Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center

Kaneal Alexander
Kaneal G. Alexander is the Director of Teacher Evaluation for the Tennessee State Department of Education. Her responsibilities include training new administrators and peer evaluators in the teacher evaluation process, addressing compliance issues, and working collaboratively with the State Board of Education and school districts to revise and implement state policies that help ensure effective teachers and teacher evaluators for the state. She has over 27 years of experience in the education field which includes teaching on the elementary and college level, working as a college administrator, and serving as a state consultant for the School to Career movement in Tennessee. Ms. Alexander received her education degrees from The University of Tennessee at Martin and is currently a doctoral student at Tennessee State University. However, she reports that her most informative educational experience came from her years of raising two inquisitive children who are now 19 and 22.

Andrew Croft
Andrew Croft is a research assistant at Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey, and a TQ Center staff member. Andrew earned a B.A. in industrial/organizational psychology and English from the College of New Jersey and is currently pursuing an M.A. in higher education at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work focuses on projects related to measuring teacher effectiveness, teacher evaluation, and professional development. He is also involved in classroom observation studies using various measures including University of Virginia's K–3 CLASS protocol. His research interests include teacher preparation, distance/e-learning systems, and higher education teaching and learning.

Laura Goe
Laura Goe, Ph.D., is a research scientist at Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey, and principal investigator for research and dissemination for the TQ Center. Previously, she was the research director for the Bay Area Consortium for Urban Education at the University of California-Berkeley, working with universities, community colleges, and school districts to improve teacher quality and supply in urban schools. Prior to her work at Berkeley, Dr. Goe taught at-risk middle school students (special education in Mississippi and language arts in Memphis). In addition, she served as co-editor of the AERA journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Her research interests include teacher qualifications, measuring teacher quality, teacher effectiveness, teacher compensation, and the equitable distribution of teachers, as well as school finance and school and district resource use. She earned her master's degree in educational policy and leadership from the University of Memphis and her Ph.D. through the Policy, Organization, Measurement, and Evaluation program at the University of California-Berkeley.

Sabrina Laine
Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., is Chief Program Officer for Educator Quality at Learning Point Associates. She is the director of the TQ Center and a principal investigator for the Center for Educator Compensation Reform. Dr. Laine has a diverse background in educational policy research and has spearheaded efforts to contribute to policy research and resource development related to every aspect of managing and supporting educator talent, including recruitment, compensation, evaluation, distribution, and professional development. She is skilled in working closely and effectively with local, state, regional, and federal education agencies and leads a team of more than 15 researchers and policy analysts who are focused on the challenges faced by educators in urban, rural, and low-performing schools. She has worked for the last several years to ensure that policies and programs are in place that enable all students to have access to highly qualified teachers and leaders. Dr. Laine earned her master's degree in European law and economics from the University of Amsterdam and her doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Indiana University.

Andrew Vaughan
Since 2006, Andrew Vaughan has served as Certification, Leadership and Preparation Division Director for the Louisiana State Department of Education. As Division Director, Andrew has worked collaboratively with the Louisiana Board of Regents, universities, and school districts to revise, develop, and implement state policies aimed at improving the quality of teacher and leader preparation programs and ensuring the equitable distribution of effective teachers and leaders statewide. Prior to this position, Andrew served as coordinator for the Teach Louisiana website, the Louisiana Department of Education's online clearinghouse for educators providing recruitment, certification, teacher preparation, and professional development resources to improve teacher quality throughout the state. The Division of Certification, Leadership and Preparation’s efforts to provide effective support to Louisiana educators, measure progress, and maintain good communication between the Department of Education, preparation programs, and school districts have been top priorities and crucial to the Department’s vision of creating a world-class education system for all students in Louisiana.

Maureen Yoder
Maureen Yoder is the Assistant Director of Education Quality at the Ohio Department of Education. Ms. Yoder also is the Program Manager for the Ohio Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), a $20.5 million grant awarded to Ohio in 2006. In that capacity, she manages the TIF programs in the state’s four largest urban districts. She assisted in the development of the Ohio Principal Evaluation System in 2007, developed training modules for the system, and facilitated the rollout statewide this year. Most recently, she is leading the development of the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System which will be piloted next fall. Previously, Ms. Yoder taught middle level science and also served as a middle school principal, and for the last 13 years of her career served as principal of a suburban high school. She has been recognized for her teaching and also for her work as an administrator. She was one of the original members of the Ohio Educator Standards Board and served as Chair. She received a master’s degree in education administration from Wright State University in Ohio.