National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality What Works Conference
Presenter and Panelist Biographies
Download an Adobe® Reader® PDF version of the Presenter and Panelist Biographies (424 KB).
Eileen Aviss-Spedding
Eileen Aviss-Spedding is the manager of professional standards and higher education initiatives at the New Jersey Department of Education. In this capacity, she is responsible for overseeing the educator quality initiatives including the implementation of all standards-based reform initiatives for teachers and school leaders. Aviss-Spedding also oversees of the highly qualified teacher initiative and higher education program approval and accreditation. She provides leadership and guidance to New Jersey's Professional Teaching Standards Board, the New Jersey Department of Education Teacher Quality Council, and the Professional Learning Advisory Committee for School Leadership. Aviss-Spedding has also served as special assistant to the deputy commissioner of education, speechwriter for the commissioner of education, and policy analyst in the Office of Licensure. She has represented the state on a number of national projects including the Interstate New Teaching Assessment Consortium, the State Action for Educational Leadership Project, and the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium. Aviss-Spedding holds a master's degree in public policy from Rutgers University.
Angela Baber
Angela Baber is a researcher for the Teacher Quality and Leadership Institute at Education Commission of the States (ECS). She researches state policy on issues that include diversified teacher pay systems, recruitment and retention of teachers, teacher preparation, teacher certification and licensure, No Child Left Behind implementation, paraprofessional requirements, and special education teacher requirements. Baber also provides analysis of policy and practice for all 50 states and U.S. territories. Within the work of the National Comprehensive Center
for Teacher Quality, Baber researches and responds to technical assistance for the regional comprehensive assistance centers as well as participates in capacity-building meetings. Before joining ECS in April 2006, Baber was a research assistant at the National Academies of Science Space Studies Board in Washington, D.C. She also was a project manager for the Science, Technology and Engineering-Teacher Preparation program funded by the National Science Foundation at the University of Colorado–Boulder, which focuses on recruiting and training high-quality K–12 mathematics and science teachers.
Wayne A. Barton, Ed.D.
Wayne A. Barton, Ed.D., has over 33 years of experience in education. He did postdoctoral research with the Institute for Development of Educational Activities, a division of the Charles
F. Kettering Foundation. He has been a teacher, coach, principal, director of curriculum, and superintendent in the public school system. He is currently in his 11th year with the Delaware Department of Education where he serves as the director of professional accountability. He holds a master's degree from the State University of New York at Cortland and a doctorate in education from The Pennsylvania State University.
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.
Albert L. Bennett, Ph.D.
Albert L. Bennett, Ph.D., is the Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and professor of education at Roosevelt University–Chicago. He specializes in research intended to close the achievement gaps, principally by improving the trust relationships between adults and youth.
He also has considerable experience in evaluation design and program evaluation. Previously,
he was the dean of the Evelyn T. Stone University College and also served as senior program officer of the Chicago Community Trust and director of program evaluation for Chicago Public Schools. Currently, Dr. Bennett serves as the cochair of the assessment committee at Roosevelt University. He is the principal investigator of a five-year evaluation of an effort to improve high schools in Chicago, which is funded by the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation. In addition, Dr. Bennett is a member of the oversight committee of the University of Chicago's Consortium on Chicago School Research and a member of the Higher Education Council of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. He holds a Ph.D. in education and policy analysis from the University of Chicago.
Barnett Berry, Ph.D.
Barnett Berry, Ph.D., is the founder and president of the Center for Teaching Quality, Inc., based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The center seeks, both regionally and nationally, to improve student learning by shaping policies through developing teacher leadership, building coalitions, and conducting practical research. In 2003, the Teacher Leaders Network, a major initiative at the center, was founded by Dr. Berry and his colleague, John Norton. Dr. Berry's career, which began as an inner-city high school teacher in 1978, has focused on a wide range of efforts to close America's student achievement gaps by closing the teaching quality gaps. He has worked as a social scientist at the RAND Corporation, served as a senior executive with the South Carolina State Department of Education, and directed an education policy center while he was
a professor at the University of South Carolina. In the 1990s, Dr. Berry played a major role in developing the blue ribbon report of the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future and later leading its state policy and partnership efforts. He has authored more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, and commissioned reports on school reform, accountability, and the teaching profession. In addition, he serves on boards and in an advisory capacity to numerous organizations committed to teaching quality, equity, and social justice in America's schools.
Dr. Berry earned his Ph.D. in educational policy from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.
Mark A. Bounds
Mark A. Bounds is the deputy superintendent for the Division of Educator Quality and Leadership for the South Carolina Department of Education. Previously, he was director of
the Office of School Leadership (OSL) for the South Carolina Department of Education. Previously, Bounds was the executive director of Communities in Schools of South Carolina,
a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping children succeed in school and life. He was also a team leader in the Department of Education, Office of School Quality, serving low-performing schools. Prior to starting his career in education, Bounds served over 20 years as an officer in
the U.S. Army, retiring as lieutenant colonel. He is certified as a middle and high school principal and holds master's degrees in administration from Central Michigan University and national security and strategic studies from the College of Naval Command and Staff.
Donna Carr, Ed.D.
Donna Carr, Ed.D., is currently employed by the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center as a No Child Left Behind and Title I research and development specialist. She has over 30 years of experience in public education as a Title I resource reading teacher, director of federal programs and special education, and assistant superintendent in West Virginia and Virginia. During this time, she developed expertise in school improvement, wrote several school improvement planning guides, and provided school improvement assistance to districts. She recently coauthored an article on engagement rates of middle school mathematics students for the School Science and Mathematics Journal. Dr. Carr has served as an adjunct faculty member for various colleges in West Virginia and the University of Virginia–Hampton Roads. She presently serves as a special member of the graduate faculty of the University of Maryland–Eastern Shore.
