Who We Are
Teachers, faculty and staff from the K20 education community, public libraries and nonprofit community technology centers have worked together to develop and deliver two highly engaging hybrid courses that prepare students across the state for the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). This California Research and Education Network (CalREN) enabled program includes online interactive exercises as well as “face time” with instructors via web based collaboration tools and/or videoconferencing. It also includes a local instruction or facilitator who can help participating students. The program demonstrates ways technology enhances students’ access to quality instruction and improves student learning.
Our Team
Project Leaders
- Stephanie Couch, Director Marketing Communications and Outreach
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Stephanie currently serves as the Director of Statewide Initiatives for the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California. She also works part-time for the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Information and Strategic Services, within the University of California's Office of the President. Prior to joining CENIC, Ms. Couch was the Director of Institutional Advocacy in the University of California's Office of the President. Her work on the Collaborative will include:
- Identify, prioritize, and develop subsequent action plans for developing funding sources
- Drive program development of the Collaborative as a "business entity". This includes development of sponsors (like State of CA, non-profit foundations, etc.); customers (those who will directly benefit from the project work); and stakeholders (those who might indirectly benefit, e.g., economic development interests)
- Identify targets of opportunity and prioritize from various segments: participating institutions, government (would-be sponsors), private industry, non-profits, etc.
- Doug Cremer, Executive Director, CCC Technology Center
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Doug Cremer is currently serving as Executive Director of the CCC Technology Center and California Virtual Campus Projects. His technology team currently manages nine major technology and curriculum development program grants totaling approximately $24 million dollars in annual funding.
Prior to this assignment, Doug served as Director, Information Systems and Institutional Research for Butte College, where he directed the college's highly successful Datatel Colleague Student System implementation.
Before coming to Butte College, Doug served as Director, Information Technology, Merger and Acquisitions, for PECO Energy Company in Philadelphia, PA, where he was responsible for integrating information systems for a number of corporate acquisitions and for the eventual merger between PECO Energy Company and Commonwealth Edison to form Exelon Corporation. His prior background also includes serving in an NRC Senior-Reactor-Operator-licensed position as Shift Operations Manager for one of five operating crews for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station for PECO Nuclear Group, and service tours in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service, including serving as Commanding Officer, USS BATON ROUGE, a Los-Angeles class, nuclear-powered fast attack submarine.
Doug also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Butte-Glenn United Way is a Senior Examiner for the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Baldrige National Quality Program.
- Anita Cruse, Associate Professor, English, Santa Barbara City College
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Anita Cruse is the co-lead on the English/Language Arts team for the CAHSEE Stepping Into Your Future Project. In addition, she is an on-line instructor for the CAHSEE ELA course. Dr. Cruse has over twenty-five years of experience in the educational system as a classroom teacher, tutor, reading/language arts specialist, university lecturer and researcher. She is currently a full-time instructor in the English Division at Santa Barbara City College, teaching developmental courses in reading and writing in the English Skills Department. Dr. Cruse is a fellow of the South Coast Writing Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara and belongs to several professional organizations devoted to teaching and learning.
- Anthony J. DiAngelis, Math Teacher
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Anthony J. DiAngelis has served 9 years teaching secondary Mathematics and 7 years teaching Mathematics for DACE before coming to the CAHSEE Stepping into Your Future Project. In the past year he has acted as Math/Science Teacher Advisor for DACE which entails writing curriculum, promoting various teaching modalities, as well as planning and implementing teacher staff developments, curriculum fieldtrips. He works as an advisory position regarding this project.
- Judith Green, Professor, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education
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Judith Green currently serves as Co-Director of Evaluation for the CAHSEE Stepping Into Your Future Project. In that capacity, Dr. Green coordinates the evaluation team, works with team members to analyze the data collected and supports the development of reports on this project. Dr. Green brings four decades of experience in the PreK-20 educational system as a teacher, a Miller-Unruh reading specialist, a university teacher, and a researcher. In addition to Dr. Green's work with CAHSEE Prep, she serves as Professor of Education and emphasis leader in Teaching and Learning at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Bringing an extensive background in education, Dr. Green held the position of President of the National Conference for Research in Language and Literacy, published 3 books on ethnography and language and more than 100 articles in major research journals on the social construction of knowledge across disciplines, and on research methods; she has been editor of the Reading Research Quarterly and as co-Editor of the Handbook of Complementary Methods of Research in Education (Green, Camilli & Elmore, 2006). She currently serves as editor of the Review of Research in Education (Volumes 30 and 32) for the American Educational Research Association and was Chair of the Research Advisory Committee for AERA. Dr. Green is a Fellow of the American Anthropology Association and the National Conference for Research in Language and Literacy.
