Meet Our Experts
Mike is a technical assistance and alternate assessment specialist and product developer with ILSSA. He also serves as a technical assistance specialist with the National Alternate Assessment Center (NAAC). Mike began his 25 year teaching career at a school for students with moderate and severe disabilities and eventually initiated and facilitated inclusionary programs as a teacher in several public schools. He was awarded the Stella A. Edwards Teacher of the Year award in 1996 and was an Ashland Oil Teacher Achievement Award recipient in 1997. He has been an adjunct professor of special education at the University of Cincinnati and the College of Mt. St. Joseph. In his work for ILSSA and NAAC, he has assisted twelve states, territories, and freely associated states with their alternate assessment, curriculum and teaching practice. Mike presents frequently at conferences conducted by CCSSO, CEC, NCEO, TASH, numerous statewide education agencies, and various OSEP funded Regional Resource Centers, serves on expert panels for several states, and has played key roles on a number of enhanced assessment grants. Mike has been a contributing author to Alternate Assessment: Measuring Outcomes and Supports for Students with Disabilities (Kleinert & Kearns, 2001), Mental Retardation and intellectual Disabilities: Teaching Students Using Innovative and Research-based Strategies (Wehmeyer & M. Agran, 2005), Teaching Language Arts, Math, & Science to Students with Significant Disabilities (Browder and Spooner, 2006), as well as numerous journal and periodical publications.
Jean is a technical assistance and alternate assessment specialist and product developer with ILSSA. She taught for 22 years, 20 years of those years teaching students with significant cognitive disabilities. While teaching she developed a state-wide training module on building peer relationships & supports with middle schoolers, served on the state advisory board for Alternate Assessment and as a technology resource teacher. At ILSSA she has developed training modules on accessing the general curriculum, self determination, data collection, and inclusion. She has presented nationally and internationally on topics of accessing the general curriculum, alternate assessment, and inclusion. Jean has served on advisory boards for state alternate assessments and provided consultation and technical assistance for multiple states, territories, and freely associated states on alternate assessment and accessing the general curriculum. She has contributed to current literature as an invited contributor to Alternate Assessment: Measuring outcomes and Supports for Students with Disabilities (Kleinert & Kearns, 2001) and Teaching Language Arts, Math, & Science to Students with Significant Disabilities (Browder & Spooner, 2006) and other articles including A Four-Step Process for Accessing the General Curriculum for Students With Significant Cognitive Disabilities.
Anne is a technical assistance and alternate assessment specialist and product developer with ILSSA. Anne’s background in assistive technology facilitated successful inclusionary programs serving students with a variety of learning needs at the classroom level. She implemented a statewide inclusion initiative for students with significant disabilities, and presently implements digitally based professional development for educators, focused on improving access to the general curriculum for this population. She has contributed to current literature as an invited contributor to Alternate Assessment: Measuring outcomes and Supports for Students with Disabilities (Kleinert & Kearns, 2001) and Teaching Language Arts, Math, & Science to Students with Significant Disabilities (Browder & Spooner, 2006), and other publications. On a national level Anne has presented on access to the general curriculum, served on the advisory board for the National Assistive Technology Research Institute (NATRI), and worked with states to develop alternate assessments. She also serves on a state expert panel implementing Universal Design for Learning.
Karen is an alternate assessment specialist, scoring center director and product developer with ILSSA. She completed a certification program in Special Education at the University of Kentucky in 2008. Karen obtained a B.A. in International Studies from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Karen is the parent of four children, two of whom receive special education services. She began working with ILSSA in August ‘06 as a Research Assistant and joined the staff in May ‘08 as a Disability Program Specialist. She currently works developing Attainment Tasks and training materials. Prior to her employment with ILSSA, Karen had extensive administrative experience, which included five years in a Kentucky preschool.
Jacqui is a researcher with alternate assessment expertise with ILSSA. She is the Director of the National Alternate Assessment Center and several General Enhanced Assessment Grants researching the validity of alternate and modified assessment systems. She, along with colleagues, designed the first alternate assessment to be used in a state-wide school accountability system. Dr. Kearns has conducted several Directed Research Projects. She has served as the Project Investigator for another federally funded Directed Research Project describing the inclusion of students who are deaf-blind in large-scale assessments and research coordinator for a third Directed Research Project examining the impact of the Kentucky Alternate Assessment. Dr. Kearns has provided or supervised technical assistance in the design and administration of alternate assessments to over 15 states and other entities. Dr. Kearns has co-authored many journal articles and other literature on alternate assessments including the first book on alternate assessment, Alternate Assessments: Measuring Outcomes and Supports for Students with Disabilities. She publishes research in the area of alternate assessment, curriculum and instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities and validity evaluation.
Sarah is a technical assistance and alternate assessment specialist and product developer with ILSSA. She was a teacher of students with significant cognitive disabilities for 14 years and was nominated for the Stella A. Edwards Teacher of the Year award in 1989 and 1991. Sarah assisted in the design of the country’s first alternate assessment and has co-authored several journal articles in the area of alternate assessment development and impact. She has led curriculum alignment, alternate assessment development, scoring and professional development. Additionally, she has worked with state and federal grants where she assisted stakeholders to revise a state’s Alternate Assessment. She has presented nationally on topics about alternate assessment training, development, and issues. Sarah assisted in the development of the standards based instructional guide Standards in Action: Classroom Practice for Students with Cognitive Disabilities, which provides grade level adapted general educational activities that teach to the key concepts of the National Reading Standards.