Dr. Carr earned her Ed.D. in educational leadership from West Virginia University.
Rhonda Catanzaro
Rhonda Catanzaro has more than 20 years of experience in public sector negotiations, first as chief spokesperson for her own education association and later as field organizer and personnel dispute mediator for the Tennessee Education Association. She received training as a facilitator for interest-based bargaining from the National Association for Education Negotiators and has since trained others in the collaborative bargaining process. Catanzaro's history with the "Chattanooga Story" of closing achievement gaps through collaborative partnerships began with her position as teacher union staff member at the time of the merger of the "old city and county" systems; her leadership role in bringing about a "new way" of problem-solving in Hamilton County, Chattanooga; and her facilitation of the interest-based bargaining process. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops on leadership, team-building, and bargaining issues.
Anthony Cody
Anthony Cody is a science coach in the Oakland, California, Unified School District. Cody taught science and mathematics for 18 years at Bret Harte Middle School in Oakland and spent two years as a coach with the district's peer assistance and review program. He became one
of Oakland's first teachers to be certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in early adolescent science in 2000 and served as a coach for national board candidates. He also served on the board of the Chabot Space & Science Center, participated in the Apple Computer Digital Edge project, convened a leadership forum in Northern California for teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and served as
a leader of K–12 science curriculum projects in Oakland and at Stanford University.
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. She is also 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, 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. Taking a particular interest
in organizational theory, her article, "Reform Refractions: Organizational Perspectives on Standards-Based Reform," was published in the 2004 annual review Educational Administration, Policy, and Reform: Research and Measurement. 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.
Richard Lee Colvin
Richard Lee Colvin is the director of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has been with the institute since 2002 and has been director since 2003. Prior to joining the institute, he wrote about national education issues for the Los Angeles Times, where he was a reporter and editor for 13 years. He has contributed chapters to a number of books, the most recent of which are Social Studies and the Media: Keeping the Beast at Bay and The Best of Intentions: How Philanthropy is Reshaping K–12 Education. He also has written for Carnegie Reporter, Chronicle of Higher Education, Education Next, Education Week, Ford Foundation Reports, Los Angeles Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times Magazine, The School Administrator, and State Legislator.
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.
Xiu Chen Cravens
Xiu Chen Cravens is a Ph.D. candidate in educational leadership and policy at Vanderbilt University and an Educational Experimental Research Training fellow funded by the U.S. Department of Education. She is currently involved in research projects such as the development of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education funded by the Wallace Foundation, U.S.-China Educational Leadership Learning Exchange for school principals, and charter school studies for the National Center of School Choice. Previously, she held the position of director of the Middle Tennessee Career Center. Cravens is an active member of the Nashville community and is involved in partnerships and initiatives promoting school leadership development, career development for disadvantaged youth, and social integration for new Americans. She earned her M.S. in communications from the University of Tennessee–Knoxville.
Charlotte Danielson
Charlotte Danielson is an educational consultant based in Princeton, New Jersey. She has taught at all levels, from kindergarten through college, and has worked as an administrator, curriculum director, and staff developer. In her consulting work, Danielson has specialized in aspects of teacher quality and evaluation, curriculum planning, performance assessment, and professional development. She has worked as a teacher and administrator in school districts in several regions of the United States. In addition, she has served as a consultant to hundreds of districts, universities, intermediate agencies, and state departments of education in virtually every state and in many other countries. This work has ranged from the training of practitioners in aspects of instruction and assessment and the design of instruments and procedures for teacher evaluation to keynote presentations at major conferences. Clients for the development of materials and training programs include the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the College Board, ETS, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Danielson is the author of a number of books supporting teachers and administrators.
Laura Dukess
Laura Dukess is the director of professional development at the Office of School Leadership for the New York City Department of Education. In this position, Dukess manages a United States Department of Education leadership grant, is responsible for planning and implementing professional development for practicing and aspiring school leaders in two districts in the Bronx, and supports the Office of School Leadership in developing citywide strategies for developing school leaders. Prior to accepting this position, Dukess was a leadership resource specialist for Region One, New York City Department of Education as well as coordinator of leadership programs and Project LEAD for Region One. Prior to joining Region One, she was the director of programs, director of leadership programs, and senior program officer at New Visions for Public Schools. Dukess' career in education began at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she was the director of policy programs at the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation. Dukess is the author of several educational leadership publications. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and the Columbia University School of Law. She practiced law for several years before beginning a second career in education.
Amanda Farris
Amanda Farris serves as the deputy assistant secretary for Policy and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Her primary focus is on developing and implementing educational and strategic policy regarding teacher quality, literacy, early childhood education, mathematics and science, education technology, high school reform, school choice, supplemental educational services, and migrant education. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education, Farris served as professional staff for Chairman John Boehner on the U.S. House of Representatives' Education and the Workforce Committee. In this position, she worked with members of Congress to promote successful implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and reauthorize the Head Start Act. Farris has also served as professional staff for the Subcommittee on Employment Safety and Training of the Senate Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions Committee, helping to draft the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002. She started her career as a legislative correspondent
in the office of Senator Mike Enzi.
