HIGHSCOPE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Project Coordinator I
- Research Assistant II
Anthony is a Research Assistant II at the Center for Early Education Research and Evaluation (CEERE) at HighScope. He started his career at HighScope in 2016 in the Educational Services Department and worked as Educational Services Data Coordinator where he was responsible for many aspects of online training through HighScope and for keeping records of all trainings. Anthony earned his Bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan with a major focus in Psychology and a minor focus in Writing.
Terry Murphy is a retired senior executive with 29 years of experience in key management roles.
Job Titles:
- Research Coordinator
- Project Coordinator II
As a Research Coordinator in Research Evaluation and Development (RED), most of the work Ms. Hardin focuses on revolves around organizing data collections from start (planning and creating timelines) to finish (data ready for analysis) to provide the data needed for impactful reporting. Ms. Hardin worked with the evaluations of Michigan's Great Start Readiness Program, Early Learning Network Collaboration (ELNC), Great Start to Quality Validation and currently, with Flint Educare in partnership with American Institutes for Research. Since starting at HighScope in 1998, she contributed to the advancement of many other projects including COR Advantage, COR for K, Family Child Care PQA, GSRP Cost-Benefit Analysis, Numbers Plus, PQA-R, Ready Schools Assessment and Classroom Coach. Beth is trained and reliable in child assessments including Minnesota Executive Functioning Scale (MEFS), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 (PPVT-4), Preschool Language Scale-5 (PLS-5), and Woodcock-Johnson IV. She is certified in classroom observations, including Pre-K CLASS and ITERS-3. Beth completed an MA in educational leadership and a BA in Psychology from Eastern Michigan University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Education Portfolio Director
- II Is the Preschool Expansion Policy Director at the Illinois Governor 's Office of Early Childhood Development
Bryan Stokes II is the Preschool Expansion Policy Director at the Illinois Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development.
Diana holds a dual-responsibility position as Associate Chief Financial Officer of the University of Michigan Medical Group and Medical School
Bryan Stokes II, Education Portfolio Director, brings a wealth of knowledge from 15 years in the early childhood field, most recently serving as the Chief of Early Childhood Education for Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third largest school district. In this role, he leads the district's early childhood initiatives, including Universal Pre-K, a multi-year commitment to establishing high-quality, full-day preschool for every four year old in every Chicago community. Previously he has led early learning programs at Illinois Action for Children and managed implementation of Illinois' Preschool Development grant in the state's Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development.
Mr. Stokes additionally serves on the Illinois Early Learning Council and on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. He holds a master's degree in English literature from Penn State. Originally from Detroit, Michigan, he currently resides in Chicago, Illinois.
Job Titles:
- Early Childhood Specialist
, responsible for all financial activities and communication of outcomes and measures for a multi-billion-dollar portfolio, ensuring financial integrity and establishing financial expectations for the enterprise.
As a proven financial leader with a demonstrated success and rich history in Higher Education and Healthcare, Diana leads strategic transformations and delivers robust financial solutions and systems within the University of Michigan. She is a trusted advisor to the executive team, known as an effective problem solver who is responsive to evolving business demands, having a passion for building strong relationships and high-performance teams, with deep experience leading investment initiatives and driving complex projects from concept through implementation.
Diana has a BS in Mathematics and MBA in Corporate Strategy, both from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the University of Michigan in 2011, she spent a decade in management consulting.
Job Titles:
- President
- in 2020 As the President
Dr. Alejandra Barraza joined HighScope in 2020 as the President and brings a long-time commitment to providing high-quality and equitable early education to all children.
With a long-time commitment to providing high-quality and equitable early education to all children, Dr. Alejandra Barraza has consistently led efforts to implement research-based practices in early childhood classrooms with the goal of turning theory into meaningful learning experiences. Before joining HighScope, Dr. Barraza served the San Antonio Independent School District as a teacher for eight years before moving into leadership administration roles for 10 years. As a principal in the district, she worked to elevate the quality and position of early childhood education through educational initiatives, engaging curricula, and professional development. Among Dr. Barraza's many achievements is a partnership with the San Antonio Independent School District and Head Start to establish the San Antonio HighScope Network, composed of both the Carroll and Tynan Early Childhood Centers. The 150-member network, recognized as a hub of excellence, oversees the education of 750 students from Pre-K to 2 nd grade.
