than five years, returning to the school district in January of 1991. Dr. Rice earned her M.B.A. and doctoral degree in educational administration from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas and her J.D. from the University of California–Los Angeles.

Cortney Rowland
Cortney Rowland is a program associate in teacher quality at Learning Point Associates. She serves as the coordinator of policy products and services for the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. This work includes managing the Teaching Quality (TQ) Source (www.tqsource.org). Her role with the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality also requires targeted development and dissemination of products, resources, and services for regional comprehensive centers. In addition, Rowland is the co-project manager of the team evaluating Iowa's Teacher Quality Enhancement grant. She also plays a key role in content development and dissemination for the national Center for Educator Compensation Reform. Rowland has a strong background in research, evaluation, and policy analysis. Much of her experience and expertise focuses on at-risk students and the issue of teacher quality, particularly recruitment and retention, in at-risk and hard-to-staff schools. Rowland earned her master's degree in sociology from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, and is pursuing her doctorate in sociology at Loyola University–Chicago.

Marietta Rives
Marietta Rives began her career in education in 1994 as a Grade 6 teacher in a small, rural school in Missouri. Upon moving to Iowa, she accepted a position as a middle school mathematics and language arts teacher. She taught Grades 7–8 in Johnston Community Schools in Johnston, Iowa, for five years before accepting a position at Heartland Area Education Agency, a regional education agency. She was a school improvement consultant for five years before moving to professional development within the agency. Responsibilities of that position were primarily to work with school districts in their efforts to implement their districtwide professional development initiatives. Rives, a professional development consultant, is the newest member of the Teacher Quality Team, Teaching and Learning Services, for the Iowa Department of Education. She serves as a statewide consultant for the Iowa Professional Development Model, is a lead team member for the Iowa Core Curriculum, and directs the work of the Iowa Content Network and Instruction at the Core. Rives earned her M.S. in curriculum development and teacher management.

Bradley Scott, Ph.D.
Bradley Scott, Ph.D., a senior education associate at the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), brings 36 years of experience to the field of education. He serves as director of the IDRA equity assistance center, the South Central Collaborative for Equity. He has conducted training and provided technical assistance in race and human relations, intrapersonal and interpersonal communication, management styles, leadership skills, excellence and equity in education, conflict resolution, team building and embracing diversity in school settings, gender equity, and national origin equity. His broad background has been instrumental in his present capacity through which he provides technical assistance and training to public school districts, school personnel, students in those schools, parents and community members in the development and implementation of race desegregation plans, including assistance in coping with educational issues emerging from the desegregation process. The center works with school districts in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas in the preparation and adaptation of desegregation plans; community, parent, and student involvement in the desegregated school setting; development of equal employment procedures and policies; establishment of nondiscriminatory policies; elimination of racially bias curricular materials; and the creation of alternative materials development of human relations activities to promote racial harmony in public schools. Dr. Scott earned his master's degree in early childhood and elementary education from the University of Texas at San Antonio and his doctorate in philosophy with a concentration in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Regis Anne Shields, J.D.
Regis Anne Shields, a director at Education Resource Strategies (ERS), a nonprofit organization that works extensively with urban public school systems to rethink the use of district and school-level resources to support strategies for improved instruction and performance. Shields specializes in urban high school and district reform and leads ERS's Human Capacity practice area. At ERS, she has led reviews of professional development investment in a number of districts including, Rochester, New York; Washington, DC; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to joining ERS, she served as the special assistant to the superintendent and director of high school redesign for the Providence (Rhode Island) Public School District, where she helped design and oversee the transformation of Providence's high schools. Shields also did school reform work with Boston Public Schools as the assistant director for the Boston Annenberg Challenge. Prior to her work in education, Shields was a public finance lawyer for Rogers & Wells and Moody's Investors Service. Shields earned her J.D. from New York University Law School and her M.P.A. from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, specializing in education policy and organizational management.

Alysan Slighter
Alysan Slighter is currently the acting coordinator of the Office of Planning and Professional Development at the New York State Education Department. Her office has primary responsibility for providing technical assistance and monitoring local education agency implementation of NCLB Title II A teacher quality requirements. The office is also responsible for administering several New York State regulations and initiatives that are closely aligned with NCLB requirements for high-quality teaching and professional development: Professional Development Plan requirement (Commissioner's Regulation 100.2.dd), Annual Professional Performance Review requirement (Commissioner's Regulation 100.2.o), New York State Teacher Centers (an initiative funded by the state legislature at $40 million annually, currently supporting 133 teacher centers statewide), and the New York State Staff and Curriculum Development Network. Slighter previously served as the SAHE Title II A coordinator (under IASA and the Eisenhower program) from 1997 through 2002 and has been the New York State SEA Coordinator of Title II A since the inception of NCLB.

Susan Smartt, Ph.D.
Susan Smartt, Ph.D., is a senior research associate at Vanderbilt University and a member of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality team. She has 30 years of experience working in both general and special education. Dr. Smartt has worked as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, school psychologist, and principal of an inpatient child psychiatry school. She was the co-owner and director of a learning disabilities clinic and most recently was a national reading consultant and teacher trainer. She writes teacher training curricula to assist teachers in data-based decision making for informed instructional planning and enhanced progress monitoring. Dr. Smartt earned her doctoral degree from Tennessee State University.

