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Experienced. Energetic. Exceptional. The members of the TeachingWorks team bring a wealth of expertise in teaching and teacher education, research and professional learning design, management, administration, content creation, and more to contribute to advancing our mission of harnessing the power of teaching to create a more just society.
Research & Design Specialist, English Language Arts
Susan Atkins is an English Language Arts Research & Design Specialist at TeachingWorks and an instructor in the Educator Preparation Program in the School of Education. Her work centers on preparing teachers to work with multilingual learners. Susan creates teacher education curriculum materials and tools to support novice teachers in developing their practice with multilingual learners. She collaborates on several projects with partners using high-leverage practices and frequently provides professional development in university and school-based settings. Susan believes all multilingual learners deserve high-quality access to a full education and must be given the opportunity to showcase their assets in the classroom. She enjoys work that supports teachers adequately prepare to educate all students. Susan pursued her own education at the University of California, Berkeley and received her teacher bilingual certification in California.
Director
Deborah Loewenberg Ball is the William H. Payne Collegiate Professor of education at the University of Michigan, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, a research professor in the Institute for Social Research, and the director of TeachingWorks. She taught elementary school for more than 15 years, and continues to teach children every summer. Ball’s research focuses on the practice of teaching, using elementary mathematics as a critical context for investigating the challenges of building relationships with children and helping children develop agency and understanding, and on leveraging the power of teaching to disrupt racism, marginalization, and inequity. Ball is an expert on teacher education, and her current work centers on ways to improve the quality of beginning teaching to advance justice. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education, and is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and the American Educational Research Association.
Research & Design Specialist, Mathematics
Heather Beasley has been a mathematics specialist at TeachingWorks since 2016. Currently, she divides her time between supporting in-service teachers in Michigan as part of the Grand Rapids Mathematics Collaborative and teacher educators across the country working to implement practice-based methods courses and programming. Heather is passionate about the potential of coached rehearsals and collaborative professional inquiry as mechanisms for actively disrupting inequitable patterns of mathematics instruction. She received her PhD in educational foundations and policy at Michigan, where she was intimately involved in the design and implementation of practice-based teacher preparation as a member of the Learning in, from, and for Teaching Practice (LTP) Project. For her dissertation research, she investigated the learning opportunities made available for novices in guided rehearsals embedded in a broader system of repeated cycles of enacting and reflecting on teaching practice. Prior to graduate school, Heather taught middle and high school math for seven years.
Communications Manager
Alyssa La’Dawn Brandon is the Communications Manager at TeachingWorks. A two-time Shorty Social Good Award finalist, Alyssa specializes in translating complex ideas about the power of teaching and teacher education to disrupt injustice into engaging and empowering narratives. She leads the communications team at TeachingWorks to promote the organization’s programs, and to develop informative and inspiring storytelling campaigns that convey the centrality of teaching and teacher education to the experiences and life outcomes of children. Outside of TeachingWorks, Alyssa has served as an advisory board member at the Sanger Leadership Center in the Ross School of Business, and an adjunct lecturer at the University of Michigan School of Education. She is also a licensed minister and community volunteer at her home church in Southwest Detroit. Alyssa holds an MA in educational leadership and policy from the University of Michigan School of Education, and a BA in communication studies from the University of Michigan Department of Communication and Media.
Research & Design Specialist, Mathematics
Jason’s work focuses on improving mathematics instruction for all students. He joined TeachingWorks in 2016. His recent work focuses on designs for improving teacher education at scale and the use of practical measures in practice-based approaches to teacher education, through a two-year partnership with the Charles Butt Foundation and WestEd. He also leads professional learning opportunities for K-12 teachers focused on equitable mathematics instruction, has worked with districts to design and implement improvement strategies at scale. Jason is a mathematics instructor with Programs for Talented Youth at Vanderbilt, and an invited speaker to groups of educators. He holds a BA in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MS in learning, teaching, and diversity from Vanderbilt University. He lives in Nashville with his wife, four daughters, and Artemis the American leopard hound. He enjoys cooking for his family and is his own worst critic.
Director of English Language Arts
Monique Cherry has been with TeachingWorks since 2015 and currently serves on the ELA Team. She spent several years as a teacher educator and as a secondary English and creative writing teacher in Dayton, Ohio. She has conducted professional development and co-taught graduate courses for practicing classroom teachers, and provided community education for underserved populations in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her research interests include exploring more effective and socially just ways of teaching canonical texts to diverse learners and using literature to foster critical literacies and fuller forms of citizenship for students who are historically marginalized inside and outside of the classroom. She has authored several articles published in English Leadership Quarterly, English Journal, and Educational Studies. She has a BS in English education from Central State University, and both an MS in curriculum and teacher leadership, and a PhD in educational leadership from Miami University, Oxford Ohio.
