about VSSE

In the years Sid Glassner has been an educator he has served as a classroom teacher, a school administrator, a graduate school professor, a writer, founder and publisher of the professional journal TALL, (Teaching and Learning Literature) and most recently a founder and executive director of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education, Inc. He has published over 100 professional articles most dealing with the teaching and learning of literature and the literary experience. Glassner was the first to write and publish a book and supplementary materials on the American economic system for use in the middle grades. For his work in economic education he won a Feedoms Foundation Award. Glassner was also the first to write and publish classroom materials on minority groups in American describing their history in America and the many contributions they have made to the American culture. Scholastic Teacher, in reviewing these materials called them "the most provocative teaching materials of the year." His work on minority groups won him an American Film Festival Award. Glassner published two individualized reading programs with Prentice-hall and created and developed a listening/literature program based on old-time radio shows called Tune-In.

Stan Cianfarano is currently a professor of education at the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, Vermont. His current duties at the college include teaching both undergraduate and graduate students in their teaching methods courses in social studies, math, science, fundamentals of education, children’s literature, and teaching the gifted. In addition, he team teaches classes in reading education, supervises student teachers, and conducts the reading seminar for students completing their Master’s degree in Reading.

Dr. Cianfarano has long been active in the New York State Reading Association, currently serving as President Elect. He will assume the duties of President of the organization on July 1, 2005. He is a past coordinator of the New York State Reading Conference and has served on the Board of Directors for that organization for most of the past 29 years. In addition, Stan has served on several committees for the International Reading Association including their annual conference committee and the children’s book award committee.

Before coming to the college in 1993, Stan spent 22 years in public education teaching grades 2-6. For nine years during that time he taught in a program for gifted students in grades 3-6, a program which he helped develop.

He has an interest in history and is currently part of a committee writing an updated history of Warren County (NY) where he has written a chapter on historic preservation efforts there. His other historical interests include the Oneida Community and the Shakers.

Stan lives in Queensbury, NY with his wife, Patsy.

Dr. Alis Headlam is an educational consultant who works with schools and the community to provide meaningful workshops, seminars and instruction in the areas of literacy education and the development of racial harmony. In 1997 she and others founded the Rutland Area Multiracial Alliance. In 2000 she received the Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance Award from the Rutland Area Clergy for her work with the Alliance.

Alis has served on numerous Board of Directors serving both education and race unity including the Whole language Umbrella Board and the Vermont Teacher Diversity Scholarship Program. Her leadership in the Whole Language Umbrella included maintaining an International Networking Committee that serves teachers from all continents. This work led to her participation in the International Reading Association Pan African Conferences in Nigeria, Uganda and upcoming in Swaziland 2005. Her doctoral work in cultural relevancy as a critical factor promoting literacy introduced her to reading instruction in Jamaica, West Indies. She has continued her work in Jamaica with teachers and children for over 25 years on both a voluntary and consultative basis.

Alis frequently publishes articles on both literacy and race unity in the local press. She has also published book chapters and journal articles on the same issues. Her voice has been included as both a keynote speaker and workshop presenter in over 100 conferences, workshops and classrooms. Her work with the Vermont Society for the Study of Education has focused on understanding NCLB legislation and literacy. She and others presented at several forums on NCLB around the State of Vermont. She currently serves a membership chairperson for VSSE.

Alis has taught in schools both in the United States and the international community, and has served as a classroom teacher at most grade levels. She works not only with children and adults, but also with teachers and teachers-in-training. She currently works as an adjunct at three local colleges and Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. She also is working with one school reform project in a local high school and an American History project for teachers.

On a lighter side, Alis is a percussionist with Drum Journeys of Earth Band. She performs African, Afro-Latin and Samba music. She has been able to combine her interest in music with her chosen interests in both literacy and race unity, and occasionally incorporates music as an integral part of a professional presentation. Her most recent presentation was titled Voice of the Drum: From Rhythm to Critical Consciousness.

William J. Mathis was a National Superintendent of the Year finalist in 2003 and was the Vermont Superintendent of the Year for 2002. He serves as Superintendent of Schools for the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union in Brandon, Vermont. He is on the Board of Directors of the American Education Finance Association and is a Senior Fellow of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education. He was President of the Vermont Superintendents' Association and Chair of the Vermont Education Coalition. He is also a consultant for the Rural School and Community Trust.

