New England Educational Research Organization Board of Directors

Sarah Enterline

President

St. Mark's School

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Sarah Enterline Roch is the Director of Institutional Research at St. Mark’s School (Southborough, MA). Sarah received her Ph.D. from Boston College in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, and served as the first Director of Assessment and Accreditation at BC’s School of Education. Sarah has participated in NEERO since 2004, received the inaugural Kim Fries Award, and been a member of the Board since 2018.

Jessica York

VP and Conference Chair
University of Hartford

Jessica Pawlik-York is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Education, Nursing, and Health Professions at the University of Hartford. She has more than 20 years of experience in higher education with roles in both student and academic affairs. Pawlik-York is a seasoned faculty member teaching courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality studies, as well as in History, and Education.

Emilie Mitescu Reagan

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Past President

Claremont Graduate University 

Emilie Mitescu Reagan is an Associate Professor in the Claremont Graduate University School of Educational Studies. She is also Co-Principal Investigator for the University of New Hampshire Teacher Residency for Rural Education (TRRE) program. Emilie's research focuses on social justice-oriented teacher education policy and practice, using primarily quantitative and mixed methods research.

Jess Gregory

Secretary
Southern Connecticut State University

Jess L. Gregory is a Professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at Southern Connecticut State University, where she teaches Educational Leadership courses across both the sixth-year administrator certification and doctoral programs.  Jess has published many peer-reviewed, empirical journal articles as well as conference papers, books, and several chapters in edited volumes.

Beth Fornauf

Treasurer
Plymouth State University

Beth Fornauf an Assistant Professor of special education at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH. Her teaching and research are focused on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Disability and Critical Race Studies (DisCrit), and inclusive education. While at UNH, she worked for a teacher residency program focused on recruiting and preparing teachers for rural New Hampshire schools. Beth has also worked as a project manager for the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), supporting a UDL professional learning network for New Hampshire educators. Prior to my work in higher education, Beth was an elementary and special education teacher.

Deb Patterson

Special Projects
Western New England College

Deb Patterson is Chair of the Education Department at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the licensure officer for WNE.  In addition to the NEERO board, Deb also serves on the Massachusetts Colleges of Teacher Education (MACTE) board.

Therese Ajtum-Roberts

Conference Director
Framingham State University

Therese Ajtum-Roberts is the Coordinator of the Chis Walsh Center for Educators and Families of MetroWest at Framingham State University. She has devoted most of her career to creating inclusive, equitable, and engaging learning environments. For nearly twenty years, she has supported instructors' use of technology, backwards design, and UDL principles to create a responsive, equitable, and inclusive curriculum for all learners. Therese’s research interests focus on faculty and in-service teachers' professional development, teaching with technology, and how teachers create responsive, equitable, and inclusive learning environments.

Kristen  Lech

Communications Director
Bay Path University

Kristen Lech is the Program Director of Special Education and English as a Second Language Graduate Programs at Bay Path University. Kristen is also an educational advocate working for children with exceptionalities and their families. She has co-authored several international books and book chapters related to the unique needs of students with disabilities and effective instructional programs and practices. She is a regular presenter at local and national conferences and serves as an Educational Surrogate Parent for the Massachusetts Federation for Children with Special Needs.

Amy Ryan

Historian
Boston College

Amy Ryan is the Assistant Dean for Field Placement and Outreach at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. In this capacity, she oversees field placements for teacher candidates, actively partners with faculty in the Teaching, Curriculum and Society Department, and serves on the Catholic Education Committee and the Donovan Urban Scholars Advisory Board. Before joining Boston College, Dr. Ryan served as the Deputy Superintendent of the Catholic Schools Office in the Archdiocese of Boston. She led the implementation of a new student information system and adaptive online assessments across the elementary schools. Dr. Ryan is currently the Immediate Past President of NEERO and an active member of the NEERO Board.

