Building a Professional Development System:
Integrating Policies, Standards and Technology

Presenter Bios

Evelyn Beaulieu is the director at the Center for Adult Learning and Literacy. She has been the state contact and/or trainer for several national adult education initiatives; including Bridges to Practice, Project IDEAL, Equipped for the Future, and the Reading Excellence Act. Maine was an initial STAR pilot state, and she continues to facilitate Maine STAR training and is a national STAR trainer for other states. She is a member of the New England Literacy Resource
Center Board and served as a COABE Regional Representative, providing national leadership for adult education practitioners. She continues as the director for Maine statewide adult education professional development, with her specialty in reading.

Evelyn earned a Doctorate in Literacy at the University of Maine with a focus on adolescent and adult reading education. Her research focus was on standards-based adult education professional development.

Jeff Fantine is the Director of the Center for the Study and Development of Literacy and Language in the College of Education at Ohio University located in Athens, Ohio. The primary focus of the Center is to address literacy issues of Appalachians in southeastern Ohio. The Center's largest grant project is the Resource Center for Adult Basic and Literacy Education, which provides professional development, resources, technical assistance, research and leadership to adult education programs in Ohio. The Center's two main areas of research are: services to those with learning disabilities and other special learning needs, and GED preparation.

Jeff holds degrees from Miami University, Georgetown University, and The Ohio State University - specializing in adult, higher and literacy education.

His primary experience prior to working at the Center was with volunteer literacy programs, serving as Assistant Director of the Talawanda Adult High School in Oxford, Ohio; Tutor Trainer and Board Member for the Washington Literacy Council in Washington, D.C.; and Program Director of the Columbus Literacy Council in Ohio.

Jeff joined the National Institute for Literacy's Bridges Project, a project addressing services to adults with learning disabilities, in 1998. He is currently a Bridges Master Trainer and is coordinating a large effort in Ohio to implement systemic program changes and collaboration among service providers to improve services to those with learning disabilities and other special learning needs.

Jeff was the President of the Ohio Association for Adult and Continuing Education in 2003 and is currently serving as the Region 4 Representative on the Board of Directors for the Commission on Adult Basic Education, the primary national professional association for the field of adult basic education.

Jane Greiner is the professional development coordinator for ProLiteracy America, responsible for the development and delivery online courses, onsite training programs, and trainer certification. Jane serves on the executive committee for the Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD) and trains tutors for Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse, New York. She has worked with community-based, human service, and education programs for 15 years, focusing on program development and evaluation. Jane holds a master's degree in Adult Education and is pursuing a doctorate in education through Syracuse University.

Debra L. Hargrove is currently the Director of Florida TechNet, a technology and distance learning project for adult education and literacy practitioners in Florida. Known nationally as the original provider of distance learning for adult educators, Florida TechNet continues to evolve today with the introduction of Moodle, an open-source management system for delivering professional development.

Debra earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University in 2000 and has helped hundreds of administrators, teachers and tutors meet their own goals of understanding and using technology in their classrooms, offices and personal lives.

Debra's professional affiliations include the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA), the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD),

Andy Nash coordinates professional development projects at the New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC)/World Education, where she develops training and resources to strengthen the adult education system, especially in the areas of standards-based instruction, civic participation, ESOL, teacher inquiry, and worker education.

She currently divides her time between directing the New England Learner Persistence Project and facilitating nationally for the EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance. She is the editor of adult education resources such as “The Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook” and “Through the Lens of Social Justice,” and author of several participatory curriculum guides.

David J. Rosen was the Director of the Adult Literacy Resource Institute/SABES Greater Boston Regional Support Center at the University of Massachusetts in Boston from 1986 to 2003. Before that he was for several years the Director of Education at Jobs For Youth-Boston.

He is now an education consultant. His firm, Newsome Associates, currently provides or has recently provided assistance to:

• Portland (OR) State University, as a Regional implementation Advisor for a national Learner Web demonstration project
• YouthBuild USA with responsibility for the development of the National Learning Network Online, a Web presence for YouthBuild teachers across the United States
• The FannieMae Foundation and the State Education Office in Washington, D.C., assisting them in planning and evaluating the Mayor's Adult Literacy Initiative;
• the National Institute for Literacy, moderating the Institute's Special Topics discussion list
• The Health Care Learning Network in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
• Education Development Center vocational education project in Northern Cyprus
• The Massachusetts Adult Basic Education Distance Learning Advisory Board
• McDonald's Corporation, as an advisor for the English Under the Arches program

Dr. Rosen has recently completed a study of formative assessment as practiced in Flanders Belgium, which he presented at OECD in Paris in February 2008, and is completing a study of Workplace basic skills in the U.S. for the government of New Zealand.

Dr. Rosen was the founder and moderator of the National Literacy Advocacy Discussion list for ten years. He is a board member of the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education and a member of its public policy committee. He is a member of the Massachusetts Workforce Alliance and its public policy committee. He is a member of the National Coalition for Literacy, and a member of its public policy committee. He is a founder and member of the Literacy President Group, whose purpose is to influence candidates for President of the United States to address adult literacy education as federal policy.

His volunteer projects include:

• The Mayor's Office of New Bostonians' English for New Bostonians Initiative
• The United Way of Massachusetts Bay Sustainable Employment Task Force
  

Federico Salas-Isnardi is Assistant State Director of Adult Education and Family Literacy in Texas responsible for professional development for the state. He is currently working on the design of a professional development system which will be part of a complete adult education system. Federico is working with stakeholders to design the components of the system including standards for program quality, content, practitioner performance, and professional development. From 2004 to 2007 he was the state’s liaison to the team that developed content standards for adult education. He is training local programs in the state on systemic professional development models focusing on the role of the individual teacher in the system.

Before joining the state office, Federico had worked for 15 years in the field of adult education as an ESL and GED instructor, professional developer, curriculum writer, and program administrator.

He has 17 years of experience as a trainer in the field of cross-cultural communication and cultural diversity. He is chair of Adult Education for TESOL and serves on the technical advisory group redesigning the citizenship test for the US Citizenship and Immigration Service.

Jackie Taylor is a professional development consultant. Currently, she provides professional development services with three national organizations:

• ProLiteracy, as professional development editor managing the development and facilitation of ProLiteracy America’s online professional development
• The National Institute for Literacy, as moderator of the Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
• The National Coalition for Literacy (NCL), as consultant and co-presenter on building advocacy systems at the state and federal levels for the NCL/Dollar General Presentation Series on Pathways to Advocacy
  

Jackie was previously a professional development coordinator for the Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee for several years and taught adult education in Bledsoe County.

Jackie chairs the Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD), the Tennessee Association for Adult and Community Education (TAACE) federal-level advocacy committee, and has recently joined the Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE) Board representing Region 3. Jackie is also a founder and member of the Literacy President Group. She is working on her doctorate in collaborative learning at the University of Tennessee and has an 11 year-old son who is the light of her life.