Robert A. Frahm
Robert A. Frahm has spent 36 years writing about education. A former high school English teacher, he worked as a reporter for the Racine, Wisconsin, Journal-Times from 1971 to 1984 before joining the Hartford Courant, where he was the chief education reporter from 1984 to 2007. He has covered a wide range of topics, such as testing, teacher quality, and school reform, and has written extensively about school desegregation, including Connecticut's Sheff vs. O'Neill lawsuit. His numerous writing awards include the nation's top prize for education reporting in 1983 and 1996 from the Education Writers Association and the 1996 Master Reporter Award from the New England Society of Newspaper Editors.
Marilyn Friend, Ph.D.
Marilyn Friend, Ph.D., has spent her career as a general education teacher, special education teacher, teacher educator, and staff developer. She is currently a professor of education in the Department of Specialized Education Services at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro, where she teaches coursework on inclusive practices and collaboration among service providers. She also currently serves on the Board of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. She has consulted with school professionals nationally and internationally as they collaborate to educate their students, assisting them to form productive and efficient work teams; to learn the best ways to manage awkward or adversarial conversations; and to communicate effectively with parents. Her particular areas of interest include skills for collaboration, coteaching, inclusive school practices, team building, shared problem solving, interpersonal communication, conflict and controversy, and home-school communication. She
is the author of several special education books. In addition, she is the coproducer on a series of videotapes about collaboration, coteaching, and inclusion, and the author of more than 50 articles on collaboration, inclusive practices, and related topics.
Kathleen Fulton
Kathleen Fulton is director of Reinventing Schools for the 21st Century at the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF). She was the lead author for NCTAF's 2003 report No Dream Denied: A Pledge to America's Children. Fulton is also
the project director for the NEA Foundation-sponsored report Reducing the Achievement Gap Through District/Union Collaboration: The Tale of Two School Districts. She heads up the fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education/U.S. Department of Education project Teachers Learning in Networked Communities and the Wachovia Foundation's Georgia Induction project. Before joining NCTAF, Fulton was project director for the Congressional Web-based Education Commission as primary author of the report The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving From Promise to Practice (2000). Previously, she was associate director of the Center for Learning and Educational Technology at the University of Maryland and a policy analyst for the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. She earned her master's degree in human development from the University of Maryland.
Phoebe Gillespie, Ph.D.
Phoebe Gillespie, Ph.D., is the director of the National Center for Special Education Personnel and Related Service Providers funded by the Office of Special Education at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. She has more than 30 years of experience
in the field of special education, serving children from birth to age 21 in a variety of settings. Dr. Gillespie has worked as a paraprofessional, infant home and classroom teacher, mental health facility education director, diagnostician, building-level administrator, and recruitment
and retention outreach manager for the Council for Exceptional Children's Professions Clearinghouse. She holds a Ph.D. in educational policy, planning, and leadership from the College of William and Mary.
Gerald E. Gipp, Ph.D.
Gerald E. Gipp, Ph.D., currently serves as the executive director for the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), where he recently completed 45 years as a professional educator. Dr. Gipp is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (Hunkpapa Lakota) from Fort Yates, North Dakota, who began his educational career as a teacher and athletic coach at the
K–12 level in Verona, North Dakota; Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana; and the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte school system on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.
In 1980, he became the first American Indian to be appointed by the U.S. Department of Education as the deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Indian Education. In addition,
he served as president of Haskell Indian Nations University for nearly nine years. He also was
a faculty member of the Educational Administration and Cultural Foundations of Education Graduate School at The Pennsylvania State University and the director of the American Indian Leadership Program. In addition, he was the executive director for the Intra-Departmental Council on Native American Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior
to joining AIHEC, he held the position of program director at the National Science Foundation
in educational system reform. He earned his master's degree and Ph.D. in educational administration from The Pennsylvania State University.
Drew Gitomer, Ph.D.
Drew Gitomer, Ph.D., is a research director currently serving as a distinguished presidential appointee of ETS's Policy Evaluation and Research Center. Dr. Gitomer has enjoyed a highly successful career at ETS that spans more than two decades. Since joining the company in 1985, he served as a senior scientist and research director of the Teaching and Learning Division and senior vice president of research and development. Dr. Gitomer's many professional activities include serving as a member of the American Educational Research Association Consensus Panel on Teacher Education; principal investigator, sponsor, and collaborator of research for
the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards; and project director of The Academic Quality of Prospective Teachers. He has extensive consulting experience and has given numerous presentations, including "Revisiting the Academic Proficiency of Prospective Teachers," delivered to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education in February 2007. Dr. Gitomer earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.
Laura Goe, Ph.D.
Laura Goe, Ph.D., is an associate research scientist in the Teaching and Learning Research Center at ETS and is a senior researcher for the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. Previously, Dr. Goe was the research director for the Bay Area Consortium for Urban Education at the University of California–Berkeley, where she worked with representatives from school districts as well as two- and four-year colleges and universities in an effort to improve teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention in the Bay Area. She also worked extensively
on issues of school finance, accountability, and teacher credentialing and distribution in California. Dr. Goe earned her master's degree from the University of Memphis Education Leadership and Policy Program and her doctorate from the University of California–Berkeley Policy, Organizations, Measurement, and Evaluation Program.
Richard K. Hill, Ph.D.
Richard K. Hill, Ph.D., is the founder and chair of the board of trustees for the nonprofit National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, Inc. He was the executive director of
the center from its inception until 2004. The mission of the center is to help states and districts foster higher student achievement through improved practices in educational assessment and accountability. Prior to founding the center, Dr. Hill was cofounder and president of Advanced Systems in Measurement and Evaluation, Inc., an educational assessment firm. He was also a faculty member at Virginia Tech and a consultant for the California Assessment Program in
the California Department of Education. In 1978, Dr. Hill joined the staff at RMC Research Corporation in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as a senior associate. Dr. Hill earned his master's degree in secondary mathematics education from St. Lawrence University and his Ph.D. in statistics and measurement from Syracuse University.
