We are a collaborative team of math and special educators, working to enable teachers and administrators to make middle school mathematics more accessible to a wide range of students, particularly those with special needs.
Fred Gross, M.Ed., Principal Investigator
Fred Gross, a managing project director at EDC since 2001, serves as PI on the Addressing Accessibility in Mathematics project. He directed the development of student centered math lessons and led a development team in the creation of online courses for PBS Teacherline and the US Department of Defense schools. He was the K-8 mathematics curriculum coordinator for the Sudbury, MA school district for 10 years and has taught K-12 mathematics for 17 years. He has organized courses and workshops on instructional practices and led a study group for special educators and math teachers on how to
support students with special needs in learning mathematics. In addition, he was the Mathematics and Equity Specialist at the Regional Alliance at TERC and is a trained Anti-Racism instructor for Empowering Multicultural Initiatives. He is author of several articles and The Power of Numbers: A Mathematics Curriculum in a Social Studies Context.
Amy Brodesky, M.Ed., Project Director
Amy Brodesky has been the project director for the Addressing Accessibility in Mathematics project since it began in 2000. She has extensive experience developing mathematics education materials, including Mathscape middle school mathematics curriculum units and online courses for PBS Teacherline. She is co-author of Digging into Data with TinkerPlots (in press), a book of data analysis lessons for the middle grades. During the past 19 years at EDC, she has designed and led a variety of professional development programs, including workshops and summer institutes for school districts. She also developed educational software for the "Exploring Measurement, Time, and Money" Series for grades K-6 for IBM. Prior to coming to EDC, she worked at Tom Synder Productions, an educational software company.
Anna McTigue, M.A., Senior Research Associate
Anna McTigue has over 20 years of experience in special education teaching and administration. She worked in the Boston Public Schools for 10 years, and taught and supervised pre-service teachers of special education, mathematics, and science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is working on a doctoral degree in Urban Education with a focus on special education, English Language Learners, and cultural diversity.
Emily Fagan, Senior Curriculum Design Associate
Emily Fagan has developed online and print curriculum, professional development, and evaluation materials in mathematics for seven years. She was Project Director of the MathScape Curriculum Center, a project funded by the National Science Foundation to support schools, districts, and teachers implementing new math materials. She also directed the revision of MathScape: Seeing and Thinking Mathematically, funded by Glencoe-McGraw Hill. Prior to joining EDC, Emily taught high school and middle school
mathematics for nine years in inclusion classrooms in Philadelphia and Massachusetts. She was
a mentor teacher and member of the Massachusetts
Faculty of the Coalition of Essential Schools. She has long been interested
in innovation and accessibility in mathematics education.
Allysen Palmer, Senior Editor/Writer
Allysen Palmer has 15 years of experience designing and editing educational materials for both teachers and students. She has focused on ways to communicate ideas in mathematics and sciences effectively to a wide range of audiences, drawing on her experience in journalism and multimedia production. Prior to working at EDC she helped design and pilot online professional development courses for K-12 mathematics teachers, and contributed to the design and content of courses in many subjects including genetics, ethics, the physics of flight, Internet technology, and other topics.
Dr. Judith Zorfass, Senior Advisor
Dr. Zorfass is Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Associate Center
Director in EDC's Center for Family, School, and Community. Her areas
of expertise fall within special education and inclusion, middle grades
improvement, literacy development, and the integration of technology
into the curriculum. In her 18-year tenure at EDC, Dr. Zorfass has been
technical
monitor, principal investigator, or project director for close to 20
projects focused on research, online and face-to-face professional development,
curriculum
development, and dissemination. She holds a doctorate in reading and
language development from Harvard University's Graduate School of
Education. She is the author of "Helping Middle School Students become
Active Researchers" (ASCD, 1998), has published numerous articles, and
is a frequent presenter at national conferences.
Alise Brann, M.S. Ed, Research Associate
Alise Brann's work at EDC focuses on using technology to facilitate access to academics for students with learning disabilities. She has supported educators as they integrate instructional technology into the classroom, written briefs on educational technology and professional development, and researched how software can improve reading comprehension for struggling readers. Prior to EDC, Alise worked with schools that serve children and young adults with learning disabilities and emotional/behavioral disorders, helping staff to integrate technology tools into teaching practice.
©2003-2007
Education Development Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
This project is supported by the National Science Foundation Grant
No. ESI-9911831. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily
those of the Foundation.