Olcay Yavuz

Connecticut Representative 
Southern Connecticut State University

Olcay Yavuz is, Internship Coordinator and an Associate Professor in the Southern  Connecticut State University Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department where he teaches courses in School Law, School Finance, Doctoral Inquiry Seminar, Leadership Perspectives, Program and Personnel Evaluation, Quantitative Methods in Educational Leadership, Organizational Development, Advanced Research Methods, Learning Theories, Leadership Development, School Leader Field-Based Internship as well as Dissertation Advisement and Defense.

Lisa D' Souza

Massachusetts Representative 
Assumption College

Lisa Andries D'Souza is a Professor of Education at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her research interests include teacher preparation, history/social science education and middle school education. She has been an active member of NEERO since 2005. Lisa is passionate about supporting undergraduate/graduate students and beginning faculty in their pursuit of educational research.

Pete McDermott

New York Representative
Pace University

Bio coming soon!

Bryan Mascio

New Hampshire Representative
Plymouth State University

Bryan Mascio is a Teaching Faculty at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire - in their Elementary Education and Youth Development Program - where he helps prepare new teachers and works with schools to build capacity in equitable and inclusive practices.  Before getting his doctorate from Harvard Graduate School of Education, Bryan taught in a variety of settings throughout New Hampshire with adolescents and their families who had been marginalized and excluded from traditional school settings.  The uniting thread throughout his research and practice is understanding teaching and learning as complex systems – for the purpose of making P12 schooling and teacher preparation as inclusive and equitable as possible.

Leila Rosa

Rhode Island Representative 
Rhode Island College

Leila Rosa is currently the interim Director of the TESOL program and an assistant professor with the Department of Educational Studies at Rhode Island College. Her research centers on immigration trauma and its impact on the educational placement and identification of students who are English language learners in urban settings. She takes a special interest in the climate of deportation and the implications on children and youth that live in a mixed-status home. She has taught courses in the Department of Educational Leadership with the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and the Department of Special Education at the University of South Florida.

Kelly Clark/Keefe

Vermont Representative
University of Vermont

Kelly Clark/Keefe is an Associate Professor at the University of Vermont. Her primary appointment is in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program, where she teaches graduate courses in qualitative research and social foundations of education. Kelly’s research brings theories of affect and educational subjectivity to bear on a range of topics including: the role of bodies, place, and movement in shaping educational identity; stratified versions of schooling; and conceptual analyses of educational leadership

Rebecca Buchanan

Maine Representative
University of Maine

Rebecca Buchanan is an assistant professor of curriculum, assessment and instruction, part of the School and Learning and Teaching at the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development. Dr. Buchanan studies teacher learning, broadly defined. She is interested in the intersection of personal identity, professional development, organizational structure, and language in the development of social justice oriented educators. She employs qualitative methods and discourse analysis to investigate how teachers learn in and across multiple contexts by connecting their own personal and professional pasts with the present

Jonathan Hart

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Outside New England Representative

Readington Township Public School District

Jonathan Hart currently serves as the Superintendent of the Readington Township Public School District in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.  He has served as the district leader since 2018.  Prior to his position in Readington, Dr. Hart served previous school districts in leadership positions such as Director of Human Resources, Acting Assistant Superintendent, and Assistant Director of Special Services.  Along with his background in various facets of school leadership, Dr. Hart was also a teacher.  He was previously an elementary general education teacher and an elementary teacher of gifted students.  Dr. Hart did not fully leave his love of teaching as he has taught courses as an adjunct at Cabrini University and The College of New Jersey.  Working with graduate and undergraduate students is truly a passion of his.  

Dr. Hart received a B.A. in Psychology from Gettysburg College and a M.Ed. in Reading and Language Arts from The College of New Jersey.  He later received a Certificate in Educational Leadership for Aspiring Principals from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Temple University.  He has a research interest in personalized professional development through teacher inquiry.  He is interested in serving on the NEERO Board to encourage practitioners like himself to attend research conferences.  He believes that research conferences and engaging in action research are ways in which practicing educators can be lifelong learners and serve their communities.  Dr. Hart and his wife live in Pennington, NJ with their two sons. 

