Education
Ph.D. 1985 University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Administration M.A. 1975 University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, Special Education B.A. 1969 Hunter College, New York, New York Sociology and Elementary Education
Honors and Awards
Oxford International Roundtable on the Principalship and the Superintendency, selected 1998
Superintendent's Annual Mark Mann Award for Excellence and Harmony, 1995
Redbook Magazine "Best of America's Schools Project," recognized as Best in State, 1995
U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, awarded 1994
Nominated for Washington Post Outstanding Educational Leadership Award, 1993
State of Florida, Summer Traineeship for Special Education, awarded Summer, 1979
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, University of South Florida Chapter, inducted June, 1975
Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, Summer Traineeship, awarded Summer, 1974
Present Position
American Institutes for Research
Senior Research Analyst
Directs policy, research, and evaluation studies for Federal, state, and other private policymakers. Responsibilities include managing day to day activities of projects, supervising junior staff, performing data collection activities, and preparing policy reports, and briefings for decision makers.
Professional Experience
Task Leader,
Communicate Results of OSEP Supported Research Syntheses in Special Education to Multiple Audiences for the U.S. Department of Educations Effort for Translating Research to Practice for Educating Individuals with Disabilities (Office of Special Education Programs) (1999-present). The purpose of this Task Order is to use innovative strategies for reaching multiple targeted audiences for communicating results of OSEPs synthesis work. Responsibilities include managing the project, providing technical assistance to the project; validating synthesis interpretations and conducting market research; convening a national forum on learning disabilities and reading; and developing and disseminating forum follow-up products.Task Leader,
Research Communication and Dissemination under the Technical Support for the Department of Educations Initiative to Link Research and Practice to Improve Results for Individuals with Disabilities (Office of Special Education Programs) (1999-present). This task order is designed to support and assist the Division of Research to Practice in developing and implementing innovative communication approaches to coordinate and link the best and most current OSEP research to those who the research will benefit the most. Responsibilities include managing the project, conceptualizing and developing short-term and long-term communication and product plans, and developing and disseminating products that will effectively reach the target audiences.Deputy Director,
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice for the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (1999-present). The purpose of this five year research, training, technical assistance and dissemination cooperative agreement is to promote collaboration between and across Federal, state, and local agencies, and to facilitate the identification, development, and exchange of information on effective practices to improve outcomes for children and youth with or at risk for developing emotional problems and their families.Task Leader, Action Guide for Implementing Early Warning, Timely Response for the Department of Educations Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools and Office of Special Education Programs, in collaboration with the Department of Justice (1991-present). The Action Guide is describes research-based practices and models that are designed to help schools to develop and implement violence prevention programs. Responsibilities include managing the project, writing, working with other contributing authors, and coordinating the production process.
Associate Director,
The Institute for At-Risk Infants, Children & Youth, and Their Families, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida. (1996-1999). The Institute was established to support research, development, and service to meet more effectively the needs of children and families at risk. Responsibilities include providing practical, timely, and objective analyses of current initiatives, projected needs, programmatic alternatives to policy makers; providing technical assistance and consultative services for implementing related research and evaluation findings; collecting and disseminating information resources related to services for at-risk children and their families.Co-Project Director,
University of South Florida Charter School Project. (1996-1999). The purpose of this project was to develop a university sponsored charter school for children in grades kindergarten through grade 3. Responsibilities include coordinating the process for establishing the USF Charter School. This includes writing the application, working with the local school district, establishing hiring procedures, working with the community, and coordinating the university support for the school. Responsibilities also include providing ongoing support and assistance in curriculum development, instructional programming, the development of policies and procedures, and behavioral and social skills development, and ensuring that special education mandates are implemented appropriately.Co-Project Director,