As an educator and administrator, Dr. Barraza has consistently challenged the narratives of stigma related to underserved, immigrant, and minority children by building a culture and vision of excellence - one in which children understand that a trajectory for high school graduation and post-secondary education is the collective goal. With a focus on the process rather than product of learning, Dr. Barraza advocates for learning through play in an educational climate that too often undermines this practice in early childhood classrooms.
Dr. Barraza earned her doctoral degree in curriculum instruction, with a concentration in early childhood education, at the University of Texas at Austin. She continued to work full-time as she pursued her doctorate, which allowed her the unique opportunity to bridge theory and practice. As part of her doctoral work, she interned at the U.S. Department of Education with Secretary Arne Duncan at the time the DOE was in the process of establishing the Office of Early Learning. This experience gave her the opportunity to understand education policy at the national level.
Dr. Barraza holds a master's degree in education from the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico. She is the author of several articles on the importance of play in early childhood education and issues of diversity and equity in early learning settings.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Appointed Director of the Department of Early Learning
Dr. Luis A. Perez-Batres is a Professor, Chair of the Department of Management, and Senior Presidential Fellow (2019-2020) at Central Michigan University (CMU).
Bette's focus is on creating one statewide early learning system that prepares all children for school and life. She strongly believes that school readiness means ready schools, ready children, ready families, and ready communities.
Dr. Hyde's career includes working as a school psychologist, assistant superintendent, and superintendent in Ohio and Washington. Dr. Hyde served as Assistant Professor of Psychology at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. She also serves on the boards of Thrive by Five Washington and the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington. Dr. Hyde earned her PhD from the University of Minnesota and completed a post-doctorate administrative certification from the University of Washington.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Dean 's Professor of Business Sustainability
- Professor, Chair of the Department of Management
Dr. Luis A. Perez-Batres is a Professor, Chair of the Department of Management, and Senior Presidential Fellow (2019-2020) at Central Michigan University (CMU).
Dr. Luis A. Perez-Batres is the Dean's Professor of Business Sustainability and Department of Management Head at Missouri State University. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University (PhD in Strategic Management), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (MS in Finance), and Monterrey Tech-Campus Laguna (BS in Accounting, summa cum laude). He has also earned leadership certificates from prestigious institutions such as Harvard University and served as Faculty Affiliate (2013-2017) and Visiting Scholar (2013) at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan.
Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Perez held a departmental chair position at Central Michigan University. His service activities include senior presidential fellow, administrative liaison of strategic envisioning, a university-wide strategic planning committee member, and membership in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.
Dr. Perez started his professional career as an accountant at a DuPont explosives plant. Then, working in the financial sector for large brokerage firms and banks such as BBVA. Additionally, he has engaged in various entrepreneurial activities and non-profit organizational efforts. During his youth, he participated in recreational soccer and the performing arts - e.g., he played the lead role in the stage play Cristina's Pact.
Job Titles:
- Early Childhood Specialist
- Senior Early Childhood Specialist
Erica is an Early Childhood Specialist and previously a teacher at the HighScope Demonstration Preschool. She has a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from Ball State University and is a HighScope Certified Trainer. With more than 15 years of experience working with children of all ages and their families, Erica has owned and operated her own licensed home child care business and has provided training, mentoring, and coaching to other licensed home- and center-based providers. Her passion for making a difference led her to spend four years as a Head Start teacher and Education Specialist in Detroit.
Job Titles:
- Secretary
- Assistant Executive Director at First 5 San Diego
Jack Hobaugh joined the HighScope Board of Directors in 2020.
Gloria Corral-Terrazas serves as Assistant Executive Director at First 5 San Diego, where she oversees San Diego County's Quality Early Learning efforts for the First 5 San Diego Commission, along with other initiatives for children 0-5 and their families. She has been working in early learning for the past 14 years in policy, program, and advocacy. During her tenure as Deputy Director at First 5 San Francisco, she launched the first universal preschool for all effort in the state.
Ms. Corral-Terrazas' background in K-12 and higher education spans almost 20 years and includes work at the US Department of Education and both houses of Congress. Her extensive knowledge of system integration comes both from a policy and programmatic perspective gained over years of working with state departments of education as well as small and large school districts. She holds an undergraduate degree from University of California, San Diego, and a master's degree from University of California, Berkeley.