Christine Clayton

Teaching and Teacher Education 
Pace University

Christine is an associate professor of education and the program director of initial certification programs at Pace University in Pleasantville, NY.  She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in curriculum, assessment, content literacy, and research. She has published several peer-reviewed articles about inquiry learning and professional development as well as about teacher education and teacher performance assessment.  The work of a nine-year professional development project was the subject of her first book in 2020, Inquiry in tandem: Student and teacher learning in secondary schools.

Denise Sargent

Diversity and Sociocultural Issues
Fitchburg State University

Denise is the Chair of the Education Department and Associate Professor at Fitchburg State University.  Denise teaches in the graduate and undergraduate education programs and supervises student teachers. Her research interests are in teacher development, policy, and school improvement. Prior to coming to Fitchburg State University, Denise worked at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and taught special education in public school K-12 classrooms.

Gail Prelli

Leadership, Policy, and Education Reform
Bridgeport University

Gail Prelli is an Associate Professor in the University of Bridgeport’s Educational Leadership Department where she teaches courses in Leadership Theory, Educational Leadership, Supervision and Evaluation, Contemporary Educational Issues, School Improvement and Educational Research. As a retired public-school administrator, she includes firsthand experience to support the program’s focus on guiding candidates in moving theory to action. Gail also supports doctoral candidates in dissertation advisement and defense.

Kelly Swindlehurst

Curriculum and Instruction
University of Vermont

Kelly Swindlehurst is a lecturer in the Department of Education at The University of Vermont. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Special Education. Her research focuses on effective teacher preparation to meet the needs of all learners.

Aubrey Scheopner Torres

Higher Education
St. Anselm College

Aubrey is an Associate Professor in the Education Department at Saint Anselm College. Her research interests include competency-based education, teacher retention, teacher preparation, and Catholic education with methodological areas of expertise in qualitative research design as well as mixed methods, including development, use, and analysis of interview, observation, and survey protocols.

Andrew Miller

Human Development and Learning
Boston College

Andrew’s research and teaching focus on the ways Catholic schools and Catholic school leaders, inspired by Catholic social teaching, provide a transformative and socially just education for the students who attend America's Catholic schools. As a faculty member in the Educational Leadership and Higher Education department, Miller teaches graduate electives in the M.Ed. program focused on ethics and equity frameworks and transforming the field of Catholic education.

Sebastian Moncaleano

Measurement, Assessment, Evaluation, & Research Methods
Boston College

Dr. Moncaleano is a recent doctoral graduate from the Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics and Assessment program at Boston College. He has joined the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center as a Senior Research Specialist for Digital Assessment Development to continue his research in technology-enhanced items and their value in large-scale assessments. Other of Sebastian’s research interests include historical analyses of the evolution of the field of educational measurement and the use of process data to understand student behavior in digital assessment platforms.

Danette Day

Professional Development

​Fitchburg State University

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Danette V. Day is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Fitchburg State University in Fitchburg, MA where she teaches courses in cultural competency, diversity pedagogy, educational psychology, and curriculum development.  Her research centers on community engagement, sense of belonging and mindfulness in teaching, learning and leadership. An educator and scholar with a 30-year career in public, private, charter and innovation school education, Dr. Day earned a Doctorate of Education in Teacher Education and School Improvement from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA in 2014.

Kathryn Welby

Technology in Education
Merrimack College

Kathryn Welby is an Assistant Professor of Practice and Director of K-12 Teacher Preparation Programs in the Winston School of Education and Social Policy at Merrimack College. Her research, publications, and course development are grounded in her 15+ years of experience as an educator working in urban schools. Dr. Welby has been nationally recognized for her work on topics such as remote special education during the pandemic and the impact of the opioid epidemic on schools, families, and children. She is a frequent presenter at research and practitioner conferences locally and nationally. Her most recent publication is the book, Remote Learning Strategies for Students with IEPs, published by Routledge in 2021.

Deb Patterson

Teaching and Teacher Education
Western New England University

Teacher and Teacher Education
Western New England University
Deb Patterson is Chair of the Education Department at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the licensure officer for WNE.  In addition to the NEERO board, Deb also serves on the Massachusetts Colleges of Teacher Education (MACTE) board.

