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Tracy Gray, Ph.D., Project Director

tgray@air.org

Tracy Gray is the director of the National Center for Technology Innovation and a managing  research scientist at AIR. Dr. Gray is a nationally recognized expert in education and technology and has led numerous projects in the United States and internationally, examining the impact of technology on educational achievement. In addition, she has published and lectured widely on issues related to the integration of emerging technologies into the classroom and after-school programs. She recently published The Gateway to Student Success in Mathematics and Science for Microsoft and Teacher Learning Online: Improving the Teaching of Mathematics Through Better Professional Development for the U.S. Department of Education.

Before working at AIR, Tracy was vice president for youth services at the Morino Institute and was responsible for the design and implementation of the Youth Development Collaborative (YDC) pilot. That effort sought to understand the complexities of integrating technology into schools and community-based organizations. Under Gray's leadership, the lessons learned from the YDC led to the development of the YouthLearn Guide: A Creative Approach to Working With Youth and Technology and the YouthLearn Web site. Those award-winning tools serve as resources for teachers and staff interested in using technology to enhance educational programs for children.

Tracy also served as the first deputy executive director and chief operating officer for the Corporation for National Service (CNS). As part of the leadership team, she helped launch AmeriCorps, which enabled more than 50,000 members working in more than 1,000 programs to serve communities throughout the United States.

Tracy holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in education and psychology from Stanford University and received an A.B. in psychology from the University of California, Riverside. She holds a California secondary teaching credential and is bilingual in English and Spanish.

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Heidi Silver-Pacuilla, Ph.D, Deputy Project Director

hsilver-pacuilla@air.org

Heidi Silver-Pacuilla, Ph.D., senior research analyst, is a deputy director on the National Center for Technology Innovation (www.nationaltechcenter.org) as well as a task leader for Implementation Support on the Center for Implementing Technology in Education (www.citeducation.org), both OSEP-funded projects. She is also a project director on a Technical Assistance project to investigate online learning for adult literacy students, funded by the National Institute for Literacy. Her research and technical assistance work has focused on applying best practice research from the special education literature to digital environments for students of all ages with disabilities. She has delivered many presentations and published several articles and chapters on teaching youth and adults with disabilities, particularly those who struggle with literacy. At AIR, she has also been involved in developing and teaching a distance learning course on accommodating adults with disabilities for adult educators for CalPro (www.calpro-online.org) and developing an online warehouse of adult education standards (www.adltedcontentstandards.org). Prior to working at AIR, she was the recipient of a Mary Switzer Fellowship from the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research to study the introduction of assistive technology into adult education programming for adults with learning disabilities. She is also the recipient of the AERA Early Scholar Award from the Adult Literacy and Adult Education SIG, 2005.

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Tarek Anandan

tanandan@air.org

Tarek Anandan is a senior project specialist for AIR. Tarek's work for NCTI focuses on communications and Internet marketing. In addition to NCTI, he isthe deputy director for the National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent or At Risk (NDTAC) and a team member of the National Center for Implementing Technology in Education project.He also worked with the U.S.Department of Education onthe development of the National Education Technology Plan andserved as the project director for the Evaluation of the School Technology Leadership Initiative.Hehas experience in the design and development of websites, databases, data reporting systems, software, and other electronic media for clients such as the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Wadsworth Publishing. Tarek received his master's degreein public policy from the University of Michigan.

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David Hollender

dhollender@air.org

David Hollender, Senior Systems Analyst at AIR specializes in using technology to improve communications, information dissemination and data collection. Since joining AIR in 1992, he has helped address these needs for numerous organizations including the US Department of Education’s Information Resource Center, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Office of Adult and Vocational Education, Office of Research, as well as the States of Alabama and Massachusetts. In his current role, he helps clients develop communication strategies with an emphasis on technology use; evaluates existing approaches to technology-based communications & usability; analyzes communication & information dissemination needs; develops communication-related technology tools; and supports non-technical decision-makers in acquiring needed technology. 

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Cynthia Overton

coverton@air.org

Cynthia Overton, Ph.D is a research analyst at AIR. She serves as a technical assistance and training specialist for the National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI). In this role, she develops content information to disseminate to stakeholders and gives presentations on behalf of NCTI at national conferences. In addition to her work with NCTI, Cynthia serves as the project manager for a number of projects, including the external evaluation of Smaller Learning Communities Grant for District of Columbia Public Schools, the external evaluation of the Summer Bridge program for District of Columbia Public Schools, and the external evaluation of the Arena Stage theater education program. She also serves as interim qualitative task leader for the Ohio High School Transformation Initiative evaluation.

Prior to joining AIR, Cynthia taught an educational technology course for pre-service teachers. Cynthia received a B.A. degree from Hampton University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in education, with an emphasis on educational technology, from the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, Cynthia was the recipient of a Rackham Education Scholar’s Award and two Spencer Research Training Grants. Her research examined how students with visual impairments use technology to engage with their learning environments. Cynthia also holds teaching credentials in elementary education and has received Assistive Technology Applications training through California State University Northridge Center on Disabilities.

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Marie Szczurowski

mszczurowski@air.org

Marie Szczurowski is a Research Associate at AIR. She provides support to various marketing as well as Web site activities, and she is task leader for the coordination of the Annual NCTI Advisory Board Meeting. Marie also works for the What Works Clearinghouse on the Early Childhood Education (ECE) team. Her responsibilities include tracking submissions and coordinating literature searches of journals, dissertations, reports, and Web sites. Marie graduated from Wake Forest University in 2003 with a B.A. in political science and a minor in sociology.

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