Our Governing Board advises on research priorities, ensures the high quality of the lab's work and products, and supports high standards of governance and administration.
The Board includes representatives from each of the region's state education agencies as well as local education officials, expert educators, and respected academic researchers.
Click on a board member's name to view their biography.
- Keith Brewer, Ed.D.
Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents - Al Butler, Ed.D.
Virginia Association of School Superintendents - Isis Maria Castro
Virginia State School Board - Harris M. Cooper, Ph.D.
Duke University - Ronald E. Duerring, Ph.D.
Kanawha County Schools - Donald J. Ford, Ed.D.
Harrisonburg City Public Schools - Robert Greene
Tennessee Department of Education - Debbie Hendricks
Kentucky Department of Education
- Michael Hill, Ph.D.
Educational Consultant - Dee Hopkins, Ed.D.
West Virginia University - Deborah Jonas, Ph.D.
Virginia Department of Education - C. Kent McGuire, Ph.D. (Chair)
Temple University - Billie Travis
Kentucky Department of Education - Larry White
West Virginia Department of Education - Wayne Young
Kentucky Association of School Administrators
Keith Brewer is currently the Executive Director for the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents. Dr. Brewer has 34 years of public education experience and has served in a leadership position as a principal, superintendent, executive director for field services, and deputy commissioner of education in Tennessee. He has the distinction of becoming a principal at 25 and was the youngest superintendent in Tennessee at the age of twenty-nine. He served as a superintendent for 19 years in two school districts. Dr. Brewer also has eight years invested in state government in the field of education and has implemented and completed over forty initiatives for Governor Bredesen as deputy commissioner of education for Tennessee while being in charge of the day-to-day operation for the Tennessee Department of Education. Dr. Brewer earned an Ed.D. from Vanderbilt University and serves as an adjunct professor for Vanderbilt, David Lipscomb, and Tennessee Technological Universities.
Al Butler serves as the Executive Director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents and is also a professor at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education. For over 10 years Dr. Butler served as the Superintendent of Schools for Franklin City Schools in Virginia, and eight years prior to that he served as the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Personnel in Suffolk City Schools in Virginia. Dr. Butler has been recognized for his contributions to education and is a recipient of the Outstanding Superintendent Award by the American Association of School Administrators and the Virginia Superintendent of the Year Award by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. He is a member of the American Association of School Administrators, Alliance for Virginia's Children, Virginia Education Coalition, and Urban Superintendents Association of America. Dr. Butler received his Ed.D. and M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. He received his Bachelors of Science degree in Education from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Isis Maria Castro has been a member of the Virginia's State Board of Education since 2004, and is the first Hispanic ever to be selected for such a distinction. Prior to that, she founded and incorporated Progreso Hispano which serves the low-income immigrant community through legal assistance, language, and citizen classes. Prior to 2003, Ms. Castro served on the Fairfax County Public School Board as the Representative for the Mount Vernon School District and acted as the Instruction Committee Chairperson, Vice Chair and Board Chair. Additionally, Ms. Castro taught elementary school math and science to Spanish Immersion students in Fairfax County and has been recognized for her contributions to education, community service, and humanity by the Greater Washington Ibero- American Chamber of Commerce, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was also a recipient of The Fitz Turner Humanitarian Award in 2000. Ms. Castro received her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the City College of New York and Master in Fine Arts in Spanish and Latin American Literature from New York University.
Harris M. Cooper is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Program in Education at Duke University. His research includes research synthesis and the application of social and developmental psychology to educational policy issues, homework, school calendars, and after school programs. Dr. Cooper is a member of numerous committees at the university, including the Graduate Student Awards Committee for the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, the Social Psychology Training Committee and the Social Science Research Institute Advisory Board. He is Chair of the Duke University Committee on Teacher Preparation as well as the Developmental/Education Search Committee. He holds membership in several professional psychology and education associations and was named Editor for the Psychological Bulletin in 2003. Dr. Cooper has contributed to the knowledge surrounding factors that affect student achievement and has published in numerous journals, including Review of Educational Research, Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Psychologist, and Journal of Educational Psychology. Dr. Cooper received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Connecticut and his BA in Psychology and Sociology from SUNY at Stony Brook.
