Making Family and Community Connections


Expert Content Developer Bios

Joyce L. Epstein
Joyce L. Epstein is a program director, professor, and researcher focused on school and community partnerships for at-risk students. She teaches at the Johns Hopkins University, and serves as director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the principal research scientist and co-director of the School, Family, and Community Partnership Program of the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR). In addition, Epstein has published over one hundred essays and studies, and has authored SCHOOL, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: YOUR HANDBOOK FOR ACTION (Corwin Press, 1997) and SCHOOL AND FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS: PREPARING EDUCATORS AND IMPROVING SCHOOLS (Westview Press, 2001). She also serves on the editorial boards of PHI DELTA KAPPAN, EDUCATION AND URBAN SOCIETY, THE URBAN REVIEW, and SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION, and is a recipient of the Academy for Educational Development's 1991 Alvin C. Eurich Education Award and the 1997 WORKING MOTHER Magazine special award.

Heather B. Weiss
Dr. Heather Weiss writes, speaks, and advises on child and family policy, family support, and innovative evaluation strategies. She is the founder and director of the Harvard Family Research Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She also serves on the advisory board of the U.S. Department of Education's Planning and Evaluation Service, the Council of the Foundation for Child Development, Abt Associates' Family Support Evaluation Advisory Board, and the Study Group of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Pathways through Childhood. In addition, Weiss serves on the editorial boards of The Future of Children, Children and Youth Services Review, and Applied Development Science.

Elena Lopez
Elena Lopez is an educational consultant, researcher and educator. She has served as a senior consultant to the Harvard Family Research Project in Cambridge, Massachusetts, conducting extensive research on family support in early childhood programs and family-school-community partnerships. Her publications include PATHS TO SCHOOL READINESS (Harvard Family Research Project, 1993); EARLY CHILDHOOD REFORM IN SEVEN COMMUNITIES (USGPO, 1996); and FAMILY CENTERED CHILD CARE (Harvard Family Research Project, 1999).

Holly Kreider
Holly Kreider is an educator and researcher specializing in home-school relationships. She has served as project manager and research associate at the Harvard Family Research Project, where she researches teacher preparation for family involvement and manages a longitudinal, mixed method analysis of home-school relationships and their influence on the developmental pathways of low-income children. Her publications include: NEW SKILLS FOR NEW SCHOOLS (Harvard Family Research Project, 1997) and CHILD CARE RESOURCE & REFERRAL AGENCIES: TRAINING CHILD CARE PROVIDERS TO SUPPORT FAMILIES (Harvard Family Research Project, 1999). She is the co-founder of the Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE), and has also worked independently as an educational consultant and therapist.

Lesson Plan Developer Bio

Joyce L. Epstein
Joyce L. Epstein is a program director, professor, and researcher focused on school and community partnerships for at-risk students. She teaches at the Johns Hopkins University, and serves as director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the principal research scientist and co-director of the School, Family, and Community Partnership Program of the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR). In addition, Epstein has published over one hundred essays and studies, and has authored SCHOOL, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: YOUR HANDBOOK FOR ACTION (Corwin Press, 1997) and SCHOOL AND FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS: PREPARING EDUCATORS AND IMPROVING SCHOOLS (Westview Press, 2001). She also serves on the editorial boards of PHI DELTA KAPPAN, EDUCATION AND URBAN SOCIETY, THE URBAN REVIEW, and SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION, and is a recipient of the Academy for Educational Development's 1991 Alvin C. Eurich Education Award and the 1997 WORKING MOTHER Magazine special award.

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 with a special interest in literature. 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.

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