|  About
NCSET
Staff
During its OSEP-funded years, NCSET staff included the following:
David R. Johnson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
and Director, johns006@umn.edu
Dr. David R. Johnson is Director of the Institute on Community
Integration (UCEDD), Associate Dean for Research and Policy, and Professor in the Department of Educational
Policy and Administration in the College of Education and Human
Development, University of Minnesota. Dr. Johnson has more than
25 years of research, technical assistance, and dissemination experience
with a strong emphasis on secondary education and transition services.
Over the years, Dr. Johnson has been the principal investigator
and director of several federal and state research, training, and
demonstration projects in the areas of school-to-work transition,
vocational education, interagency collaboration, secondary special
education, employment, community living, and others.
Dr. Johnson has directed the National Transition Network and has
been a major partner of the National Transition Alliance for Youth
with Disabilities. Both projects provided technical assistance,
consultation, and evaluation support to virtually all states. His
specific research interests include investigations of the postschool
outcomes and status of young adults with disabilities, evaluations
concerning access and participation of young adults with disabilities
in postsecondary education programs and employment, studies on systems
change, cost-benefit analysis, and other policy-related research.
Christine D. Bremer, Ph.D., Research Associate
Dr. Bremer does research and writing on secondary instruction, curriculum,
and assessment. Prior to coming to NCSET, Dr. Bremer was a Program
Coordinator with the National Research Center on Career and Technical
Education at the University of Minnesota, where she researched teacher
induction, teacher certification, postsecondary technical education,
and needs for research, dissemination, and professional development
in Career and Technical Education. Prior to her work at the University
of Minnesota, Dr. Bremer worked in the corporate sector as a Human
Factors Engineer and as a Manager of Education Programs in Community
Affairs, where she managed corporate partnerships with area schools.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the State
University of New York at Plattsburgh and a Doctoral degree from
the University of Minnesota in Work, Community, and Family Education.
In addition, she has completed extensive graduate work in Experimental
Psychology.
Megan Dushin, Electronic Communications Coordinator
Ms. Dushin is responsible for coordinating the development and maintenance
of the NCSET Web sites and other electronic communications. She
has been developing Web sites for the Institute on Community Integration
since 1994 and currently coordinates the development of numerous
project Web sites, offering consulting, training, and production
services to these projects. In addition, Ms. Dushin coordinates
the ongoing development of policy and accessibility guidelines for
Institute Web publishing, redesigns Institute sites as needed, and
coordinates training and networking activities for Web developers
on and off campus.
Ann Mavis, Coordinator
As NCSET Coordinator, Ms. Mavis facilitates the numerous activities
of the Center and supervises NCSET's support staff. Ms. Mavis has
worked in education for over thirty years in a variety of capacities
from bus driver to school board member. She has worked as a program
coordinator at the YMCA and directed the development of a non-profit
community-based organization that facilitated partnerships between
schools, community organizations, governments, and churches to promote
the Search Institute Asset-Building Model to strengthen communities
and youth. She has been an active community volunteer and is the
parent of three teenagers. She holds an M.S. in Educational Policy and Administration from the University of Minnesota.
Chris Opsal, Communications Coordinator
Ms. Opsal comes to NCSET from the Institute on Community Integration's
Publications Office, where she worked as Editorial Assistant/Office
Manager. At NCSET, Ms. Opsal is responsible for publications layout,
production, and Web rendering, and also does some editing and publications
design. She holds a B.A. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
and an M.A. in Educational Policy
and Administration from the University of Minnesota.
Martha Thurlow, Ph.D., Director of NCEO
Dr. Thurlow is the Director of the National
Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) and has over 30 years
of research experience with a strong emphasis on policy-related
issues in special education. Over the course of her career, Dr.
Thurlow has served as Research Coordinator and Study Site Liaison
on numerous major research projects, including those focusing on
the assessment and decision-making process for students with learning
disabilities, postschool outcomes, dropout prevention and intervention,
and assessment of social outcomes and networks of individuals in
a wide range of disability areas. Dr. Thurlow was a member of the
National Research Council (NRC) Committee that produced Educating
One & All: Standards-based Reform and Students with Disabilities.
Dr. Thurlow has published several book chapters, more than 80 referreed
journal articles, 150 technical reports, and numerous other requested
materials. She is an author of three major books in the area of
assessment and is co-editor of Exceptional Children, the
research journal of the Council for Exceptional Children.
Joe Timmons, M.A., Research Fellow
Mr. Timmons, a Research Fellow at ICI, has worked with adolescents and adults in rehabilitation and education settings for over twenty-four years. Since 2002, he has been a coordinator with the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth, focusing on the transition needs of youth with disabilities, doing research and providing technical assistance to individuals and organizations, including federal grantees, the Office of Disability Employment Policy, and the Rehabilitation Services Administration. Joe particularly enjoys working on projects that lead to successful collaborations among organizations that serve youth. He is currently directing the first High School/High Tech initiative in Minnesota, a project that strengthens connections between schools, workforce centers, vocational rehabilitation, and area businesses.
About ICI
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