Faculty - Education

Barbara brings a diverse background to the School of Education. With a career spanning 26 years in education, she has been a special education teacher, teacher leader, educational evaluator, and founder and director of a private middle school. Having served as the Title II Coordinator for the Maine Department of Education from 2004 – 2011, Barbara has provided state-wide leadership and training in the areas of teacher effectiveness, professional learning and Response to Intervention. She earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from St. Michael’s College in Vermont and her Master’s in Education from the University of Alaska in Anchorage. Barbara is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership at the University of Maine. She is actively involved in national and regional education organizations and is currently the President of Learning Forward New England, the regional affiliate of Learning Forward (formerly the National Staff Development Council). Barbara continues to serve on a number of task forces and stakeholders groups at the Maine Department of Education, representing and advocating for higher education.

Having raised four children, Barbara and her husband, Stan, are newly experiencing the “empty nest” and eagerly pursuing their shared interest in social justice activities, most currently in the area of prison re-entry and support for families of prisoners. Barbara is an avid amateur musician, regularly playing the viola in a number of small ensembles, and singing in choruses.

We stand at the cusp of unprecedented change in our society and in all of its institutions. Education is by far the most influential institution in our country and in the world since it is affecting all of our citizens for better or worse. I am excited to be a part of the educational community in these times. We have great challenges but that means great opportunity. If we are going to prepare our young adults to be prosperous and contributing members of a global society we must respond to these technological, societal and economic changes by adapting how we educate and examining the role of higher education in the 21st century. As we work toward more equitable opportunities for all of our nation’s young adults, it is my hope that we can both transform higher education to meet the needs of a changing society and preserve the rigor and integrity of a program that will produce graduates who will be critical thinkers, collaborative workers, and competent, caring citizens.