- Matthew C. Plummer, Project Manager
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Matthew C. Plummer currently serves as Project Manager for CAHSEE Stepping Into Your Future preparatory program. Mr. Plummer's duties include formulating marketing strategy, coordinating the creation and distribution of marketing materials to potential sites, as well as facilitating the initial partnership logistics.
A recent graduate of California State University, Sacramento with a degree in Government, Mr. Plummer held political positions as an undergraduate. Including, but not limited to work in the Statewide offices of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Workers, as the Political Director for the Iron Workers Local 118, and as an aid to Assemblymember Anthony J. Portantino.
- Larry Green, Math Professor, Lake Tahoe Community College
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Larry Green is the Math lead for the CAHSEE Stepping Into the Future Project. He teaches mathematics both online and traditionally for Lake Tahoe Community College. He is currently serving as the Co-Chair of LTCC's math department and is in charge of the math tutoring center. He is a reviewer on the mathematics team for MERLOT and is the current president of the California Mathematics Council Community Colleges (CMC³). He was also recently elected to serve on the Board of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District.
- Pam Thompson, Project Director
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Pamela Thompson currently serves as Project Director for CAHSEE Stepping Into Your Future preparatory program. In her role as Project Director, Ms. Thompson is responsible for orchestrating the myriad of project outcomes and deliverables, from planning and development to implementation and reporting.
Prior to joining CAHSEE Prep, Ms. Thompson worked in professional and nonprofit administration. Ms. Thompson served as executive director and policy analyst for a regional trade association, the Regional Immunization Registry for the California Department of Health Services, the Board of Directors for California Primary Care Association, the Oral Health Access Council and Insure the Uninsured Project. Nationally, she served on the Health Policy and Rural Health committees for the National Association of Community Health Centers, and locally on the Shasta First 5 Advisory Board.
Ms. Thompson's notable accomplishments include bringing 12 northern California counties together to develop a strategy to implement an online registry, creating Regional Immunization Registry for the California Department of Health Services, and integrating telemedicine and technology supported delivery systems among community health centers in rural areas.
- Elizabeth Yeager, Executive Director, LINC & Gevirtz Graduate School of Education
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Dr. Beth Yeager is Executive Director of the Center for Literacy and Inquiry in Networking Communities in The Gevirtz School, University of California, Santa Barbara. She provides overall content oversight for the CAHSEE Prep Initiative, is co-leader of the English Language Arts content development team, and co-director of the evaluation research component of the project. Dr. Yeager has almost 38 years of experience in pre-K-20, over 32 of those as a pre-K-12 teacher and teacher researcher in the California public schools. She has developed conceptual and practical models in use for collaborative professional development and grounded, generative curriculum design with both teachers and students using interactive video conferencing. Her research interests are focused on constructing disciplinary knowledge, practice, and academic identities, and, currently, in developing technology-enhanced models that support the construction of disciplinary knowledge and practice as well as professional development. Dr. Yeager is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English and the American Educational Research Association.
Project Team Members
- Maha Ashour-Abdalla, Director, Center for Digital Innovation, University California Los Angeles
- Jean Bercham, Center for Digital Innovation, University California Los Angeles
- Winston Doby, Emeritus, GSE&IS, University California Los Angeles
- Marsha Easterday, Supervisor, LAUSD
- Sarah Hough, Researcher, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education
- Greg Kallemeyn, Center for Digital Innovation, University California Los Angeles
- Rob Knight, Math Professor, Evergreen Valley College
- Ed Morris, Director, Instructional Services, LAUSD
- Paul Peng, Site Coordinator
- Suzanne Roberts, English Professor, Lake Tahoe Community College
- David Schriver, Center for Digital Innovation, University California Los Angeles
- Harris Shultz, Math Professor, CSU Fullerton
- Robert Tasui, Sit Coordinator
- Themistocles Sparangis, Chief Technology Director, LAUSD
- Miya Squires, Center for Academic Success, Lake Tahoe Community College
- Treva Thomas, Center for Academic Success, Lake Tahoe Community College
Project Partners
- Linda Crowe, Director, Peninsula Library System
- Diana Rumney, Jefferson Union High School
- Kay Johnson, Jefferson Union High School
- Guy Malain, Principal, Shasta Adult School
- Marilyn Pawling, Vice Principal, Lake Tahoe Unified School
- Karen Wade, Project Director, Project T.E.C.H
- Janet Adams, Curriculum and Technology Consultant, Kings County Office of Education