Eric Hirsch
Eric Hirsch is the director of special projects at the New Teacher Center at the University of California at Santa Cruz, a national organization committed to improving student learning by supporting the development of an inspired, dedicated, and highly qualified teaching force. Hirsch has served as executive director of the Center for Teaching Quality, executive director of the Colorado-focused Alliance for Quality Teaching, and education program manager at the National Conference of State Legislatures. His work is largely focused on better understanding and improving teaching and learning conditions, recruiting and retaining teachers, and alternative compensation. He has surveyed more than 250,000 educators during the past three years about their school environment. Hirsch has worked with and testified to legislatures and policymakers in more than 30 states and presented at numerous conferences about issues of teaching quality and governance. Hirsch has authored more than 50 articles, reports, book chapters, and policy briefs published by groups such as NCSL, the National Governors Association (NGA), the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the U.S. Department of Education, Congressional Quarterly, the Journal of Special Education, and the University
of Pittsburgh Press. Hirsch received his teacher certification in Massachusetts and his M.A.
from the University of Colorado.
Gary Huggins
Gary Huggins is the director of the Commission on No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a bipartisan, independent effort dedicated to improving the NCLB Act. The commission has spent the last year traveling across the country and listening to the experiences of students, educators, parents, administrators, state and district officials, experts, and policymakers in order to develop specific and actionable recommendations for establishing a high-achieving education system. Huggins has more than 15 years of experience in leading education and environmental policy organizations. Prior to joining the commission, he served as executive director of the Education Leaders Council and the Education Leaders Action Council, organizations that represented governors, state education chiefs, state education boards, and other officials focused on improving K–12 education systems. Prior to these positions, Huggins served as executive director of CSCV, a coalition of corporations, small businesses, and consumer and environmental groups that promoted market-based environmental solutions. He also served
on the 1988 presidential campaign and inaugural committee for George H.W. Bush.
Leslie James
Leslie James has worked for the past seven years as a consultant at the Nevada State Department of Education for the Title II-A Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund. Prior to this, she was a speech and language specialist and a special education teacher for 23 years as well as an adjunct university faculty instructor. James is the author of an auditory discrimination training program and the book Empowering Students With and Without Special Needs: Through Learning Strategies, Instructional Strategies and Collaboration.
Jean Johnson
Jean Johnson is executive vice president of Public Agenda and head of its Education Insights division, which works to enhance public and community engagement in public education. As
a member of Public Agenda's senior staff, she has developed and managed research and communications projects on a wide variety of issues. She has authored or coauthored Public Agenda studies on education, families, religion, race relations, manners and civility, retirement, welfare, and health care. Prior to joining Public Agenda in 1980, Johnson was resource director for Action for Children's Television in Boston, where she authored a number of articles on the effect of television on children and adolescents. Johnson holds master's degrees from Brown University and Simmons College.
Bonnie Jones, Ph.D.
Bonnie Jones, Ph.D., is an education research analyst in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education. Her work includes the evaluation of federal discretionary grants in personnel preparation. As part of her work at OSEP, she is project officer for four national centers, including the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, the Center for Improving Teacher Quality, and the new Center to Inform Policy and Practice in Special Education Professional Development. Prior to coming to OSEP in 1997,
Dr. Jones devoted more than 25 years to public education in positions that include local, district, and state education agencies. She has a strong background in instructional design and teacher quality. She has served with leading national teaching standards committees, including those
at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, at the Council for Chief State School Officers with Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, and the Council for Exceptional Children. Dr. Jones earned her doctorate in teaching policy at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Jason Kamras
Jason Kamras was named the 55th National Teacher of the Year in April of 2005 by President Bush for his work as a seventh and eighth grade mathematics teacher at John Philip Sousa Middle School, a District of Columbia public school. Kamras was recognized for helping his students make historic mathematics achievement gains in one of America's most disadvantaged communities. Among his instructional innovations was a photography-based mathematics program designed to provide a rigorous and engaging context for learning and simultaneously empower students with a creative voice of their own. In 2001, this program was recognized with the Mayor's Art Award, the highest arts honor bestowed by the District of Columbia. Kamras began teaching in 1996 as a member of Teach for America, and Sousa Middle School was his original placement site. Following his year of service as National Teacher of the Year, he continues to work full-time as a national advocate for equality of opportunity in public education. Kamras holds a master's degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School
of Education.
Susan Karr
Susan Karr, CCC-SLP, is the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) director of state education practices. She provides consultation, support, and resources for school-based members' state and local advocacy efforts that impact speech-language pathology service in the schools. Karr is currently part of an ASHA National Office team working on the 2007 Focused Initiative on Personnel Issues in Health Care and Education to remedy the personnel shortage issue for school-based speech-language pathologists. Previously, she was ASHA's associate director of school services in speech-language pathology and director of governmental research. Previously, she was employed as a school-based speech-language pathologist in upstate New York and Montgomery County, Maryland, public schools. She earned her master's degree at Ithaca College.
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. Currently, he also is working at Argosy University as an adjunct instructor.
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. In addition,
Dr. Kimmelman serves as an advisory board member for the National Council on Teacher Quality. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Toledo.