Ms. Corral-Terrazas is the parent of two vivacious boys, Diego Emilio and Gael Antonio, who test her theoretical knowledge of early learning every day.
Job Titles:
- Educational Services Consultant
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Treasurer
- Counsel for Mergers and Acquisitions
Jack Hobaugh joined the HighScope Board of Directors in 2020.
Jack Hobaugh combines his global software, database and network engineering experience with his legal practice to focus on technology transactions, cybersecurity law and privacy law. A certified information privacy professional, Jack uses his inhouse experience serving as a data protection officer and an incident response team member to provide legal and cybersecurity guidance to his clients. His work includes privacy trainings, regulatory inquiries and negotiating privacy and security agreements, such as data privacy agreements and data protection impact assessments. He also provides technical license review and analysis.
An adjunct professor and author of three books on cybersecurity law, Jack is sought out counsel for mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. Being able to combine his corporate and intellectual property leadership experience allows him to provide efficient guidance for negotiating and closing deals. Jack most recently served as senior corporate counsel - privacy and security, data protection officer in the education technology field covering all areas of privacy and cybersecurity law and compliance. Prior to his legal career, Jack was a software engineer with a focus on international IT consulting and telecom. In addition to litigating and prosecuting patents, Jack also served as a patent examiner for the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Co - Director for the Center
Jana is currently providing leadership advice to multiple state, organizational and IHE entities overseeing policy and practice in early childhood education. She was a Senior Advisor at the Education Development Center (EDC), and from 2012-19 was the Co-Director of the US Education Department sponsored comprehensive technical assistance Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) in the EDC Early Learning and Development Portfolio. Her background includes serving as executive director of both the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS-SDE) and the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA Licensing), and providing leadership and support to states and organizations on early childhood initiatives. In addition, she brings to her work many years of experience in education, including as a teacher and assistant school administrator, state legislative liaison and coordinator for federal programs.
A central part of her focus has been on education system and program improvement through standards-based reform, including her work in promoting improved opportunities in early childhood education. She has worked on multiple initiatives designed to advance high quality in early childhood education and in child care in the states. She supports school linkages to children aged 0-8 - particularly for those at risk of school failure; facilitates early childhood systems building; expands on research findings on policies and practices that promote school readiness; and, assists states in the improvement of early childhood accountability and governance mechanisms that support child development and learning.
Ms. Martella holds masters' degrees from San Diego State University and the Johns Hopkins University.
Job Titles:
- Director of Research
- Director of Research, Evaluation, and Development
- Executive Director of RED
Jeffrey A. Beal, Ph.D., is the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Development. Previously he was the Senior Research Associate and Co-Director of The Center for Early Education Research & Evaluation (CEERE) at HighScope Educational Research Foundation. Dr. Beal leads the development, refinement, and validation of child and program assessments. He lead the development and validation of COR for Kindergarten and assisted in the revision and validation of the Preschool PQA. Currently, he assists Dr. Scharphorn with the U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) partnership with Detroit Public Schools Community District. The i3 project enhances the components of the HighScope curriculum which were related to positive lifetime outcomes in the Perry Preschool Study, and trains and coaches teachers to implement the curriculum in their classrooms. He is assisting with the development of the kindergarten component of the project. Dr. Beal completed his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Oakland University.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Operations
Job Titles:
- Early Childhood Specialist
Jill Claxton is the Director of Evaluation in the Research, Evaluation and Development Department. She has collected program and child data and trained others to do so both nationally and internationally in her 30+ years with HighScope. She has coordinated and supervised several projects, which entail monitoring multisite research efforts, serving as a liaison with partner sites, establishing guidelines for representative sample selections, and disseminating data findings. She served as the project coordinator for the design, development, and validation of the Family Child Care Program Quality Assessment, Infant-Toddler Program Quality Assessment and Classroom Coach. The children in care across the various projects have ranged in age from infancy through early elementary school attending early childhood center settings, home-based care settings and children cared for in their own homes. Ms. Claxton contributed to an examination of the costs and benefits associated with the expansion of Michigan's state-funded preschool program, the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) and the validation of Great Start to Quality (GSQ), Michigan's state level program quality rating and improvement system (QRIS). Ms. Claxton is currently leading the data collection efforts for the Educare Flint evaluation project in partnership with American Institutes for Research.