Ronald E. Duerring Ronald E. Duerring has been Superintendent for Kanawha County Schools in West Virginia since 1998. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Superintendent, principal and primary classroom teacher for Kanawha County. Dr. Duerring has been recognized for his contributions to education by College Summit, West Virginia State College, and Marshall University, where he earned his doctorate in educational administration. Dr. Duerring also has been named Superintendent of the Year (2000), Kanawha County Educator of the Year (1999) and Kanawha County PTA Principal of the Year (1996).
Donald J. Ford has been Superintendent for Harrisonburg City Public Schools in Virginia for the last ten years, managing an urban district serving over 4,000 students. Prior to that, Dr. Ford held superintendent positions for Highland County Public Schools (Virginia) and Craig County Public Schools (Virginia). He has experience as a principal in public and private school settings. He is a leader in many educational professional organizations, including the American Association of School Administrators and Virginia Association of School Superintendents, as well as the Harrisonburg/Rockingham Rotary Club, Central Shenandoah Literacy Coordinating Committee and Harrisonburg Education Foundation. Dr. Ford received his EdD. from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
Robert Greene is the Tennessee Deputy Commissioner of Education. Mr. Greene served as superintendent of Meigs County Schools from 1981 to 2007 and earned the honor of Superintendent of the Year in 2006. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for education at the local, regional and state levels. He was a charter member of the Tennessee Association of Administrator of Special Education; chaired the regional superintendent study council for six years; and was active in state superintendent organizations. Greene earned an EdS at Tennessee Technological University, a Master's degree from Union College in Kentucky and his Bachelor's degree at Tennessee Wesleyan College. Prior to becoming a superintendent, Mr. Greene was a school principal in Monroe County, and a teacher and coach in Monroe and Meigs counties beginning in 1972.
Debbie Hendricks is a policy advisor for the Kentucky Department of Education. She sits on the REL Appalachia Governing Board as a representative for Commissioner Terry Holliday. Ms. Hendricks is the Board co-chair and is a member of its executive committee.
Michael Hill is currently an educational consultant based in Wise, Virginia. Dr. Hill was previously the Deputy Executive Director for the National Association of State Boards of Education. As Deputy Director, Dr. Hill provided State Boards of Education technical assistance on issues related to Federal Legislation such as No Child Left Behind; technology and leadership; and Board planning and goal-setting. He presents at multiple venues on education topics including secondary reading practices, Board governance, rural education and academic-athletic inter-relationships.
Dr. Hill also served as senior project director for the National Association of State Boards of Education's Center for Policy Studies in Rural Education. The Center works in rural education areas related to compliance with No Child Left Behind, issues related to Migrant education, and successful practices in secondary literacy and numeracy with special populations.
He is a former clinical and school psychologist from which he was appointed and served as executive director of the largest education service agency in New Hampshire for ten years. During that time, Dr. Hill was twice elected to a local school board and served as Distinguished Faculty for the University System of New Hampshire.
Dr. Hill is responsible for several publications on rural education, school reform and policy, including: Programs and Policies Impacting Rural Education. Chapter in the Condition of Rural Education U. S. Department of Education. (in preparation), Who Will Own Our Children? The Report of the NASBE Commission on the Status of Financial Education (in preparation), Pursuing High School Reading Proficiency: An Arizona Experience (2005) and A Mississippi Experience (2004), No Child Left Behind and Rural Education: Implications for Policy and Practice, No Child Left Behind: A Guide for Rural and Small Districts (2003), and Integrating Rural Schools and Community Development: A Workbook (2000).
He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Iowa State University in 1977.
Dee Hopkins is Dean of the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University as of July 2008. Prior to that Dr. Hopkins was Dean of the College of Education at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi where she established the Center for Educational Development, Evaluation and Research and initiated an innovative transition to teaching program for downsized industry workers. She also held the position of professor of curriculum and instruction. Her higher education experience includes serving as dean of South Dakota State University's College of Education and Counseling from 1997-2000. Prior to that, she served as an associate professor, faculty member and division chair at the University of Wyoming from 1984-97. She also served as a visiting lecturer at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1982 and as an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University from 1976-81. Dr. Hopkins received her B.A. and M.A., as well her Ph.D. in Education/Library Science, from Indiana University.
