The Center - Resources for Teaching and Learning

President

Ronald Perlman

Dr. Ronald Perlman (rperlman@cntrmail.org) is president of The Center: Resources for Teaching and Learning. He is among the best known educational leaders in Illinois. Dr. Perlman is a longtime champion of high-quality educational services for all children, with emphasis on students who, because of linguistic, cultural or economic factors, are at-risk of academic failure.

Under Dr. Perlman’s leadership, The Center has played an important role in formulation of state educational policies for teaching and learning in early childhood, elementary and secondary education, with an additional focus on adult learning and such populations as immigrants and refugees. The Center also championed the use of emerging technologies to efficiently gather and analyze immediately useful assessment data. It pioneered the use of tablet computers and other mobile devices, together with on-line databases, to inform ongoing teaching techniques and lesson plans.

Dr. Perlman has been active, in addition, in public service. He is a member of the Illinois DREAM Fund Commission, which raises scholarship money and administers aspects of the 2011 Illinois DREAM Act to help provide college educations for undocumented children. He has been a frequent adviser to the Illinois General Assembly on legislation pertaining to language-minority populations.

Dr. Perlman is a former chair of the Illinois Advisory Council on Bilingual Education, and was a member of the advisory committee for the National Association for Bilingual Education. He was a fund-raising and content adviser to the Holocaust Foundation of Illinois, and is a former board member of the Jewish Community Center of Skokie, Illinois. He also served as a member of the Skokie District 73.5 school board for eight years. Dr. Perlman also helped create the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Chicago education grant program, which has provided more than $2 million in funding for Illinois public schools for multicultural education.

Dr. Perlman holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in psychology from Northwestern University.

Chief Financial Officer

Lisa Groff

Lisa Groff (lgroff@cntrmail.org) joined The Center staff in September 2012.  She brings more than 30 years of experience in financial management, including more than 20 years in the non-profit sector at Lakefront Supportive Housing and Logan Square Neighborhood Association.  Groff develops and implements the annual and long-term plans of The Center.  As a member of the senior leadership team, she acts as an advisor to the department directors, evaluating and assisting them with their financial plans and budgets.  She is also responsible for overseeing all fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities for the organization, in conjunction with the president, the board of directors and its finance committee.

Librarian

Kim Scannell

Kim Scannell (kscannell@cntrmail.org) has been the librarian for The Center Library since 2001. She has planned and implemented technology solutions at The Center, including the Moodle course management system and the Evergreen integrated library system. She also manages The Center’s websites and the web interface to the online registration system. She holds a master’s degree in library and information science from Dominican University. Before joining The Center, Scannell worked in academic and specialized education libraries, including the Minnesota Department of Education library and Metropolitan State University library, both in St. Paul, Minnesota.

ALRC, Director

Sue Barauski

Sue Barauski (s.barauski@cntrmail.org) has worked in ESOL, refugee and immigrant services, and adult education for more than 30 years, including more than 25 years as administrator of a state-wide professional development agency, the Adult Learning Resource Center.  She has managed many local, state and national professional development and product development grant projects. She has coordinated numerous projects that involved collaborative partnering, including content areas of refugee resettlement, adult and family education, ESOL and English Literacy/Civic Education, homeless children and youth school awareness, and health literacy.  Products on these topics have included facilitation and management of state and national conferences; national problem solving consultations; videos and materials; curriculum development; trainer training, and online courses.   She holds a M.S. degree in education along with a J.D. degree from Loyola University.

ECPL, Director

Cindy Berrey

Cindy Berrey (cberrey@cntrmail.org)
Cindy has been the Program Director for Early Childhood Professional Learning (ECPL) for the past 7 years. She has over 30 years experience in professional learning and organization development and over 15 years experience in early childhood education. Her previous work in Early Childhood involved the development and coordination of training offered by STAR NET for educators working with children with disabilities. She also worked in an Early Childhood Block Grant program where she facilitated family engagement efforts, provided parent education, and supported teachers with strategies and resources for young children’s social-emotional development. In her previous career, she managed professional learning and organization development initiatives on leadership and quality for a Fortune 100 company. To ensure the ECPL program addresses current trends and issues in early childhood education she participates in many state early childhood committees and collaborates with other early childhood professional learning providers. She is currently the President of the Board of Directors for the IL Chapter of Learning Forward. She has presented at national and state conferences on early childhood education and care.

Illinois Resource Center, Director

Josie Yanguas

Josie Yanguas (jyanguas@yahoo.com) is the current chairperson of the Illinois Advisory Council for Bilingual Education as well as an executive board member of the Illinois Early Learning Council. She has also served since 1990 on the executive board of the Illinois Association for Multilingual Multicultural Education (IAMME). Prior to her appointment as director of the IRC, in 2006, she worked at the IRC coordinating various federally funded Title III projects as well as organizing the annual state bilingual conference. Josie’s areas of interest and focus are policies and programs related to bilingual education, foundations of bilingual education, and dual-language programming.

Yanguas holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard University/Radcliffe College, and a master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

STARNET Region II, Director

Kathy Slattery

Kathy Slattery (kslattery@cntrmail.org) provides training and technical assistance on topics related to early childhood curriculum and assessment, inclusion, adapting to meet the needs of all children, early literacy, IEP development and specific disabilities. She has been involved in the fields of special education, early childhood special education and early intervention for more than 25 years, teaching and supporting children with physical and multiple disabilities, providing services in early intervention, early childhood and elementary settings in both public and private environments. Slattery has presented at the local, state and national level on topics related to supporting young children with disabilities and their families.

Slattery earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Illinois University and has additional graduate studies in education administration and early childhood special education from Northern Illinois University, National Louis University, and Kent State University.

ECDEC, Director

Kristen Ford

Kristen Ford (kford@cntrmail.org) is the Project Director for the ECDEC Preschool for All and FIND Prevention Initiative programs in northwest Cook County at The Center: Resources for Teaching and Learning. She was a prekindergarten teacher for many years in school buildings and child care centers. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education, has her Early Childhood Teaching and Special Education Certifications and her ESL Endorsement. Kristen has earned a Level 5 Early Childhood Credential and her Level II Illinois Director Credential. She is a Creative Curriculum, I-TEACHe, and MyELS Online (the online assessment system for the Early Learning Scale) Train the Trainer.  She assisted ECDEC in achieving the Gold Circle of Quality and the Award of Excellence in Inclusion.