Leila Rosa

Diversity and Sociocultural Issues
Rhode Island College

Leila Rosa is currently the interim Director of the TESOL program and an assistant professor with the Department of Educational Studies at Rhode Island College. Her research centers on immigration trauma and its impact on the educational placement and identification of students who are English language learners in urban settings. She takes a special interest in the climate of deportation and the implications on children and youth that live in a mixed-status home. She has taught courses in the Department of Educational Leadership with the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and the Department of Special Education at the University of South Florida.

Olcay Yavuz

Leadership, Policy, and Education Reform
Southern Connecticut State University

Olcay Yavuz is, Internship Coordinator and an Associate Professor in the Southern  Connecticut State University Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department where he teaches courses in School Law, School Finance, Doctoral Inquiry Seminar, Leadership Perspectives, Program and Personnel Evaluation, Quantitative Methods in Educational Leadership, Organizational Development, Advanced Research Methods, Learning Theories, Leadership Development, School Leader Field-Based Internship as well as Dissertation Advisement and Defense.

Patty Mason

Curriculum and Instruction

South Shore Educational Collaborative

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Patricia Mason is the Director of Student Services at the South Shore Educational Collaborative. She has over 30 years of experience in the field of education serving infants, children, and adults with diverse needs in public, private and residential settings. Dr. Mason is an assistant teaching professor at Northeastern University, an adjunct assistant professor at Bridgewater State University and adjunct faculty at Stonehill College, Lesley University, and Boston College. Research interests include the use of augmentative and alternative communication, use of assistive technologies and literacy for students with more complex access needs

Kelly Clark/Keefe

Higher Education
University of Vermont

Kelly Clark/Keefe is an Associate Professor at the University of Vermont. Her primary appointment is in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program, where she teaches graduate courses in qualitative research and social foundations of education. Kelly’s research brings theories of affect and educational subjectivity to bear on a range of topics including: the role of bodies, place, and movement in shaping educational identity; stratified versions of schooling; and conceptual analyses of educational leadership

Beth Fornauf

Human Development and Learning
Plymouth State University

Beth Fornauf an Assistant Professor of special education at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH. Her teaching and research are focused on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Disability and Critical Race Studies (DisCrit), and inclusive education. While at UNH, she worked for a teacher residency program focused on recruiting and preparing teachers for rural New Hampshire schools. Beth has also worked as a project manager for the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), supporting a UDL professional learning network for New Hampshire educators. Prior to my work in higher education, Beth was an elementary and special education teacher.

Ana Roman Sanchez

Measure, Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Methods

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University of Hartford

Bio is coming soon!

Open Position

Professional Development

Email Neero.conference@gmail.com

Therese Ajtum-Roberts

Technology in Education
Framingham State University

Therese Ajtum-Roberts is the Coordinator of the Chis Walsh Center for Educators and Families of MetroWest at Framingham State University. She has devoted most of her career to creating inclusive, equitable, and engaging learning environments. For nearly twenty years, she has supported instructors' use of technology, backwards design, and UDL principles to create a responsive, equitable, and inclusive curriculum for all learners. Therese’s research interests focus on faculty and in-service teachers' professional development, teaching with technology, and how teachers create responsive, equitable, and inclusive learning environments.

Jennifer Sinal Swingler

Leadership, Policy, and Education Reform
Fairfield Public  School

Jennifer Sinal Swingler is the Program Director for Secondary Literacy and Learning for Fairfield Public Schools in Fairfield, Connecticut. Jenn is an adjunct professor in the Educational Leadership program at the University of Bridgeport where she teaches in the sixth-year program, the doctoral program, and chairs doctoral committee work. Jenn adjuncts at Southern Connecticut State University in the Reading Department where she teaches courses focused on literacy leadership. In addition to serving on the NEERO board, Jenn is also the president of the Connecticut Council of Teachers of English. Research interests include action research design, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and curriculum theory and design principles.