Teaching to Academic Standards


Expert Content Developer Bios

Ruth Mitchell
Ruth Mitchell is an educator, researcher and educational reformer. She serves as co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation grant that integrates mathematics, science and technology education in elementary school classrooms, and also works with Quality in Undergraduate Education (QUE) to develop standards in post-secondary education. She has also served as a Principal Partner at the Education Trust, and was Program Manager for the USDE-funded Standards-Based Professional Development Project. She is the author of TESTING FOR LEARNING (Free Press, 1992); co-author with Patte Barth of SMART START (North American Press, 1992); author of FRONT-END ALIGNMENT (Education Trust, 1996); co-author of LEARNING IN OVERDRIVE (North America Press, 1997); and co-author with Martin G. Brooks of IN SEARCH OF UNDERSTANDING: THE CASE FOR THE CONSTRUCTIVIST CLASSROOM (ASCD, 1993).

Marc S. Tucker
Marc S. Tucker is an education reformer and consultant whose work focuses on educational policy. He serves as President of the National Center on Education and the Economy as well as Co-Director of New Standards. He served as Staff Director of the group that created the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and as the Board's first President. Tucker was co-author of THINKING FOR A LIVING: EDUCATION AND THE WEALTH OF NATIONS (Basic Books, 1992), winner of the Sidney Hillman Prize for 1992; he was also co-author of STANDARDS FOR OUR SCHOOLS: HOW TO SET THEM, MEASURE THEM, AND REACH THEM (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998).

Lesson Plan Developers

Patricia M. Holmes
Patricia M. Holmes is a math and computer science teacher, and a staff developer in the area of technology. She has taught high school math and computer science at Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver, New Jersey. She has also worked in online education, serving Thirteen Ed Online as both an online facilitator and lesson plan developer. Holmes also focuses on the professional development of educators, training them particularly in classroom applications of the Internet and educational software. She received her MA in Educational Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Carol McNair
Carol McNair is an educator and mathematics assessment consultant. She has taught grade 6 at the Camels Hump Middle School in Richmond, Vermont, and has served as the Coordinator of Mathematics Portfolio Assessment for the Vermont Department of Education. In that role, McNair was responsible for leading benchmarking and assessment sessions for the state, as well as developing training materials and programs to help teachers Vermont's teachers implement the state's standards-based performance assessments. She is also an editor for Exemplars.

Deb Armitage
Deb Armitage is an educator and educational consultant specializing in elementary and secondary school mathematics. She has worked as a K-8 Mathematics Assessment Consultant at the Vermont Department of Education, as well as acting as a Teacher of the Year Coordinator for the Department of Professional Development in Vermon's State Department of Education. Her work often focuses on using rubrics and benchmark papers to assess student performance in achieving standards.

Advisor/Reviewer Bios

Cyndi Kerr
Cyndi Kerr works with schools as a staff developer, using a project-based approach to model in-class uses of digital tools. She has been support manager with a team of progressive educators at the Center for Collaborative Education; she has also helped to launch the Eiffel project, a five-year initiative that integrates wide-area networking technologies into the public school curriculum in New York City. In addition, she has worked with the Institute for Learning Technologies to provide support for teachers.

Anthony Petrosino, Ph.D.
Anthony Petrosino is a professor whose research focuses on science education, with an emphasis on technology. He has been an assistant professor of Mathematics and Science Education at The University of Texas in Austin, and was a member of the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt's Learning Technology Center. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including: Otto Basser Award for Outstanding Dissertation in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University, 1998; Cognitive Studies for Educational Practice Post Doctorate Fellowship (competitive), 1998-2000; Tennessee Space Grant Fellowship (NASA), Vanderbilt University, 1991-1996; Peabody Super Student Scholarship. (competitive) 1991-1994; New Jersey Governor's Teacher Recognition Award, 1990.

Anna Chan Rekate
Anna Chan Rekate is an educator and administrator. She serves as a high school English teacher at Trevor Day School in New York City, teaching ninth grade English along with electives for Juniors and Seniors. She has also been Upper School Coordinator at the Manhattan School for Children, and has taught all subjects for the sixth and eighth grades at the City & Country School in New York City. All three schools are known for their progressive philosophies and educational practices. Rekate has a master's degree in Educational Policy from Columbia University's Teachers College and a master's degree in Leadership and Supervision from Bank Street College of Education.

Thirteen Ed Online Staff Expert Bios

Brigitte Magar Matsuoka
Brigitte Magar Matsuoka is an educational media developer. She serves as Director of Thirteen/ WNET's Educational Technologies Department and Executive Producer of Thirteen's Ed Online Web site. She also develops, produces and distributes new educational technology projects for teachers, students and parents/caregivers. Her projects include: CONCEPT TO CLASSROOM, WHAT'S UP IN THE ENVIRONMENT?, the companion Web site to a post 9/11 three-part series for the PBS IN THE MIX series, THE NEW NORMAL, TeacherLine mini-courses, and STANDARDS IN ACTION: MAKING REAL WORLD CONNECTIONS WITH MATHEMATICS. She has also worked at Teachers College, Columbia University as an instructor, online content and tool developer, and K-12 consultant, and has received an Emmy award for her work in television production.

Al Doyle
Al Doyle is an educator, technology coordinator and designer. He has been Director of Academic Technology at the St. Bernard's School in New York City; Director of Internet Training of Thirteen's National Teacher Training Institute (NTTI); Technology Coordinator at Polytechnic Preparatory Country Day School in Brooklyn, New York; director of both computer and theater camps; and producer of the Art of Construction Web site. His fellowships include: Master Teacher for the National Teacher Training Institute (NTTI); Livingston Chair for Science at Poly Prep 1995-96; NEA Master Teacher Grant: Vermont Studio School, 1987; Rhode Island School of Design Honors Seminar, 1986; Skidmore College Summer Six Art Institute Fellowship, 1985; and Jerome Foundation Emerging Artists Fellowship, 1984.

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