Joel I. Klein
Joel I. Klein became New York City Schools chancellor in July 2002 after serving in the highest levels of government and business. As chancellor, he oversees more than 1,450 schools with over 1.1 million students; 136,000 employees; and a $15-billion operating budget. Klein's comprehensive reform program, Children First, is transforming New York's troubled public school system. Before Klein became chancellor, he was chairman and chief executive officer
of Bertelsmann, Inc., and chief U.S. liaison officer to Bertelsmann AG (2001–02). From 1997
to 2001, Klein was assistant attorney general in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division. Klein was widely credited with transforming the antitrust division into one
of the Clinton Administration's greatest successes. He also served as acting assistant attorney general and the antitrust division's principal deputy assistant attorney general. His appointment to the U.S. Justice Department came after Klein served as deputy counsel to President Clinton (1993–95). Klein entered the Clinton administration after 20 years of public and private legal work in Washington, D.C. He began his career as a law clerk and then worked at a public interest law firm, the Mental Health Law Project (1975–76). During a leave of absence from law school in 1969, he studied at New York University's School of Education and later taught math to sixth-graders at a public school in Queens. He was an associate and partner at the law firm of Rogovin, Stern & Huge and then started a law firm with two colleagues to form Onek, Klein & Farr in 1981. Klein has had a long-standing interest in educational issues, and he served as a visiting and adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and published several articles in both scholarly and popular journals. Klein earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Julie Kowal
Julie Kowal is a consultant with Public Impact, a national education policy and management consulting firm based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At Public Impact, she has conducted extensive research in the area of teacher compensation, including analysis of cross-industry compensation practices, studies of private and charter school teacher compensation, and case studies of district and state efforts to attract teachers to hard-to-staff positions. Kowal earned
her law degree with honors from the University of North Carolina.
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.
Deborah Luedtke
Deborah Luedtke serves as teacher quality supervisor in the School Improvement Division of
the Minnesota Department of Education and coordinates the delivery of workshops and technical assistance to educators in their school improvement efforts in raising student achievement. She has 30 years of experience as an elementary school teacher, professional development coordinator, new teacher induction program coordinator, and university instructor.
Richard W. Mainzer, Jr., Ed.D.
Richard W. Mainzer, Jr., Ed.D., is associate executive director of professional services at the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). He has provided leadership in CEC's professional standards and practice initiatives and has been the CEC principal on numerous projects of national significance, including the National Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs, CEC's Bright Futures Initiative, and CEC's partnership with the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. He currently is the principal for CEC professional development products and services. Previously, Dr. Mainzer was a special education teacher at both the elementary and middle school levels. He served as a policy specialist and state project director at the Maryland State Department of Education as well as local director of special education services for Carroll County Public Schools in Maryland. He has been an assistant and associate professor of special education at both Clarion and Millersville Universities in Pennsylvania. He holds a doctorate of education in learning and behavior from the American University in Washington, D.C.
David Malbin
David Malbin is a partner for the Teaching Fellows Programs and oversees The New Teacher Project (TNTP) New York City Teacher Fellows (NYCTF), the nation's largest alternative certification program. This past year alone, NYCTF attracted 20,000 applicants and provided approximately 1,700 new teachers to high-need public schools throughout New York City. Malbin began his career at TNTP as director of placement and coordinated the job-search and matching process for over 1,800 fellows and oversaw the development of an online candidate hiring system used by all NYC principals. He was later promoted to program director, a position in which he supervised all aspects of the recruitment, selection, and preparation of New York City teaching fellows. Prior to joining TNTP, Malbin taught English as a second language at
Lee High School in Houston through Teach for America. He holds a master's degree in education from the University of St. Thomas.
Margo A. Mastropieri, Ph.D.
Margo A. Mastropieri, Ph.D., is a professor in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. Previously, she worked at Utah State University
and Purdue University in Indiana. Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Mastropieri was
a high school teacher in Massachusetts, an elementary teacher in Arizona, and a diagnostician
at the Mt. Holyoke College Learning Disabilities Center in Massachusetts. Her publications include more than 165 journal articles, 40 book chapters, and 25 coauthored or coedited books, including The Inclusive Classroom: Strategies for Effective Teaching. In 2007, Dr. Mastropieri was awarded the Distinguished University Professor title from George Mason University. She earned her M.Ed. degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and her Ph.D. in special education from Arizona State University in 1983.
Carrie Mathers
Carrie Mathers is a research associate at Learning Point Associates. As a member of the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest, she designs and carries out various needs-sensing research and dissemination efforts, conducts research syntheses in response to field requests, oversees study recruitment efforts, and communicates research results to practitioners. Mathers
is proficient in the statistical programs SPSS, SAS, and Excel. Her area of specialization is child development, specifically early literacy. Mathers earned her M.S. in child development from Purdue University and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in education policy at the University of Illinois–Chicago.
Julie P. McCargar, Ed.D.
Julie P. McCargar, Ed.D., is the executive director of federal programs for the Tennessee State Department of Education. In this capacity, she oversees the statewide implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), serves as the state's Title I director, and manages an annual budget of more than $300 million. In her 15-year tenure at the department, Dr. McCargar has provided leadership in many areas including English as a second language, migrant education, comprehensive school reform, district improvement, and school and business partnerships.
She has worked in schools in the United States and overseas and has been involved with education from kindergarten through the university level for over 30 years. Currently,
Dr. McCargar is serving as president-elect for the National Association of State Title I Directors.
She earned her master's degree in education from the State University College at Buffalo in
New York and her doctorate in education from Tennessee State University.