Job Titles:
- Operations Project Manager
Job Titles:
- Early Childhood Specialist
Karen Murillo is an Early Childhood Specialist. She is a certified trainer, content developer at HighScope, and a member of HighScope's Mexico Institute. Karen has a master's degree in education and neuropsychology from Panamerican University in Mexico City. For more than 15 years, Karen has gained experience as a teacher, administrator, and trainer specializing in online teaching, coaching, and training with a strong focus in social-emotional learning. Karen has had experience as teacher from preschool to middle school, gaining insight into child development and active learning from ages three to 14.
Job Titles:
- Director of Educational Services and Professional Development
- Educational and Professional Development Director
- Professional Development Director
Kenneth Sherman is the Educational and Professional Development Director, in addition to the Chief Academic Officer of HighScope's San Antonio Hub of Excellence in San Antonio, Texas. Kenneth joined HighScope in 2014 as a HighScope Demonstration Preschool teacher and an Early Childhood Specialist. He has more than 20 years of experience as a teacher of young children and has been a center director, mentor teacher, coach, and trainer. Kenneth has presented at numerous state and local conferences and developed customized trainings for early childhood programs around the United States and in Europe. He currently serves on several committees in Texas that focus on race and equity. Kenneth holds a master's degree in early childhood and a bachelor's degree in sociology.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Job Titles:
- Accounts Receivable Specialist
Job Titles:
- Business Development Specialist
Job Titles:
- Educational Services Consultant
Reino Bruner has been with HighScope since 2016 and specializes in automated information processing including all aspects for electronic data integration. His time is often spent using and developing robust statistical methodologies such as Bayesian inference with STAN and machine learning. Reino's early research entailed complex systems simulation regarding atypical systems such as human behavioral decision trees and experimental psychology. Currently, he is developing artificial intelligence protocols used to automatically organize and adapt to shifting information storage conventions.
Job Titles:
- HR Coordinator & Executive Assistant of Operations
- Human Resources Coordinator and Executive Assistant of Operations
Selina Smith is the Human Resources Coordinator and Executive Assistant of Operations. Ms. Smith previously was an Administrative Assistant for the Early Childhood Applied Practice department.
Job Titles:
- Director of Early Childhood Development
Shannon D. Lockhart is the Director of Early Childhood Development at HighScope and has worked at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation for over 30 years. Ms. Lockhart leads the design and development of HighScope's curriculum resources, professional learning courses, and coaching for educators who work with children birth to age five. She spent eight years in the HighScope Demonstration Preschool teaching young children and mentoring fellow teachers. She has written articles on infant-toddler and preschool development, executive function, coaching, assessment, and many other topics in the field of early childhood education. She provides professional development courses throughout the United States and internationally and has presented numerous workshops at state, regional, national, and international conferences. Shannon directed several research projects for UNICEF and World Bank aimed at helping developing countries evaluate their early childhood programs. Her areas of expertise include adult learning, child development, and instrument development (observations, program evaluation, and child assessment). She holds a master's degree in early childhood education and has taught early childhood courses at the university level.
Job Titles:
- Customer / Product Services Supervisor
Shunda Frye joined HighScope in 2018. Shunda has been a co-teacher and a preschool nutritionist. Additionally, Shunda has previously served as a paraprofessional for several years at Ypsilanti Public Schools in Michigan.
Job Titles:
- Educational Services Consultant
Job Titles:
- Customer / Product Specialist
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Retired Senior Executive
Dr. Bette Hyde has served as the governor-appointed Director of the Department of Early Learning (DEL) for the state of Washington since 2009.
Terry Murphy is a retired senior executive with 29 years of experience in key management roles including administration, finance, and human resources. At Arthur Andersen & Co., he was a partner and the Director of Administration, Human Resources and Recruiting, for the firm's Michigan and Northern Ohio offices. In this position, Mr. Murphy had responsibility for a 400-person organization in five locations. He has broad volunteer experience in elementary schools and has worked extensively with not-for-profit organizations.
Mr. Murphy has been on the Board of Directors of Michigan's Children since 2002, serving as Board Chair for three years (2006-2009). He has also served on the organization's finance committee since 2001. He has a BS in accounting from the University of Detroit.