Speaker Biographies CAEP Commission on Standards and Performance Reporting
May 21-22, 2012 The Fairfax at Embassy Row 2100 Massachusetts Avenue NW; Washington, DC 20036
Camilla Benbow, co-chair Dr. Camilla Persson Benbow is Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College, a position she has held since 1998. An educational psychologist, Dean Benbow has focused her scholarly work on gifted education and the development of mathematical talent. Dean Benbow began her academic career at Johns Hopkins University in 1981 as an associate research scientist. In 1986, Iowa State University appointed her associate professor of psychology. She was promoted to full professor in 1990, became department chair in 1992, and in 1995, was named distinguished professor. She was appointed interim dean of education at Iowa State in 1996. While at Iowa State she also directed pre-collegiate programs for talented and gifted students. Dean Benbow is a member of the board of the American Psychological Foundation. She also serves on the executive committee of the Council of Academic Deans from Research Education Institutions (CADREI), and she co-founded and co-chairs the committee of AAU College of Education Deans. Dean Benbow received her Ed.D., with distinction, from Johns Hopkins University (1981), from which she also received her B.A., M.A. in psychology, and her M.S. in education.
Gene Harris, co-chair Dr. Gene T. Harris is the 19th superintendent and chief executive officer of the Columbus City Schools (CCS), the largest Ohio school district. Dr. Harris served at Columbus City Schools after college to teach English and drama, and then moved from the classroom to deputy superintendent in 2000, and superintendent in 2001. In addition to her responsibilities as Superintendent, Harris serves on the Board of Trustees of Ohio University, and Action for Children. During the 2010-2011 school year, Harris implemented several new initiatives, including the opening of two gender-based middle schools (one for boys and one for girls), a new international high school, and a new K-8 international studies program. In addition, Harris created the CCS Higher Education Partnership (HEP) which provides a single point of contact between the district and 11 central Ohio colleges/universities to develop programs that boost student achievement, and college readiness. Dr. Harris holds a doctorate from Ohio University, a master’s degree from The Ohio State University, a bachelor’s from Notre Dame; Harris also received an honorary doctorate from Franklin University in 2011.
James Cibulka Jim Cibulka is President of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in Washington, D.C. Since the beginning of his presidency in 2008, Cibulka has led a redesign of NCATE accreditation to ensure that it serves as a lever for change and reform in educator preparation to better meet urgent national P-12 needs. Under his leadership, NCATE's redesign focuses on moving educator preparation to excellence through continuous improvement and research-based transformation. Cibulka also serves as president of the new unified accrediting body, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), which is scheduled to become fully operational in 2013. Cibulka holds a B.A. from Harvard College, magna cum laude, with a major in Government. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in the Department of Education, where he concentrated in the fields of educational administration and political science. He attended public schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which he credits with inspiring him and preparing him well for his later achievements.
Deborah Eldridge Deborah Eldridge became Senior Vice President of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) on July 5, 2011. She provides support and leadership for all aspects of accreditation as NCATE moves forward to unification with the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) to become the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Her specific duties include overseeing all accreditation processes to ensure excellence, rigor, and consistency; working with institutions to further develop the transformation initiative pathway to accreditation; working with international institutions seeking NCATE accreditation and expertise; and encouraging high quality alternate preparation providers to become accredited. Immediately prior to coming to NCATE, Deb served as the Dean of Education at Lehman College of the City University of New York. While at Lehman, she was the Principal Investigator of an innovative, 5th year clinical residency program funded by the U.S. Department of Education under the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) initiative. Dr. Eldridge holds a bachelor's degree in human development from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, an M.A. in foreign language education from the University of Texas at Austin, and an Ed.D. in language, literacy, and cultural studies from Boston University.
Peter Ewell Peter Ewell is the Vice President at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), a research and development center founded to improve the management effectiveness of colleges and universities. A member of the staff since 1981, Dr. Ewell’s work focuses on assessing institutional effectiveness and the outcomes of college, and involves both research and direct consulting with institutions and state systems on collecting and using assessment information in planning, evaluation, and budgeting. He has directed many projects on this topic, including initiatives funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the National Institute for Education, the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Ewell has authored seven books and numerous articles on the topic of improving undergraduate instruction through the assessment of student outcomes. In addition, he has prepared commissioned papers for many agencies, including the Study Group on the Conditions of Excellence in American Higher Education (authors of the report Involvement in Learning), the Education Commission of the States, the National Governors’ Association, the National Conference of State Legislators, and the National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education. A graduate of Haverford College, Ewell received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University in 1976.
Kenneth Howey Kenneth R. Howey is currently a senior fellow at The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Over the course of his career, he has served as teacher, principal, laboratoryschool director, research center director and dean. In addition, he has been involved in endeavors designed to improve the preparation of teachers. He has written and edited several books addressing issues in teacher and school renewal. Before joining the Institute, Howey was a research professor at the University of Cincinnati's College of Education. He also served on the education faculties at the Universities of Wisconsin-Madison and Milwaukee, the University of Minnesota and The Ohio State University. Howey hold a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern College. He earned both is Master’s of Science and Doctorate degrees from the University of Wisconsin.
Mark LaCelle-Peterson Mark LaCelle Petereson currently serves as TEAC’s President. He represents TEAC in national and state arenas and oversees policy development, membership growth, and state relations. He has served as an academic auditor for TEAC since 2005 and is a member of the joint TEAC/NCATE Design Team on the future of the accreditation of programs preparing teachers and educational leaders. LaCelle-Peterson’s faculty experience includes teaching and administration in teacher education programs at both public and private institutions. He has served on the executive boards of the New York State affiliates of both ATE and AACTE. LaCelle-Peterson’s teaching experience spans courses in educational studies, curriculum theory, history and philosophy of education, research design, assessment, bilingual education, and multicultural education, as well as courses in writing, the humanities, and medieval literatures of northern Europe. He has published and presented on equity issues in the assessment of English language learners, curriculum history, medieval education, multicultural teacher education, democratic theory in education, and faculty development in higher education. Lacelle-Peterson holds a BA in Scandinavian Studies and English, as well as an MA in International Development Education, from the University of Minnesota. He earned an EdD in Curriculum Theory and Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1991.
Janice Poda Janice Poda recently joined the Council of Chief State School Officers as the Strategic Initiative Director for the Education Workforce. Previously, Janice served as the Deputy State Superintendent of Education for Administration and Chief of Staff at the South Carolina Department of Education under State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex. In that role, she oversaw educator certification, a statewide evaluation system for teachers, leaders, and other school personnel, program approval, the state's teacher of the year program, and federal Title II programs. She also worked as Executive Director of the South Carolina Center for Teacher Recruitment (now known as the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA)) at Winthrop University. She is currently a member of the Council of Accreditation of Educator Programs' (CAEP) redesign team and interim board, and has served on the Unit Accreditation Board for NCATE.
Nancy Zimpher Nancy Zimpher was named the 12th Chancellor of the State University of New York on June 1, 2009. With more than 465,000 students, SUNY is the nation’s largest comprehensive system of higher education. A former chair of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, Dr. Zimpher now leads the national Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and co-chairs a national blueribbon panel on transforming teacher preparation. She serves on the board of CEOs for Cities, is a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum, and the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences. Prior to coming to SUNY, Dr. Zimpher served as president of the University of Cincinnati, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and executive dean of the Professional Colleges and dean of the College of Education at The Ohio State University. Chancellor Zimpher holds a bachelor’s degree in English Education and Speech, a master’s degree in English Literature, and a Ph.D. in Teacher Education and Higher Education Administration, all from The Ohio State University.