Justin Minkel
Justin Minkel is a 2006 Milken Educator and the 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year; he was also one of four finalists for the 2007 National Teacher of the Year. As a Teach for America 2000 Corps member, he taught fourth grade in West Harlem, New York City. He also has taught kindergarten through seventh grade in Oakland, California; Houston, Texas; and Senegal, West Africa. Minkel now teaches second grade at Jones Elementary in northwest Arkansas, a school
in which 97% of the students are high poverty and 90% are English language learners. In collaboration with the other 2007 Teachers of the Year, Minkel played an instrumental role in bringing about the proposed Teachers at the Table Act, federal legislation to create a permanent committee of teachers to advise the House and Senate Education Committees. He also helped
to draft the 2007 Teachers' of the Year list of ten proposed changes to No Child Left Behind. Minkel holds a master's degree in teaching from the University of California–Berkeley.
Alex Nock
Alex Nock, deputy staff director for U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, rejoined the committee in 2007. Nock worked for the committee for a number of years before leaving in 2005 to become director of the Commission on No Child Left Behind at the Aspen Institute. Nock had served as education coordinator for the committee's Democratic staff from 2002 to 2005 and as
a legislative associate for the Committee from 1997 to 2002, working closely with Congressmen George Miller and Dale Kildee. Prior to joining the committee staff, Nock worked for Congressman Matthew G. Martinez (D-CA), the Human Resources Subcommittee of the Education and Labor Committee, and Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD).
Catherine A. Oleksiw, Ph.D.
Catherine A. Oleksiw, Ph.D., is a senior research and evaluation officer at the National Institute for Work and Learning at the Academy for Educational Development (AED), where she is primarily responsible for the design and implementation of research and evaluation studies.
She has expertise in quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation methodology, including design, implementation, and analysis. Dr. Oleksiw also has extensive experience in implementation and monitoring of education mandates and in providing training and technical assistance to teachers, administrators, and policy makers on program evaluation design and using data for program planning and improvement. Prior to joining AED, Dr. Oleksiw conducted research and evaluation studies for the Connecticut State Department of Education for 14 years. In addition, Dr. Oleksiw taught graduate and undergraduate courses in research and statistics
for 10 years in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hartford. Dr. Oleksiw earned her Ph.D. in educational psychology from Columbia University.
Lynn Olson
Lynn Olson has written about public education in the United States for more than 20 years.
She is the managing editor for special projects at Education Week, an independent, national newspaper that covers education in Grades K–12, and the executive project editor for Quality Counts, an annual report card on public education in the 50 states, published by Education Week with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, and for Diplomas Count: An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates, produced with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A nationally recognized education journalist, Olson has won awards from the Education Writers Association, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the International Reading Association, and the Consortium for Policy Research in Education. In 1995, she received a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of New York to write The School to Work Revolution: How Employers and Educators Are Joining Forces to Prepare Tomorrow's Skilled Workforce. Olson is a member of the board of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Kathleen Paliokas
Kathleen Paliokas is director of the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), a program of the Council of Chief State School Officers. INTASC is a consortium
of 35 states that are working together to improve the preparation, licensing, and ongoing professional development of teachers through standards-based reform. Previously, as assistant director of INTASC, Paliokas was responsible for overseeing and directing INTASC's standards development projects in elementary education, foreign languages, the arts, and special education. Paliokas also is director of the Center for Improving Teacher Quality (CTQ), funded by the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. CTQ is a national center that is working with 42 states to develop models for improving the preparation, licensing, and professional development of both general and special education teachers of students with disabilities. Before becoming director, Paliokas served as project coordinator for CTQ and
was responsible for overseeing day-to-day management of CTQ operations.
Andrea Peterson
Andrea Peterson, a music teacher at Monte Cristo Elementary School in Granite Falls, Washington, is the 57th National Teacher of the Year. She was the first National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) in early and middle childhood music in the state of Washington. After receiving her certification, she became an NBCT facilitator and liaison coordinator for Washington, encouraging other educators to advocate policy changes in education.
Dave Ratajik, Ed.D.
Dave Ratajik, Ed.D., began his education career in 1966 as an elementary school classroom teacher with the Grand Haven (Michigan) public schools. At the same time, he joined the Michigan Army National Guard as an infantry platoon leader, and then company commander, serving in the 126th infantry regiment. Following several years as a director with the Michigan Education Association, Dr. Ratajik accepted a position with the St. Joseph (Michigan) public schools, where he served for 27 years as an elementary school principal. In addition, he taught
in the Western Michigan University graduate school of education and did extensive school improvement and accreditation consulting for the North Central Association. He earned his master's degree in education administration from the Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University and his doctorate in education administration from Andrews University
in Berrien Springs, Michigan.
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, Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 1, 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.
Greg Roberts, Ph.D.
Greg Roberts, Ph.D., is associate director of the Vaughn Gross Center at the University of Texas–Austin, principal investigator and director of the Special Education Strand of the Center on Instruction, director of the Dissemination Core for the Texas LD Center, and past director
of the Central Center for Reading First Technical Assistance. Dr. Roberts is trained as an educational psychologist, with expertise in quantitative methods, measurement, and program evaluation. He taught primary-aged children with emotional and learning disabilities for three years, as well as first and sixth grades.
