DALLAS, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Senior Vice President of Special
Education for Voyager Expanded Learning, Dr. Robert Pasternack was recently
presented with the 2008 Evidence of National Leadership Award from the
Minnesota Consortium for Evidence in Education (MCEE), an organization
dedicated to the promotion of a science-based approach to teaching.
"Dr. Pasternack was given this prestigious award because of his
national leadership during the past few years. First, for his work of
demonstrating to Congress the need to have the Response to Intervention
(RtI) model legitimized as a part of IDEA and second, for his ongoing work
to develop sound research-based interventions that can be used in the RtI
model," said Robert Wedl, co-founder and chairman of the Minnesota
Consortium for Evidence in Education. "Because of the inclusion of the RtI
model in law, states around the country are now moving toward
scientifically based 'whole school prevention models' and away from 'wait
until children fail remediation models.'"
Before joining Voyager in July 2006, Dr. Pasternack was appointed by
the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate and served as the Assistant
Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
from 2001-2004.
Dr. Pasternack served on a number of Presidential Commissions during
his tenure at the U.S. Department of Education, including the President's
Commission on Excellence in Special Education and the President's New
Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Dr. Pasternack also worked with NICHD
and other federal agencies to fund research on scientifically based reading
interventions designed to prevent inappropriate referrals to special
education and to improve results for students with disabilities receiving
special education throughout the United States.
For more than 30 years, Dr. Pasternack has worked with students with
disabilities and their families. A former classroom teacher, school
psychologist, superintendent and State Director of Special Education, Dr.
Pasternack has held a number of leadership positions in education where he
has always focused on improving student outcomes and results.
Dr. Pasternack has been instrumental in the reauthorization of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and has been
a leading proponent of changing the identification practices for students
with specific learning disabilities from the current "wait to fail" model
characterized by documenting a discrepancy between IQ and achievement, to
the Response to Intervention (RtI) model that focuses on providing
multi-tiered instructional interventions for students who fail to respond
adequately to instruction delivered in the general education setting.
His advocacy for the RtI model included testimony before the U.S. House
and Senate; work on the President's Commission on Excellence in Special
Education; and frequent speaking at state, regional, national and
international meetings. Dr. Pasternack's work on RtI, combined with the
work of other experts in education, special education and literacy, has led
to the historic reforms embedded in the current reauthorization of IDEA,
including the focus on instruction and results, and considering students
with disabilities as general education students first.
In his current role at Voyager, Dr. Pasternack collaborates with
education leaders across the country and provides guidance to Voyager's
curriculum development, marketing, implementation and sales teams, ensuring
Voyager continues in its mission to help all students achieve success,
including those with disabilities.
"I was humbled and honored to receive this award from this esteemed
group of educators," said Dr. Pasternack. "Response to Intervention is
clearly gaining momentum across the country, and these educators played a
role in helping me understand the research base and scalable strategies for
implementing RtI in schools across America."
About the Minnesota Consortium for Evidence in Education
The Minnesota Consortium for Evidence in Education was organized in
1999 to promote a science-based approach to teaching. MCEE consists of a
broad-based group of educators and citizens whose mission is to influence
education in Minnesota to use scientific research to choose educational
practices and make data-based decisions using frequently collected student
performance data to determine the efficacy of instructional strategies and
materials. Chris McHugh and Robert J. Wedl are co-chairs of the
organization. Mr. McHugh is the retired Executive Director of the St. Croix
River Education District in Minnesota and Mr. Wedl is a Senior Associate
with Education Evolving and a former Minnesota Commissioner of Education.
Voyager Expanded Learning
Voyager Expanded Learning provides core, intervention and supplemental
reading programs, as well as math intervention and ongoing professional
development programs, for school districts throughout the United States.
Founded in 1994, Voyager has delivered extended-time reading and basic
skills intervention programs, as well as large-scale reading and math
programs, to more than 1000 school districts in cities such as Buffalo,
Miami, New York City, Richmond, Va., El Paso and Los Angeles, resulting in
dramatically improved student performance. Voyager Expanded Learning, Inc.
is a business unit of Voyager Learning Company (OTC: VLCY.PK) and based in
Dallas, Texas. For more information, please visit http://www.voyagerlearning.com
or call 1-888-399-1995.
SOURCE Voyager Learning Company
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CONTACT:
Shannan Overbeck of Voyager Learning Company,
+1-888-399-1995 ext. 9476, soverbeck@voyagerlearning.com
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