Rogers M. Smith, Ph.D.
Rogers M. Smith is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism. He also has served as chair and cochair of the University Advisory Council of the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia. He teaches American constitutional law and American political thought, with special interests in issues of citizenship and racial, gender, and class inequalities. He is the author or co-author of many essays and five books. His 1997 book Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History received "best book" awards from the American Political Science Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Social Science History Association, among others, and was a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in History. While he was professor of political science and Alfred Cowles Professor of Government at Yale University, he led New Haven Institute and national seminars on a variety of topics. He served on the National Demonstration Project Planning Team and in 2004 authored the report, To Motivate My Students, An Evaluation of the National Demonstration Project of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. While at Yale, he was cochair of the University Advisory Council on the Teachers Institute and served on the executive committee. He is a member of the National University Advisory Council. Smith earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1980.

Peggy Stewart
Peggy Stewart, New Jersey State Teacher of the Year 2005, has taught world history and U.S. history at Vernon Township High School for the past 15 years. She has served on the New Jersey Quality Teaching and Learning Task Force and the New Jersey International Education Task Force. Stewart serves on the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning and the NJEA Instruction Committee. She is also the current chair of the New Jersey Professional Teaching Standards Board. Stewart has been continuously engaged in professional development programs, particularly in the area of international education. After participating in a study of China and Mongolia through Yale's Program in International Education Resources, Stewart developed teaching units that she presented at numerous conferences, including the Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies Conference at Slippery Rock University, New England Regional Conference on Social Studies and at the National Council of Social Studies Conference. As a member of the New Jersey International Education Task Force, Stewart created professional development programs that she presented for educators throughout New Jersey. As a member of the New Jersey Professional Teaching Standards Board, Stewart has worked on the state professional development initiative. Stewart was a copresenter at the National Staff Development Conference in Colorado in July 2007 and again in Texas in December 2007. She earned her master's degree from Ramapo College in 1996 and became a National Board Certified teacher in 2005.

Sara E. Thomas
Sara E. Thomas is an art teacher at High School in the Community in New Haven, Connecticut. She has been a Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute Fellow for each of her five years in teaching, a New Haven Institute seminar Coordinator for one year, and an institute representative for her school for three years. She has been a national fellow in seminars such as "Children's Literature, Infancy to Early Adolescence" (2006) and "Latino Cultures and Communities" (2007). She is a member of the Team of New Haven Colleagues in the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools.

Deborah L. Voltz, Ed.D.
Deborah L. Voltz is the director of the Center for Urban Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research interests include urban teacher preparation and the inclusion of students with disabilities in diverse, standards-based classrooms. She began her career as a special education resource teacher in the Birmingham City Schools. After completing her doctorate at the University of Alabama, she taught in teacher preparation programs at Alabama State University, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and the University of Louisville. She has extensive experience in planning and implementing professional development for teachers in urban schools. In Birmingham City Schools, she recently implemented Project SMILE: The Standards Movement and the Inclusion of Learners with Exceptionalities. This professional development project focused on preparing educators to teach to standards in diverse, inclusive classrooms. She also currently leads the Urban Teacher Enhancement Program, which focuses on preparing and supporting teachers for urban schools. Dr. Voltz's research interests include urban teacher preparation and the inclusion of students with disabilities in diverse, standards-based classrooms.

Gretchen Weber
Gretchen Weber is a senior program associate at Learning Point Associates. She provides expertise for teacher-quality policy, publications, products, and technical assistance. She has led the technical assistance and professional services efforts with Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin school districts, which are working to meet the highly qualified teacher provision of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In addition, Weber is engaged in part of the development of a suite of online tools that will use technology to improve and document teacher quality. Within the work of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, Weber coordinates the technical assistance for the regional comprehensive assistance centers, including the capacity-building assemblies, such as issue forums and the annual conference for the center. She has worked with a wide range of student populations in both suburban and urban settings. Focused on a range of teacher quality issues, Weber has worked as a part of the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards task force for the Illinois State Board of Education. She has presented nationally and locally to deliver professional development to a wide audience and is certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Weber holds a master's of education in curriculum and instruction from National-Louis University.

Ed Wilgus
Ed Wilgus is a former nationally certified counselor who has served as professional development manager for the Vancouver School District for the past eight years. His responsibilities include the training, development, and mentoring of administrative, certificated, instructional and noninstructional support staff. Prior to the Vancouver School District, Wilgus was a public school counselor at the primary and secondary levels. He also has served as an adjunct instructor in the Portland State University Counselor Education program, and has been appointed to several state task force committees for professional development and certification of employees. Under the auspices of the Washington School Personnel Association and the Office of State Superintendent, Wilgus in conjunction with colleague, Lee Goeke, has developed an extensive professional development program for human resource management in public education, which has been delivered to hundreds of superintendents, school principals, human resource directors, and supervisors of classified school district employees.