Jonathan Rochkind
Jonathan Rochkind joined Public Agenda in 2006 as research manager. Rochkind has helped design and analyze research on a variety of topics including education, urban social issues, perceptions of racial and ethnic identity, and U.S. foreign policy. Previously, he was the research director for Princeton Data Source, a subsidiary of Princeton Survey Research Associates International, where he oversaw research on a variety of topics for different organizations, including the Pew Research Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Rochkind is a veteran
of public opinion research, having served for more than 10 years, beginning at the University
of Wisconsin Survey Center, and later working on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Abt Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Cortney Rowland
Cortney Rowland is a program associate at Learning Point Associates. She is part of the teacher quality team and serves as the coordinator of policy products and services for the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality . This work includes managing one of National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality's online resources, the Teaching Quality (TQ) Source (www.tqsource.org). Her role with National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality also requires targeted development and dissemination of products, resources, and services for regional comprehensive assistance 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 working on her doctorate in sociology at Loyola University–Chicago.
Alexander Russo
Alexander Russo is an education writer who hosts the blog This Week in Education. His work has been published in The Washington Monthly, Slate, National Review Online, Chicago Magazine, and numerous education magazines. Russo also edited School Reform in Chicago
and hosts a Chicago Public Schools District 299 blog. A former U.S. Senate staffer and legislative aide, Russo covered education issues for Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) for several years, during which time he worked on spending bills and revamping existing programs. Russo has also been a teacher, a researcher, and a special assistant to the chancellor for New York City schools.
Patrick Schuermann
Patrick Schuermann is a research assistant professor of educational leadership and public policy at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. Currently, his principal research agenda focuses on issues associated with alternate models of compensating teachers and principals. Patrick is the director of technical assistance for the Center for Educator Compensation Reform, the comprehensive assistance center for the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF). In this capacity, Schuermann works with a team of colleagues from Vanderbilt University and University of Wisconsin–Madison to provide assistance to states, districts, schools, and partnering organizations participating in the federally funded TIF project. The center was created in 2006
to support 36 TIF programs focused on developing and implementing performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need schools.
Jeff Sellers
Jeff Sellers is a graduate of Florida State University and has had a long relationship with large reporting systems. Currently, he is the assistant deputy commissioner in the Division of Accountability, Research and Measurement at the Florida Department of Education. He was among the first staff hired to support the development of the PK20 Education Data Warehouse (EDW) and became its director in 2003. He is responsible for the major student and staff databases for K–12, community colleges, and the EDW. Sellers has been employed by the
State of Florida for the past 26 years in a variety of information system capacities including information security, database administration, and data processing management.
Larry K. Shumway, Ed.D.
Larry K. Shumway, Ed.D., is the associate superintendent of the Utah State Office of Education (USOE). Previous USOE service includes coordinator of state and federal programs and director of educator quality services. In addition, he served as superintendent of Tooele County School District in Tooele, Utah, from 1999 to 2005. He has been involved in education at the high school level for more than 25 years, serving as a principal, assistant principal, and teacher before taking the position of director of alternative schools for the Davis County School District in Farmington, Utah, in 1994. Dr. Shumway is the author of several publications on restructuring within the school system. He earned his master's degree from Brigham Young University and
his Ed.D. from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas.
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 coowner 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. She earned her doctoral degree from Tennessee State University.
Judy Stewart, Ph.D.
Judy Stewart, Ph.D., is the founder and president of Taylor Education Consulting,
Inc. She specializes in providing consultation services to schools, districts, states, and the institutions that serve them in integrating evidence and expertise to accelerate student outcomes. Specifically, Dr. Stewart provides support to school, district, and state education leaders in closing academic achievement gaps, data-driven decision making, leadership, and teacher supply and demand. She began her education career with the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, a fully owned subsidiary of Learning Point Associates and one of ten federally supported regional educational laboratories in the nation. Ultimately, Dr. Stewart was named director of policy for the Data Systems Division, where she oversaw the agency's initiatives
to reduce achievement gaps, presented research, facilitated workshops, directed research grants, and organized a study group of nationally recognized researchers to identify critical strategies
to help reduce achievement gaps. She earned her master's and doctoral degrees from Northwestern University–Evanston, Illinois.
Joe P. Sutton, Ph.D.
Joe P. Sutton, Ph.D., is professor of special education and chairman of the Division of Special Education at Bob Jones University–Greenville, South Carolina. He also directs the University's Learning Resource Center, an instructional support program for college students with disabilities. Dr. Sutton has served as president of the South Carolina Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children and has been appointed to the South Carolina Advisory Council for the Education of Individuals with Disabilities. He presently serves on the South Carolina Department of Education team for the Council of Chief State School Officers National Symposium on Teacher Quality and is a member of the K–12 Special Education Task Force
of the South Carolina Office of Exceptional Children. He currently serves as project director and principal investigator of the Project CREATE (Centers for the Re-Education of Teachers in special education). Dr. Sutton earned master's degrees in school administration and special education/learning disabilities from East Carolina University and his Ph.D. in special education from the University of Virginia.
Kristi Tally
Kristi Tally is the education programs manager in the Office of North Carolina Governor Mike Easley. Her major role is to forward the governor's newly established and existing education programs via collaboration with various supporters throughout the state and nation. Likewise, Tally coordinates and implements stakeholder efforts that promote and align with the governor's initiatives. Tally has been integrally involved with Governor Easley's first-in-the-nation Teacher Working Conditions Survey as well as his innovative Middle Grades 21st Century Literacy Coach Initiative. Tally is a former middle grades science teacher in the North Carolina public schools system. She also served as a science education consultant for the federal Africa Education Initiative textbook program, Textbooks for a Global Society (TAGS). The primary goals of TAGS were to increase access to basic educational materials for sub-Saharan African children, strengthen global literacy initiatives, and enhance intranational and international relationships between educational institutions. In that work, Tally partnered with local and national education officials to create and develop science supplementary materials for teachers and students in Benin, West Africa. Tally attended North Carolina Central University where
she graduated with a teaching license in middle grades education.