Florida Charter School Resource Center. (1997-1999). The Resource Center serves as a comprehensive resource and support system for charter schools in Florida. Responsibilities include assisting with the creation of the Florida Center, providing technical assistance, support, and information services for charter schools, designing, organizing, and hosting the Annual Florida Charter Schools Conference and preparing written materials to assist charter schools. The Florida Center is currently collaborating with the Charter Friends National Network on a national project that is examining special education in charter schools. The goals are to identify replicable models and alternatives for providing special education services, to provide current information about funding, and to examine why parents of children with special needs are placing their children in charter schools.Principal,
Chevy Chase Elementary School, Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland. (1990-1996). Responsibilities included the administration and supervision of the educational program, including the science, technology, and mathematics magnets, for 410 students in grades 3-6 and for the supervision of 50 faculty and staff members. . Responsibilities also included coordinating and participating in the preparation of grants for environmental science and community service programs, providing staff training, coordinating programs for children with special needs, supporting the development of on-site closed circuit television that was used to create a student-produced news show, and coordinating programs leading to an exchange program with a school in Moscow.Principal Wheaton Woods Elementary School,
Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland. (1986-1990). Responsibilities included the administration and supervision of the education for 600 students in grades K-5 and two special education classes and for the supervision of 60 faculty and staff members.Federal Project Officer,
Department of Special Education, Maryland State Department of Education, Baltimore, Maryland. (February, 1986-June, 1986). Responsibilities included assisting 12 Maryland counties in the development of projects for funding from Public Law 94-142, reviewing and approving locally developed projects and providing technical assistance as requested.Principal,
Stephen Foster Elementary School, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida. (1983-1986). Responsibilities included the administration and supervision of the education program for 450 students in grades K-6 and 150 students in special education programs. Exceptional student programs included: physically handicapped, emotionally handicapped, speech and language, specific learning disabilities, gifted, autistic, severely emotionally disturbed, educable mentally handicapped, visually impaired, and hearing impaired. Responsibilities also included the supervision of 116 faculty and staff members.Coordinator/Principal,
Florida Mental Health Institute School at the University of South Florida, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida. (1981-1983). The Florida Mental Health Institute and the Hillsborough County School District established a cooperative agreement to provide a comprehensive school program for children identified as seriously emotionally disturbed who required day-treatment or residential programs. Responsibilities included the administration and supervision of the instructional program for 85 severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in grades Pre-K through 12 and for the supervision of 30 faculty and staff members. The coordinator was responsible for collaborating with the FMHI Staff to ensure that comprehensive services were available to the children and their families.Coordinator,
Programs for the Emotionally Handicapped, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida. (1976-1981). Responsibilities included the development and coordination of curriculum and behavior programs for children and adolescents in 130 elementary, middle, and high schools, assisting with the development of individual educational programs; monitoring staffing procedures; reviewing due process paperwork; assisting teachers with program development and implementation; and, designing, implementing, and monitoring inservice training.County-Wide Resource Teacher,
Programs for the Emotionally Handicapped, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida. (1975-1976). Responsibilities included conducting psychoeducational assessment of emotionally handicapped children and adolescents in special center programs and designing and monitoring educational programs for students with learning problems.Resource Teacher,
Programs for Specific Learning Disabilities, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida. (1973-1975). Responsibilities included the identification of children with specific learning disabilities; conducting psychoeducational testing; and designing and implementing educational programs. Responsibilities also included providing support and assistance for regular classroom teachers.General Education Teacher,
Public School #2, New York City Board of Education, Bronx, New York. (1969-1973). Responsibilities included providing a comprehensive educational program for children in grades 2 and 4 and Head Start for two summers.
Employment History
1999-Present Senior Research Analyst, American Institutes for Research, Washington, D.C. 1996-1999 Associate Director, Institute for At-Risk Infants, Children & Youth and Their Families, University of South Florida, Tampa Florida 1983-1996 Principal, Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland and Hillsborough County School District, Tampa, Florida1973-1983 Special Educator, Hillsborough County School District, Tampa, Florida
1969-1973 General Education Teacher, New York City Public Schools, New York, New York
Professional Affiliations
Governing Board, University of South Florida Charter School, since 1997
Board of Trustees, Independent Day School, Tampa, Florida, since 1997
Folio Reviewer for the NCATE process for programs in advanced leadership for the Educational Leadership Constituent Council, since 1996.
Reviewer for secondary schools, Blue Ribbon Schools Program for the State of Maryland, 1995.
