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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 1999

News Release

NEA Expands its Commitment to Quality Teaching; Hires a Dozen New Professionals To Advance Improvement

Hires a Dozen New Professionals To Advance Improvement

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Education Association (NEA) has recently hired a dozen professionals to help advance the Association's work to boost student achievement and teacher quality. The new staffers, who bring a wealth of experience and expertise in their fields, are part of the NEA's revitalized efforts to improve teaching and learning in America's public schools.

NEA Works to Boost Student Achievement

Efforts to improve student achievement will center on curriculum instruction, assessment and effective schooling, providing members with resources on standards-based education, early childhood education, and effective teaching practices. A special emphasis will be put on literacy instruction and school-wide reform programs. Joining NEA's Student Achievement team are:

Barbara Kapinus - Dr. Kapinus comes to the NEA from Westat, a social sciences research group, where she worked on a range of projects including the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. She also directed the development of the reading framework for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) 2000. Dr. Kapinus spent eight years as the specialist for reading and communication skills at the Maryland State Department of Education and 16 years in Prince George's County Public Schools in a variety of roles, including classroom teacher, reading specialist and curriculum specialist.

Denise McKeon - Dr. McKeon brings a wide variety of experiences in standards-based education and research-based school improvement to the NEA. Most recently, she served as research scientist with the George Washington University's Center for Equity and Excellence in Education and as director of outreach for the American Educational Research Association. Dr. McKeon's experience with standards-based education began when she chaired the development of national English as a Second Language (ESL) standards for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other languages (TESOL). Dr. McKeon has taught in Colombia and in Waukegan, Illinois.

Efforts Aimed at Improving Teacher Quality

NEA's Teacher Quality efforts include strategies to recruit and retain teachers, promote high standards for teacher licensure, assist colleges of education to better prepare teachers, and help members become National Board certified. Several staff will concentrate their efforts on providing teachers with new materials to help them more effectively do their jobs.

Mary Ann Blankenship - Ms. Blankenship has spent more than 20 years in the field of professional development for educators. Her background includes assisting teachers, business leaders, parents, policy makers and administrators in Maryland and Kentucky to create ground-breaking professional development models. As a consultant to NEA, she developed "Works4Me," a weekly email service to allow teachers to share best classroom practices with more than 20,000 fellow educators.

Timothy Crawford - Mr. Crawford brings more than 14 years of experience in professional development publishing to his new position. As the former manager of the NEA Professional Library, Mr. Crawford was instrumental in the development of the successful "Teacher-to-Teacher" book series, which provides educators with expert, hands-on advice. Before joining NEA, Mr. Crawford spent seven years as publications director for the Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers, Inc.

Robert Eagan - To assist teachers in the process of becoming National Board certified, NEA has tapped the experience of Robert Eagan, a former president of the Connecticut Education Association. Mr. Eagan began his career as a special education and psychology teacher, and was most recently a professional development specialist at the Northeast and Island Regional Laboratory at Brown University. He served on the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education's Unit Accreditation Board, and he currently sits on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Segun Eubanks - Mr. Eubanks will help beef up Association efforts to recruit and retain quality teachers. The former vice president for recruitment programs and services at Recruiting New Teachers, Mr. Eubanks brings a wealth of experience in outreach to potential teachers, especially in the minority community. He has also served as director of urban initiatives for Recruiting New Teachers, as well as the coordinator of the Louisiana Consortium on Minority Teacher Supply & Quality at Tulane University.

Sarah Ferguson - Ms. Ferguson began her career in multimedia design at National Public Radio and America Online. As a media consultant to NEA, she produced and edited NEA's cutting-edge CD-ROM for new teachers, "It's All About Kids." Ms. Ferguson, who was recently named one of the nation's top 100 trailblazers in video and interactive media by AV Video Multimedia Producer magazine, will translate NEA programs into multimedia projects.

Suzanne Flores - A former teacher in Portland, Ore., Ms. Flores worked as a grassroots organizer for the Association in a number of states before serving as assistant executive director for Kansas-NEA and later for the Colorado Education Association. Ms. Flores also served as the assistant regional director for the NEA's Western States Region. She brings considerable experience in organizational development and whole systems change, as well as an understanding of the needs of state and local affiliates as they work to help create and support quality schools.

Don Rollie - Mr. Rollie spent 11 years as a teacher and administrator before becoming director of field operations for the North Dakota Education Association. He later served as assistant executive director for that NEA affiliate, and as executive director of the Idaho Education Association. Rollie recently worked with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation on its program to improve the quality of education in Michigan middle schools, building upon experiences he developed from seven years as a consultant to the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation on its middle school improvement project. He has served as a senior associate at the Washington-based Institute for Education Leadership.

Quality Schools is Third Focus of New NEA Staff

Additional NEA staff will help state affiliates support whole school systems change at the local level through the development of strategy-sharing state networks and diagnostic tools for individual schools to help teachers, parents and community members recognize and achieve the key factors which most contribute to excellent schools. Joining this effort are:

Kay Brilliant - After spending 27 years as an elementary school teacher in the Tucson Unified School District, Ms. Brilliant served as vice president and later president of the Arizona Education Association. She was recently employed at the NEA Western Regional Office as an organizational specialist, where her work included efforts to improve public schools in New Mexico.

Ruben Cedeno - With nearly 20 years of experience in executive level training and program management and 10 years in evaluation and design, Dr. Cedeno brings a background in policy and planning. He has served as senior research associate on numerous national studies, evaluations and surveys. As training director for the Hispanic Latino Leadership Institute, Dr. Cedeno helped develop strategies for re-engineering and revitalizing private and public sector organizations. He has also provided evaluation and technical assistance to a number of government agencies, including the U.S. Army and the Defense Information Agency.

Lennell Terrell - A former Memphis, Tenn. teacher, Ms. Terrell also has vast experience as an organizer with the Memphis Education Association, where she directed the association's leadership development. Much of Ms. Terrell's work in Memphis focused on building partnerships between teachers, administrators and the community. She is co-author of Challenge to Change: The Memphis Experience with School-Based Decision Making and Teachers, Administrators, and Parents Together: Shared Decision Making. Ms. Terrell also served as project director for the city's joint NEA-school district Keys to Excellence for Your Schools (KEYS) program.