Charles L. Thompson, Ed.D.
Charles L. Thompson, Ed.D., is the Lora Wilson King Distinguished Professor in Education
at East Carolina University (ECU). Dr. Thompson's current research interests include the roles
of state and school district leadership and policy in improving overall student performance and closing ethnic and socioeconomic gaps in achievement. Before moving to ECU, he was director of the North Carolina Education Research Council, which provided research and data to inform decision making by the North Carolina Education Cabinet. Earlier in his career, Dr. Thompson served as associate dean of the College of Education at Michigan State University; codirector
of the Education Technology Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; vice president of Education Development Center in Newton, Massachusetts; study manager for the Study of Dissemination Efforts Supporting School Improvement, based at The NETWORK, Inc. in Andover, Massachusetts; and project officer, institutional monitor, and team leader in Educational Policy and Organization at the National Institute of Education. Dr. Thompson earned his Ed.D. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
James R. Vivian
James R. Vivian is founding director of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, a joint effort
of Yale University and the New Haven Public Schools to improve teaching and learning in the local public schools and, by example, in schools across the United States. He is also director
of the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools, a long-term effort to establish teachers institutes in states throughout the country. He is executive editor of On Common Ground, a periodical publication with a nationwide circulation on strengthening teaching through school-university partnership. Prior to being named director, Vivian served with the Yale-New Haven History Education Project, a forerunner of the institute, which engaged in the development of history and social studies curricula for the New Haven schools. Previously, Vivian was executive assistant of Education Associates, Inc., Washington, D.C.,
and later an education program specialist in the U.S. Office of Education responsible for administration and development of Upward Bound Programs in the West Coast region. He also served as a legislative assistant to Congressman John Brademas and as curator of education, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
Chriss Walther-Thomas, Ph.D.
Chriss Walther-Thomas, Ph.D., is professor and chair of the University of Kansas Department of Special Education. Dr. Walther-Thomas is the president of the Higher Education Consortium for Special Education representing advocacy, policy development, and research interests of more than 60 major universities that prepare future special education faculty. She is also the president elect of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, the largest professional organization representing teacher educators in the special education field. She is a past president of the Council for Learning Disabilities. Dr. Walther-Thomas serves on a number of state and national advisory boards and is actively involved in advocacy efforts related to teacher education and support, NCLB-IDEA education rights for students with disabilities, and school leadership. Dr. Walther-Thomas teaches courses related to special education leadership, teacher education, program evaluation, and inclusive school development. She has directed more than 25 state- and federally funded projects on topics such as teacher, administrator, and research preparation; statewide professional development; state and local program evaluation; principal leadership development; and inclusive education. She is the author or coauthor of more than 50 professional publications. Dr. Walther-Thomas earned her M.Ed. from the University of Utah
and her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.
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.
Wesley G. Williams, II
Wesley G. Williams, II, is a former Academic and Performing Arts Complex English teacher with Jackson Public Schools in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1998, Mississippi passed and fully funded the Mississippi Critical Teacher Shortage Act. This historical legislation continues to allocate state funds annually to attract, recruit, retain, and support teachers who teach in the state's critical shortage areas, namely the Mississippi Delta. Williams became one of the first three professional teacher recruiters at the Mississippi Teacher Center at the Department of Education to implement the teacher recruitment and retention incentives outlined in this legislation. In 2001, he became director of teacher recruitment and enhancement for the center, and in 2002, he became director of the Mississippi Teacher Center in the Office of Quality Educators. In the summer of 2006, Williams served as a reviewer for the U.S. Department
of Education to assess the Teacher Equity Plans submitted by the states. Currently, Williams
is the director of the Office of Educator Equity, a new office at the Ohio Department of Education that focuses on implementing the strategies outlined in Ohio's Teacher Equity Plan. Williams serves as a volunteer for the Columbus Literacy Council, a nonprofit agency devoted
to providing quality literacy services for all who desire to learn to read. Williams earned his M.A. at the University of Mississippi and is currently pursuing a doctorate in literacy, language, and culture at The Ohio State University.
Elizabeth Witt, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Witt, Ph.D., has worked at the U.S. Department of Education since 2000 in both the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Planning and Evaluation Service. She currently serves as team leader for Teacher Quality Programs, working on Title II–Part A and
the Teacher Incentive Fund program. Previously, Dr. Witt taught English literature and composition at DeSales University and the University of Rochester. She holds a master's degree in public affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas–Austin and a doctorate in English literature from the University of Rochester.
Robert J. Yinger, Ph.D.
Robert J. Yinger, Ph.D., is professor of educational studies and teacher education at the University of Cincinnati, director of the University of Cincinnati's Center for Urban Education, and research director for the Ohio Teacher Quality Partnership. From 1998 to 2005, he was dean of the School of Education and professor of educational psychology at Baylor University.
Dr. Yinger has published extensively in the areas of professional knowledge, teacher cognition, teacher education, and professional standards. His current scholarship focuses on evidence-based practice and the relationship of the professions to democratic social institutions. He has held appointments as visiting professor at Stanford University, distinguished scholar at the University of Alberta, noted scholar at the University of British Columbia, noted scholar and external examiner at the University of Hong Kong, and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching. Dr. Yinger is past chair of the board of directors for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and past president of the Holmes Partnership.
Dr. Yinger earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.
Press Corner | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