Co-author of grants for Chevy Chase Elementary School, awarded from the Chesapeake Bay Trust (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995), The Maryland Student Service Alliance (1992, 1993), and The Tidewater Administration (1993)
Maryland Assessment Center Program, Trained Assessor to evaluate candidates for the principalship in Maryland since 1990.
Montgomery County Assessment Center, Assessor, 1990, 1991. Principal Trainer, 1989-90 school year.
Interagency Task Force on Child Care, 1989, Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery County Government, Department of Family Services.
Coalition for Effective Schools, 1987-88, Montgomery County Public Schools.
Task Force on the Recruitment, Selection, and Evaluation of Principals, 1986-87, Montgomery County Public Schools.
Graduate Assistant, University of South Florida, Department of Special Education, 1980-1981.
Supervision of practicum students and interns in special education programs at the University of South Florida, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1982.
Member (1974-present), The Council for Exceptional Children
Member, (1989-present), Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
University Teaching: University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
Course: Educational Assessment of Exceptional Children
University Teaching: Nova University, Tampa Campus, Tampa, Florida
Course: Graduate seminar in specific learning disabilities
Publications
Blair, R.C., and Jackson, S.B. (1982). Another look at the robustness of the product-moment correlation coefficient to population non-normality. Florida Journal of Educational Research.
Blackman, J., Curry, B. Jackson, S.B., Lavely, C., and Mann, K. (1997) Charter Schools: Issues and Challenges. University of South Florida: Tampa.
Jackson, S., Lavely, C., Mann, K., and Yi, Quing. (1998) Accountability: A Practical Guide to Assessments for Evaluating Student Performance. University of South Florida: Tampa.
Osher, D., Dwyer, K., Jackson, S., et al. (2000) Safeguarding Our Children: An Action Guide. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, American Institutes for Research.
Invited Papers and Presentations
Safe Schools Healthy Students: Putting Research Based Knowledge into Practice, (2000) Presented at The 13th Annual Research Conference: A System of Care for Childrens Mental Health, Clearwater Beach, Florida.
Charter Schools: Opportunities for Universities, (1999) Presented at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) National Conference, Washington, D.C.
Charter Schools: Issues and Challenges, (1997) Presented at the Florida Educational Research Association Conference, Orlando, Florida.
Issues Facing Educators Today, (1995) Presented at the Chevy Chase Women's Club.
Extended School Year: The new requirements of special education. (1995) Presented at
Chevy Chase Elementary School.
The Maryland School Performance Assessment Program: Relating Assessment and Instruction. (1994) Presented at Chevy Chase Elementary School.
Dimensions of Learning. (1993). Presented at Chevy Chase Elementary School.
Using SIMS (School-Based Instructional Monitoring System) to monitor student progress. (1992) Presented at the Maryland Association of Elementary School Principals Spring Conference.
Inservice Workshop: SIMS and SES (Success for Every Student). (1992). Presented at Chevy Chase Elementary School.
Inservice Workshop: Administration and interpretation of academic assessments. (1982). Presented at the Florida Mental Health Institute, Tampa, Florida.
Inservice Workshop: Management of children with behavior problems. (1980). Presented to Chapter I Reading Teachers, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida.
Curriculum development for the emotionally handicapped. (1979). Presented at the Florida Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Daytona, Florida.
Inservice Workshop: Characteristics of the emotionally handicapped. (1979). Presented at Woodbridge Elementary School, Tampa, Florida.
Inservice Workshop: Classroom management techniques for regular classroom teachers. (1978, 1979). Presented at a number of elementary schools, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida.
Inservice Workshop Series: Training of first year teachers in Programs for the Emotionally Handicapped. (1976, 1977, 1978). Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida.
Inservice Workshop: PL 94-142 and general education. (1978, 1979). Presented at number of elementary schools, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida.
Interpreting and programming using the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude. (1977). Presented at Professional Study Day for teachers in Programs for the Emotionally Handicapped, Tampa, Florida.
Inservice Workshop Series: Administering, interpreting and programming using a variety of academic achievement tests. (1977). Presented to teachers in Programs for the Emotionally Handicapped, Tampa, Florida.