Bill has published or presented over 150 national research papers, policy briefs, newspaper columns and monographs on finance, assessment, school vouchers, cost-effectiveness, education reform, history, special education and Constitutional issues. He is frequently invited to speak around the nation on the purpose of public education, equality, and federal and state roles. His current work focuses on the effects of the federal “No Child Left Behind? act.

With a background in assessment, he consulted for the National Assessment of Educational Progress and numerous states in the design of their large-scale testing and accountability programs.

He has taught full-time or part-time at eight colleges and universities. Currently, he teaches school finance at the University of Vermont. In previous positions, he has served as Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education and as a guidance counselor and a school psychologist.

Educated at the University of Iowa, Bette Moffett spent seven years as a Merchandise Executive in Chicago. She served as PTO President in her four children's New York schools, tutored English in Paris and later French in Brandon, Vermont's Otter Valley High School.

As Program Director of "Success by Six" in the Brandon area, Bette's Board went on to develop a Parent/Child Center which offered families a structured environment. She served on the Children's Growth Board, the Community Connection's Staff, the Rutland Reparative Board and founded the Brandon Thrift Shop, which just celebrated its 30th year, returning $190,000.00 to the Community including 100 Otter Valley Scholarships during that time.

Bette serves on the Board of Civil Authority, the Brandon Free Public Library Board as well as the Neshobe Elementary School Board. Presently, the School Board has filed a lawsuit in conjunction with other District Schools and States against the Federal Education Law called No Child Left Behind, because of unfunded mandates. As a member of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education Board, this issue is of great interest to educators.

She has created a Rotary Reader's Program, consisting of adults and children reading to each other and also offers an Open Mike Evening twice a year, inviting all community members to read from their original work.

Co-founder of the Brandon Children's Music Fund, she also innovated NOVA, a program consisting of High School students mentoring Elementary School youngsters.

"Vibrant Vermonters", Bette's television interview program, is seen in both Rutland and Addison Counties. She serves on the Middlebury Community Televison Board which promotes education, public and government information in the community.

In 2002, Bette received the Governor's Award for Outstanding Community Service. In 2003, The Vermont Alliance For Arts Education awarded her the Distinguished Leader in Arts Education. In 2004, she received the President's Award from the Chamber of Commerce for her Community Commitment.

Bette performs in three vocal groups and enjoys playing the piano. Currently, she is writing her family stories and is teaching Writing and Poetry at the Community High School of Vermont.

A longtime teacher in grades 1 through 14, Susan is a freelance writer. Her 300+ articles have appeared in periodicals ranging from Phi Delta Kappan cover stories to op-ed pieces in The Nation and USA Today. Other articles have appeared in: Atlantic, Washington Monthly, Parents, Parenting, Education Week, English Journal, Language Arts, Reading Teacher, American School Board Journal, among others. Susan’s more than 20 books are divided between curriculum concerns and political and pedagogical issues in education.

An Education Policy Research Unit Fellow at Arizona State University, Tempe, Susan’s recent awards include The George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contributions to Honest and Clarity in Public Language, National Council of Teachers of English, 2003 and the Kenneth S. Goodman “In Defense of Good Teaching? Award, College of Education, University of Arizona.

Dana lives in Readsboro, Vermont with his partner Kathy and his three children. He is a professor of Educational Studies at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. Dana has published numerous articles and chapters about high-stakes testing, teacher resistance, and activism. He is co-author of the book,(with Patrick Slattery) Ethics and the Foundations of Education: Teaching Convictions in a Post-Modern World (Allyn and Bacon 2003).

Dan Heller has been an educator for thirty-three years. He holds BA and MA degrees in English from Middlebury college, an MEd in curriculum and instruction from Keene State College, a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in educational administration and planning from UVM, and an honorary Doctorate in Humanities from the College of Saint Joseph in Rutland , VT. During his career, had has taught secondary English; been a principal at the elementary, middle, and high school levels; a director of professional development; and a district curriculum coordinator. His numerous publications include two books, Teachers Wanted: Attracting and Retaining Good Teachers (ASCD) and more recently, Curriculum on the Edge of Survival: How Schools Fail to Prepare Students for Membership in Democracy (Rowman and Littlefield). He lives in Brattleboro with his wife of thirty-three years, Nina. They have one son, Ben, married to Pamela A. Heller, and one grandson, Anthony.

Education is a moral act. The role of the educator is to prepare students to take their places in society through providing them with the skills and knowledge they will need to participate fully and successfully in the life of our country and the world. To do anything less is to cheat students, to perpetuate patterns of inequity, and to deny individuals opportunities for a good life