Advisory Board Biographies

Marti Dryk, Ph.D., Reading & Language Arts
Marti Dryk has extensive training and experience in the areas of reading and language arts, teacher training, curriculum development, and program management. As a curriculum coordinator for over six years, she has managed several district-wide educational programs for special populations, including Chapter 1, Learning Disabled, Gifted and Talented, and ESL. Dr. Dryk manages her own consulting company, Dryk and Associates, which presents workshops to parents and educators on subjects ranging from teaching reading ("Yes, Viola Swamp, You Can Teach Phonics and Whole Language at the Same Time") to special populations ("Writing with the Dyslexic Student" and "Differentiating Instruction for the Gifted Learner"). Dr. Dryk has also published her first children's book, called The Fraction Family Heads West.

Francisco J. Perea, Ph.D., Philosophy
A native Spanish speaker, Francisco J. Perea received his Ph.D. in "Filosofía y Letras" in Rome and is fluent in English, French, Latin, and Italian. He has worked as a freelance translator and interpreter for more than 40 years and translated more than 75 books from these languages. Currently, Dr. Perea serves as a translator and language consultant for the Independent School District (AISD). His 12 years of combined experience as a teacher, high school principal, and junior college director were spent in both the United States and Mexico. He has also developed curricula for the elementary, middle, and high school levels, including a bilingual philosophy course for high school students. Dr. Perea served as a founding member of the Dual Language Task Force for grades K-12 in the Austin Independent School District (AISD). In addition to being an international lecturer and consultant on personnel development, he has written 16 books (three on human development) and more than 100 articles.

Francis (Skip) Fennell, Ph.D., Mathematics Education
Francis (Skip) Fennell is professor and chair of the education department at Western Maryland College, and a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Dr. Fennell has received Western Maryland College's award for distinguished teaching, is the 1997 recipient of the Carnegie Foundation's Professor of the Year for the state of Maryland, and was honored by Pennsylvania State University as an alumni fellow. His more than three decades of educational experience include positions as an elementary classroom teacher, elementary principal, and supervisor of instruction. He has been a co-author and senior editorial advisor of K-8 mathematics textbooks for more than 15 years, and his articles have appeared in a variety of professional journals dedicated to mathematics education.

M. Elliot Richmond, Ph.D. Candidate, Science Education; M.S., Physics
Elliot Richmond has over 25 years of experience in public schools teaching math and science from the middle school to the community college level. At his most recent position, he served as a senior project manager at Publishers Resource Group, Inc. where he oversaw the development of science and mathematics instructional materials. Previously, Mr. Richmond was Project Leader at Texas Learning Group where he participated in and managed several large multimedia math and science projects, including videodiscs to accompany Science Interactions, Merrill Life Science, Merrill Earth Science, and Merrill Physical Science, all published by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. Mr. Richmond currently develops science-related instructional materials for a number of clients and also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Austin Community College teaching astronomy and physics.

Steven J. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., Educational Psychology-Quantitative Methods
Steven J. Fitzpatrick brings exceptional expertise in the areas of testing, measurement, and psychometric research to our advisory board. During his lengthy tenure at the University of Texas at Austin, he has written numerous articles and technical reports, and has presented papers at professional conferences on adaptive testing, attitude and academic surveys, test construction, item analysis, and other current assessment topics.

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Ester Smith, Ph.D., Research Methodology; MBA; M.A., Political Science
Ester Gottlieb Smith brings over 25 years of experience in design and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation studies. She has worked in tandem with PRG to complete qualitative and quantitative evaluation studies for the Texas Education Agency, educational publishers, and other state education agencies. Over the course of her career, she has served as a project director, consultant, expert witness in research methodology, professor, and researcher for public and private entities. Since 1991, Dr. Smith has managed her own consulting firm, EGS Research and Consulting, which provides a range of statistical and qualitative research and analysis services, litigation support in the area of survey research, and strategic management consulting on U.S. and European markets. Dr. Smith was awarded a Masters of Business Administration from Boston University in 1984. She also holds a doctorate in Mass Communications Research from the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL, in addition to a Master of Arts in Political Science from the same university. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Literature at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Karen Chitwood, Ph.D., Psychology; M.A., Counseling & Student Development
Karen Chitwood has over 25 years of experience in the assessment and counseling of adults, children, and adolescents. She often fields questions from consultants about developmental issues. Dr. Chitwood's background in education and child psychology rounds out our subject-area repertoire.

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