FACILITATORS

Shirley Carraway

Shirley Carraway is the North Carolina liaison for the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) at SEDL. Dr. Carraway provides technical assistance and resource support to the state education agency (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction) to increase its capacity to support schools and districts to address ESEA requirements and other student achievement goals.
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Tammie Causey-Konaté

Tammie Causey-Konaté is a Project Director with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. Dr. Causey-Konaté’s areas of interest include leadership, knowledge translation, and educational equity and social justice.
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Glenda Copeland

Glenda Copeland is a Program Associate with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. Ms. Copeland works with the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) to build the capacity of state and regional education agencies to assist schools and districts in need of improvement. In this work, she oversees the planning and delivery of technical assistance and professional development in Georgia, and assists in providing similar services to other states served through the SECC.
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Don Doggett

Don Doggett is a Program Associate with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. Mr. Doggett works with the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) to build the capacity of state education agencies as they assist schools and districts. In this work, he leads efforts in needs-sensing, planning, and coordinating the delivery of technical assistance and professional development in South Carolina and assists in providing similar services to other states served through the SECC.
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Heidi Goertzen

Heidi Goertzen is a Program Associate with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. Mrs. Goertzen’s current work involves the planning and delivery of technical assistance and professional development in Alabama as well as assisting in providing these same services to other states served by the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC). Mrs. Goertzen specializes in the development of evidence-based tools and support systems needed for school improvement practices associated with serving English Learners (ELs). Mrs. Goertzen also supports districts and states with the implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
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John Hill

John Hill is the Executive Director of the National Rural Education Association. He has served as a middle school mathematics teacher, middle and high school principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. His primary interests are those issues that impact rural schools and the role of instructional leaders at the district and building levels. He is also involved In the Purdue Educational Leadership Initiative for Small and Rural Schools and the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship program.

Jason LaTurner

Jason LaTurner is a Project Director with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. Dr. LaTurner’s work focuses on evaluation capacity building for state education agencies. Through SEDL’s Southeast Comprehensive Center and Texas Comprehensive Center, he consults with state education department staff on developing evaluation plans and employing appropriate quantitative and qualitative research methods to study the effectiveness of a range of district and school improvement programs.
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Debra L. Meibaum

Debra Meibaum is a Program Associate with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. Ms. Meibaum's current work involves the planning and delivery of technical assistance and professional development in Mississippi as well as assisting in providing these same services to other states served by the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC). Ms. Meibaum also works with SEDL’s Center for High Performing Schools. Her specialty areas are implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), school improvement, and the provision of professional development and technical assistance.
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Como Molina

Concepcion Molina is a Program Associate with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. In addition to supporting systemic reform efforts in mathematics, Dr. Molina works as part of the Southeast Comprehensive Center to assist state and intermediate education agencies in their efforts to implement the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Tasks and projects include the planning, design, and delivery of Comprehensive Center regional forums and meetings; assisting states with the revision of their content standards; and designing and delivering professional development to state agency staff on topics such as mathematics content, high school dropout prevention and reform models, systemic school reform, and math instruction for English language learners.
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Ann Neeley

Ann Neeley is a Program Associate with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. Dr. Neeley is currently working on a project with the Texas Education Agency’s Educator Standards and Certification staff. The multi-year project includes facilitating consultants and stakeholders as the TEA Educator Standards are updated and aligned to the Career and Technical Education courses' Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
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John Spence

John Spence is a Program Associate with SEDL's Education Systems Support (ESS) program. As the state liaison for the Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC), Mr. Spence develops and maintains relationships with staff of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in order to facilitate the implementation and administration of programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and to strengthen the Agency’s capacity to implement programs and initiatives aligned to the priorities of the U.S. Department of Education. He also leads projects in support of these goals, including the Expanded Learning Opportunities Council and the Principal Evaluation and Support System (co-lead), and he serves as a team member on the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System and the Texas Teacher Mentoring Advisory Committee projects.
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Haidee Williams

Haidee Williams is a Program Associate with SEDL's Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) program. Dr. Williams provides consultations, training, and technical assistance addressing educator quality as well as standards-based science instruction and assessment with SEDL's Texas Comprehensive Center and Southeast Comprehensive Center. She provides technical assistance to the state department of education staffs in these regions to meet the goals and purposes of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and other federal mandates, which ensure an education system with the capacity and commitment to eliminate achievement gaps and enable all students to achieve at high levels.
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Heather Zavadsky

Heather Zavadsky is a Research Scientist for the Building State Capacity and Productivity Center (BSCP) at Edvance Research and director of EdPractice Connect, an organization created to improve education systems through practical, field-based research and evaluation. Focus topics covered over her twenty-five years of research include systemic district reform and turnaround, effective human capital strategies, district data and accountability systems, and special education. She recently published her second book on district reform for Harvard Education Press (HEP) entitled "School Turnarounds: The Essential Role of Districts," and her current focus is on restructuring district central offices to better support school improvement. Prior to her research career, Dr. Zavadsky taught for six years in the area of special education, and tutored students with autism. In addition to teaching, she is trained and certified as a principal and superintendent.