Deborah Jonas is the Executive Director for Research and Strategic Planning provides support and advice to the superintendent of public instruction, the executive leadership of the department and Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) staff. She conducts, coordinates and oversees scientifically based research and analyses conducted by the department and in cooperation with partner agencies and organizations. In addition, the executive director provides internal consultation services to VDOE staff on issues pertaining to research, analysis and program evaluation and supports the department's strategic and operational process-improvement initiatives.
C. Kent McGuire is Chair of the REL Appalachia Governing Board. He is the Dean of the College of Education at Temple University as well as Director of the Center for Research in Human Development and Education, a university-based research organization focused on the study and demonstration of effective strategies for educating poor and minority youngsters. Dr. McGuire is a tenured Professor in the Educational Administration Program, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Temple University.
Before joining Temple University, Dr. McGuire was senior vice president at the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation where his responsibilities included leadership of the Education, Children and Youth division. From 1998 through 2001, Dr. McGuire served in the Clinton administration as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, where he was the senior officer for the department's Research and Development Agency. As the education program officer for the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts from 1995 to 1998, he managed Pew's K-12 grants portfolio. From 1991 to 1995, Dr. McGuire served as Education Program Director for the Eli Lilly Endowment. Earlier in Dr. McGuire's career, he was an assistant professor in the University of Colorado's School of Education. Prior to this, Dr. McGuire worked for the Education Commission of the States, where he rose from policy analyst to senior policy analyst and director of the School Finance Collaborative.
Dr. McGuire's current research interests focus on the areas of education administration and policy and organizational change. He has been involved in a number of evaluation research initiatives on comprehensive school reform and education finance and school improvement. Dr. McGuire has written and coauthored various policy reports, monographs, book chapters, articles and papers in professional journals.
Dr. McGuire is active in a variety of professional and civic associations and currently serves on the following boards: Moorestown Public School; Institute for Education Leadership; Jobs for America Future; The New Teacher Project; Parents for Public Education; Wachovia Regional Foundation and Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.
Dr. McGuire received his Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1991, his M.A. in education administration and policy from Columbia University Teacher's College in 1979, and his B.A. in economics from the University of Michigan in 1977.
Billie Travis is a Highly Skilled Educator at the Kentucky Department of Education. She was previously the Curriculum Resource Teacher at Royal Spring Middle School (Scott County, Kentucky) where she brought over 25 years of classroom teaching experience. Ms. Travis is a member of the Kentucky and National Councils of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Middle School Association, and is the Vice-President Elect of the Kentucky Middle School Association. She is a teacher advisor, trainer advocate, and consultant for a variety of public and private state and local educational initiatives. Ms. Travis has received many resource grants for Scott County and she was recognized as Kentucky Teacher of the Year in 2005. She received her Masters in Education from Georgetown College (Kentucky) and her BA from Morehead State University.
Larry White is Assistant Director, Psychometrician, and Lead Researcher in the Office of Assessment, Accountability and Research for the West Virginia Department of Education. Mr. White brings 35 years of experience in education and health research, statistics, psychometrics, and technology and data management. Prior to his education work, Mr. White served as Statistics Section Chief for the Department of Health and Human Services. From 1998 to 2006 he served two terms as Chair of West Virginia's Information Technology Council consisting of all higher education and public education agencies. During this time he was recognized for developing the Department of Education's digital communication network. Mr. White has degrees in Business Administration and Economics from West Virginia Institute of Technology and Marshall University Graduate School.
Wayne Young joined the staff of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators in 1983 in the position of legal counsel and lobbyist. He became executive director of KASA in 1989, and continues to serve in his original roles as well. During the past 25 years, Wayne has developed a reputation as a valuable resource for Kentucky school leaders. He is in great demand at both state and national conferences as a speaker on a variety of education topics. He conducts frequent workshops for teachers, attorneys, and school administrators on legal issues in education such as general liability, student confidentiality issues, sexual harassment, and school personnel law. He is a nationally certified trainer on the topic of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Wayne has taught school law at the graduate level for the University of Louisville, and has published numerous articles on education law, including in the Kentucky Bar Journal and the official professional publication for Kentucky lawyers. He is also the author of the school law training module that has been used to train all new school superintendents in Kentucky for the past 18 years. A graduate of the University of Kentucky and the University Of Kentucky College Of Law, Mr. Young was a prosecuting attorney and was then engaged in private law practice for five years before joining KASA. He is a native of Lexington, and currently lives in Georgetown.