Voyager Executive Receives National Leadership Award from Minnesota Consortium for Evidence in Education
DALLAS, July 15, 2008 - Senior Vice President of Special Education for Voyager Expanded Learning, Dr. Robert Pasternack was recently presented with the 2008 Evidence of National Leadership Award from the Minnesota Consortium for Evidence in Education (MCEE), an organization dedicated to the promotion of a science-based approach to teaching.
"Dr. Pasternack was given this prestigious award because of his national leadership during the past few years. First, for his work of demonstrating to Congress the need to have the Response to Intervention (RtI) model legitimized as a part of IDEA and second, for his ongoing work to develop sound research-based interventions that can be used in the RtI model," said Robert Wedl, co-founder and chairman of the Minnesota Consortium for Evidence in Education. "Because of the inclusion of the RtI model in law, states around the country are now moving toward scientifically based 'whole school prevention models' and away from 'wait until children fail remediation models.'"
Before joining Voyager in July 2006, Dr. Pasternack was appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate and served as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services from 2001-2004.
Dr. Pasternack served on a number of Presidential Commissions during his tenure at the U.S. Department of Education, including the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Dr. Pasternack also worked with NICHD and other federal agencies to fund research on scientifically based reading interventions designed to prevent inappropriate referrals to special education and to improve results for students with disabilities receiving special education throughout the United States.
For more than 30 years, Dr. Pasternack has worked with students with disabilities and their families. A former classroom teacher, school psychologist, superintendent and State Director of Special Education, Dr. Pasternack has held a number of leadership positions in education where he has always focused on improving student outcomes and results.
Dr. Pasternack has been instrumental in the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and has been a leading proponent of changing the identification practices for students with specific learning disabilities from the current "wait to fail" model characterized by documenting a discrepancy between IQ and achievement, to the Response to Intervention (RtI) model that focuses on providing multi-tiered instructional interventions for students who fail to respond adequately to instruction delivered in the general education setting.
His advocacy for the RtI model included testimony before the U.S. House and Senate; work on the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education; and frequent speaking at state, regional, national and international meetings. Dr. Pasternack's work on RtI, combined with the work of other experts in education, special education and literacy, has led to the historic reforms embedded in the current reauthorization of IDEA, including the focus on instruction and results, and considering students with disabilities as general education students first.
In his current role at Voyager, Dr. Pasternack collaborates with education leaders across the country and provides guidance to Voyager's curriculum development, marketing, implementation and sales teams, ensuring Voyager continues in its mission to help all students achieve success, including those with disabilities.
"I was humbled and honored to receive this award from this esteemed group of educators," said Dr. Pasternack. "Response to Intervention is clearly gaining momentum across the country, and these educators played a role in helping me understand the research base and scalable strategies for implementing RtI in schools across America."
About the Minnesota Consortium for Evidence in Education
The Minnesota Consortium for Evidence in Education was organized in 1999 to promote a science-based approach to teaching. MCEE consists of a broad-based group of educators and citizens whose mission is to influence education in Minnesota to use scientific research to choose educational practices and make data-based decisions using frequently collected student performance data to determine the efficacy of instructional strategies and materials. Chris McHugh and Robert J. Wedl are co-chairs of the organization. Mr. McHugh is the retired Executive Director of the St. Croix River Education District in Minnesota and Mr. Wedl is a Senior Associate with Education Evolving and a former Minnesota Commissioner of Education.
Voyager Expanded Learning
Voyager Expanded Learning provides core, intervention and supplemental reading programs, as well as math intervention and ongoing professional development programs, for school districts throughout the United States. Founded in 1994, Voyager has delivered extended-time reading and basic skills intervention programs, as well as large-scale reading and math programs, to more than 1000 school districts in cities such as Buffalo, Miami, New York City, Richmond, Va., El Paso and Los Angeles, resulting in dramatically improved student performance. Voyager Expanded Learning, Inc. is a business unit of Voyager Learning Company (OTC: VLCY.PK) and based in Dallas, Texas. For more information, please visit www.voyagerlearning.com or call 1-888-399-1995.
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