The MACC Pennsylvania Team
James Ruff is the Pennsylvania Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center at GWU-CEEE. He joined GW-CEEE as a Research Scientist in January, 2006 after serving as an education consultant. Until his retirement in 2003, Mr. Ruff served as Director of Categorical Programs and Development in the District of Columbia Public Schools. In that capacity, he managed assets of the DCPS Foundation, administered $150 million in annual grants, and hired and trained grant writers to increase grant acquisition. Prior to that position, he served as Director of the Integrated Technical Assistance Team, a DCPS program- and school-improvement group designed to develop school-based leadership and management capacity. He was also responsible for implementation and administration of the No Child Left Behind Act and the Improving America's Schools Act. Mr. Ruff helped develop Public-Private Partnership programs with major corporations that supported the development and installation of career-oriented thematic high schools, such as the Dunbar Pre-Engineering Program. Mr. Ruff previously worked as a researcher for the President’s National Advisory Council on Supplementary Centers and Services (ESEA Title III, Innovative Programs) where he helped develop Projects to Advance Creativity in Education, and the “Identification/Validation/Dissemination Workbook”, a precursor to the National Diffusion Network. He earned a B.A. in political science from American University and an M.A. in government from Georgetown University, specializing in theory and research methodology.
Janet Brown, a Senior Research Associate at GW-CEEE, specializing in parent and community involvement initiatives, has 20 years of experience in adult education, family literacy and program and product development for adults with lower literacy skills. Ms. Brown has an extensive background in parent involvement, adult literacy education, ESL science instruction, and Even Start and family literacy. Ms. Brown has designed parent-child literacy kits for literacy practitioners and adult learners. She was part of the core team that developed a series of Parent Involvement Training Guides for Head Start Learning Community. She directed the Promising Practices Network of the Head Start Family Literacy Project and the PBS Parents Literacy Oversight contract that included field-testing the site with adult learners working on their GED at the Computer Aided Literacy Instruction program CALICO at the DC Public Library.
Ms. Brown has been a teacher and program developer in a variety of settings, including public schools, social services organizations and a community college. She has provided technical assistance and training in parent involvement, staff-parent communication, and decision making partnerships to Head Start staff at regional and national training events. She has also held workshops on parent-child learning and human rights education for public school teachers and adult literacy practitioners in Washington, DC. Ms. Brown holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Virginia, and an M.A. in English Linguistics from George Mason University.
Elizabeth (Tiz) Powers is a senior literacy program specialist at the George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education, who has trained and supported coaches for over six years. She is a former classroom teacher and reading specialist, who has extensive knowledge of literacy instruction, assessment and research. Her work focuses on the creation and support of professional development programs.
Ms. Powers holds a M.S. in Elementary Education and Reading Specialist Certificate from the University of Pennsylvania. Her teaching experiences include five years with the School District of Philadelphia, one year at a private school for children with learning differences, and eight years of providing professional development courses, workshops and conference sessions for educators at all levels.
Pamela Wrigley is a specialist in English language learning and migrant education. She began her career in education as a secondary Spanish teacher. She taught Spanish for 13 years in public and private schools. In 1987 Pamela became a bilingual Resource Specialist for the Virginia Migrant Education Program and has focused on promoting ELL and literacy programs that address the needs of English language learners, migrant students and their families. She also has an extensive amount of experience training teachers and developing resources in the area of research-based instructional and assessment strategies that boost the achievement of English language learners.
Pamela has conducted workshops and provided technical assistance to special educators, administrators and teachers on strategies and policies that ensure appropriate identification of ELLs for special education services. She has also engaged in technical assistance to SEAs and LEAs in all aspects of ESL and migrant program design, implementation, and evaluation. She has helped to guide six states through the intensive comprehensive needs assessment (CNA) process which has helped them to improve the quality of their data use, service delivery, and program evaluation.