Selecting Evidence-Based Programs for Schools and Districts: Mistakes to Avoid

Dr. Robert Peters is the Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at Successful Practices Network and the National Dropout Prevention Center. He currently works with school systems to strategically plan comprehensive solutions that empower academic success. Robert strongly believes in the power of relationships and has effectively worked with educators across the United States in rural, suburban and some of the largest urban districts including Miami-Dade County and Atlanta Public Schools.

Robert’s passion for helping ALL students reach their full potential is personal. As a parent of a child with special needs, he fully understands the need to ensure that each and every student receives the highest degree of academic opportunity from kindergarten through senior year.

Along with Robert’s passion and commitment to education, he also brings a history of innovation and transformation in all aspects of leadership. Before joining Successful Practices Network and the National Dropout Prevention Center, he served as an Assistant Superintendent, and principal at all school levels. He holds an Ed.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Robert is dedicated to working with district leaders, campus- based administrators and teachers to create systemwide solutions that empower academic success.

Dr. Madden is the Chairman of the Board and Cofounder of the Success for All Foundation, which develops, researches, and disseminates educational programs to increase achievement, particularly for disadvantaged students. She is also a professor at the Center for Research and Reform in Education at the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Madden graduated from Reed College in 1973, and received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from American University in 1980. Since 1980, she has worked at the Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) at Johns Hopkins University, where she has directed the development of the reading, writing, tutoring, language arts, and mathematics elements of Success for All, a comprehensive school reform program. An expert in literacy and instruction, Dr. Madden is the author or co-author of many articles and books on cooperative learning, tutoring, prevention of need for special education, and education of disadvantaged students, including Effective Programs for Students at Risk (Allyn & Bacon, 1989) and Two Million Children: Success for All (Corwin, 2009).  Current research interests include computer-assisted tutoring strategies, effects of vision services on achievement, and comprehensive school reform.

Amanda Neitzel is an assistant research scientist at the Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE). She has expertise on school-based health interventions, literacy, meta-analysis, data management, and quantitative research design. While at the CRRE, she has worked on evaluations of school-based vision programs with an emphasis on issues of implementation. She has also conducted multiple systematic reviews, including reviews of elementary literacy as well as educational programs for struggling readers. Prior to pursuing her PhD, Amanda was an elementary school teacher in a traditional public school and also served in the Peace Corps.