Research & Design Specialist, English Language Arts
Martha Curren-Preis has worked with administrators, teachers, caregivers, policymakers, teacher educators, and other stakeholders to help ensure that all children receive skillful, caring, and equitable instruction. She has been with TeachingWorks since 2013. Beyond her work as an English language arts content specialist, Martha also focuses on classroom community-building practices and relationship building, as well as elementary education more broadly. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in English language arts, teacher research, and classroom management. She is a former teacher herself, beginning her career as an elementary and middle school teacher in Philadelphia. Martha holds a PhD in teaching and teacher education from the University of Michigan, an MSEd in elementary education with a concentration in reading, writing, and literacy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in English, history, and philosophy from Wesleyan University. Her research is around teachers’ “personas,” such as their nonverbal messages in the classroom, as tools for advancing equity.
Director of Mathematics
Nicole Farach has been with TeachingWorks since 2016 and currently lives in western Massachusetts. In her role as Director of Mathematics, she leads the mathematics team and serves on the Executive Leadership Team. She is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with research & design specialists, doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows on practice-based strategies in teacher education and professional development. In her project work, she supports teacher educators, practicing teachers, and teacher candidates (both virtually and in-person) to center issues of justice in their teaching. Nicole also develops and implements organizational learning opportunities for her colleagues toward the goal of increasing collaboration, productivity, and collective satisfaction in the work. Prior to joining TeachingWorks, Nicole was an early childhood and early elementary teacher, instructional coach, and program supervisor on projects aimed at improving outcomes for children living in poverty in NYC. She holds an MA in Child Development from Sarah Lawrence College and a BA in Sociology and Social Psychology from Lehigh University.
Deputy Director
Francesca Forzani is the deputy director of TeachingWorks. An experienced teacher educator and expert on change in teacher preparation, she directs the organization’s work with teacher educators. She began her career as a high school English teacher in Greenville, Mississippi, where she was a Teach for America corps member. She also served as a teacher educator for Teach for America and for Teach First in London, U.K, and has taught courses in secondary English language arts methods at the University of Michigan. She holds a BA in English from Smith College, an MPP from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, and a PhD in education foundations and policy from the University of Michigan. Forzani serves on the board of trustees of Deans for Impact and in the national advisory group for The Path Forward for Teacher Preparation and Licensure for Early Literacy.
Associate Director
Nicole Garcia focuses on the design and implementation of practice-based approaches to the professional training of K-12 teachers. At TeachingWorks, she leads work focused on supporting in-service teachers, including district partnerships, professional development and coaching programming, and K-12 laboratory classes. Her research, including Organizing to Learn Practice and Developing Equitable Discussion-Leading Practices, focuses on professional development that supports the enactment of equitable teaching practice. In addition to work with practicing teachers and mentors, Nicole is an experienced teacher educator and delivers programming and supports for other teacher educators. As an experienced secondary mathematics teacher, Nicole brings expertise in working with students who have not previously been successful in school mathematics. In past work, Nicole directed a regional mathematics and science center, provided professional development to K-12 mathematics teachers, and facilitated state-wide education projects. Nicole earned a BS and MA in mathematics education at the University of Michigan.
Graphic Designer & Web Administrator
With the goal of improving the world, one “save as” at a time, Michael aims to use his aesthetic and design expertise to advance the TeachingWorks’ mission of advancing the power of teaching to create a more just society. As part of the communications team, Michael designs and produces a variety of printed materials, digital graphic designs and other projects for TeachingWorks programs, events, and resources.
Michael holds a BFA in graphic design from Central Michigan University and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise from his formal design training and experiences in various graphic and marketing content design positions. Most recently, Michael worked as the Marketing Content Designer at Michigan Hillel, where he managed several social media platforms, websites, and promotional media for both Michigan Hillel and 45+ internal student-led groups at the University of Michigan.
Research & Design Specialist, Mathematics
As a member of the mathematics team at TeachingWorks, Karen Reinhardt works with K-8 teachers and coaches to teach mathematics in ways that disrupt injustice and support students to develop conceptual understanding. Before coming to TeachingWorks, Karen served as mathematics coordinator, coach, and interventionist at elementary and middle schools in Vermont, using strategies such as lesson study and data teams to support teachers to reflect on and improve their instruction. She is a certified trainer for the Ongoing Assessment Project (OGAP) in multiplicative, fractional, and proportional reasoning, and facilitates OGAP workshops nationally. Karen holds a BA in Child Study from Tufts University and a Master’s of Education in Administration and Supervision from Antioch New England Graduate School.
Business and Program Manager
Kyana S. Taylor has been employed by the University of Michigan for more than 17 years. Kyana joined TeachingWorks in 2011, and over the years she has held multiple roles as the organization has grown. Currently, Kyana is responsible for providing organizational support across the myriad of sponsored projects, consulting engagements, and partnerships at TeachingWorks. Such support includes budget creation, oversight and management; logistical support; and organizing and communicating with external stakeholders and collaborators. In addition to supporting the design and delivery of ambitious professional content, Kyana also serves as co-director of the Elementary Mathematics Laboratory and the project manager for the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Developing Equitable Discussion Practices project in the School of Education. Kyana has served on hiring committees and a number of other special committees and projects within TeachingWorks.
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