Lou-Ann is a technical assistance and alternate assessment specialist and product developer with ILSSA. Her overall responsibilities include development, planning, and execution of state and other agency alternate assessment programs, as well preparing and conducting teacher training on instruction and assessment linked to grade-level standards. She has worked with states on facilitating alignment studies and has experience using data from alignment studies to re-evaluate standards’ extensions and to make refinements to those extensions by working with content and special education specialists. She has presented nationally on topics about assessment, instruction, inclusion, and math. Lou-Ann was a teacher for 19 years. She was awarded the Stella A. Edwards Special Education Teacher of the Year Award in 1991. She was a co-author of a chapter on addressing functional math within the math standards in Teaching Language Arts, Math, & Science to Students with Significant Disabilities (Browder & Spooner, 2006).
Preston is an assessment developer, grant writer and researcher with ILSSA. Mr. Lewis has special interest in design and delivery of accessible digital curriculum and assessment. He currently is a Co-Director for Project SMART (Supported Math Accessibility Reading Tool), which is looking at impact of providing student’s electronic access to complex math equations and expressions by formatting in MathML. He is also coordinator of the KY Investigation on an Enhanced Assessment Grant looking at comparability of Kentucky’s online accessible state assessment to traditional paper-based testing and works with the National Alternate Assessment Center to identify tools and strategies for incorporating universal principles into design and delivery of alternate assessment systems. Preston served as Manager of Exceptional Children Services in the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), for 19 years. At the KDE he served as the SEA lead on the KY UDL initiative, which has been implemented statewide since 1998. This includes the development and implementation of the KY accessible statewide assessment for students with disabilities, known as “CATS Online.” Mr. Lewis has served a total of 37 years in the field of special education. He recently served as Principal Investigator on a federal Phase 2 Steppingstone project, Project CARE (Curriculum Access through Reading Electronically) and was a liaison for the KDE on another Steppingstones project, Universal Design of Assessment - Applications of Technology. Mr. Lewis has also served as Principal Investigator on a Phase I and Phase 2 Steppingstones project (1998-2002), known as Project STATUS (Student Technology Assessment Through Unique Strategies). Project STATUS examined and validated the use of distance-based technologies for providing “tele-assessments” for students in rural areas in need of AT evaluations. In addition, he has extensive experience in the development and implementation of other state and federal projects including KY Statewide Systems Change Project, KY State Improvement Grant, and the KY Statewide Transition Project. Mr. Lewis also was the SEA lead in the development of the state’s Assistive Technology Guidelines for KY Schools (1997).
Jaci is a technical assistance and alternate assessment developer and product developer with ILSSA. She was an educator for 12 years, eight of which were spent working with students with moderate and severe cognitive disabilities. She has served as a special and general education teacher and district level alternate assessment leader. In 2001, Jaci was received the “Outstanding Teacher Award” from her regional educational cooperative. Jaci has co-authored several journal articles. She has assisted several states in standards and curriculum alignment, alternate assessment development, administration, scoring and professional development. Additionally, she has worked with state and federal grants where she assisted stakeholders to revise a state’s Alternate Assessment; coordinate and disseminate training materials to access content standards, implement systematic instruction, assistive technology, and inclusion services and developed an English/Language Arts Instructionally Embedded Assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Jaci has presented at conferences conducted by TASH, CCSSO, and statewide education agencies.
Debbie is a technical assistance and alternate assessment developer and product developer with ILSSA. Her doctoral research focused on children with autism in the regular education classroom. Dr. Taub develops materials and trains teachers in all aspects of alternate assessments and standards-based instruction. She has provided professional development on using alternate assessment results and other data to inform and facilitate effective instructional practice for special education teachers. Dr. Taub helps schools build standards-based curriculum by working with teachers to understand the standards, develop curriculum documents, and explore how to teach grade-level standards to students who are significantly below grade level. She has taught in an inclusion setting, worked extensively in the areas of school reform and educational research, and provided mentoring to new and veteran teachers. Dr. Taub has also authored publications on autism and using brain-based research in the classroom, among other topics.
Dr. Wickham is the Director of ILSSA, located at the University of Kentucky. As Director, she oversees the direction of ILSSA as well as directing the training and research grants and contracts for developing and implementing alternate assessments product development and professional development. She has been a teacher of adolescents with severe disabilities, Technical Assistance Director Deaf-Blind and Positive Behavior Supports National Centers, and University faculty member in two Special Education Departments. She has assisted several states in standards and curriculum alignment, alternate assessment development, administration, and scoring, and professional development activities for teachers on assessment and best practices in instruction for students with moderate to severe cognitive disabilities. She has published in the areas of Positive Behavior Support, inclusion strategies, and alternate assessment. Dr. Wickham has presented at conferences conducted by TASH, CCSSO, APBS, and numerous statewide education agencies and served as an Executive Board Member for TASH and the KYTASH chapter.
Mariel is a technical assistance and alternate assessment developer and product developer with ILSSA. Prior to coming to ILSSA she was a regional special education coordinator with the ND Department of Public Instruction for three years and the ND state Deaf-Blind coordinator for five years. She has assisted several states in standards and curriculum alignment, alternate assessment development, administration, scoring and professional development. She has worked with state TACs and written Technical Manuals for Alternate Assessments. Mariel has presented at conferences conducted by TASH, CCSSO, and statewide education agencies.
