About the Workshop

Contributors

Contributors
Learner Teachers
Lesson Credits

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
A-Plus Communications, Print Guide and Web Developer
In addition to providing overall management of The Missing Link workshops, A-Plus Communications developed and designed the print and Web materials. Founded in 1995, A-Plus helps educators and education reformers communicate more effectively with their many different publics. The company provides a range of services including strategic communications planning, communications training and materials development. Adam Kernan-Schloss was the project director, with assistance from Kathy Ames, Gisela Cintron, Susan Gillespie and Mark Swift from KSA Group, which merged with A-Plus in July 2000 to form KSA-Plus Communications.

Lavine Production Group, Video Production
The Missing Link workshop series was produced by Lavine Production Group. Based in New York City, LPG specializes in education and arts programming. Recent productions for Annenberg Media include New American Schools: Getting Better by Design, which profiles designs for whole-school improvement; The Synergy Project, a set of video modules for policymakers to help them improve education systems; and Implementing a Thinking Curriculum, about the process of developing a mathematics curriculum. Kaye Lavine was producer/director of The Missing Link, and Miriam Lewin was producer.

On-Screen Workshop Leaders
Jan Robinson, Master Teacher
Jan is a mathematics instructional specialist in Wheeling, Illinois, which is a member of the First in the World Consortium, a group of school districts that have been using findings from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to strengthen their curriculum and instruction. Jan has taught middle school math for more than 20 years. She is a Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching and is active in multiple local, state and national professional development groups, such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Middle School Association.

Shannon C'de Baca, Workshop Guide
Shannon is a classroom teacher in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and serves as a consultant for the National Center for Education and the Economy, Council of Chief State School Officers, and PBS stations. She has received teaching awards from the Milken Family Foundation, the National Science Teachers Association, the National Education Association and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Advisors*
Harold Asturias, director of mathematics assessment, New Standards
Pam Beck, curriculum and assessment developer, New Standards
Barbara Byrd-Bennett, chief executive officer, Cleveland Municipal School District
Jane Henderson, program officer, the Stuart Foundation, San Francisco
Glenda Lappan, president, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Hayes Mizell, program officer, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
Joan Richardson, communications director, National Staff Development Council.

Learner Teachers
The Learner Teachers came from several states in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Northeast. All the participants are listed in the Credits section, page 170.

School District 21, Wheeling, Ill.
Community Consolidated School District #21, where we filmed the middle school classroom scenes for the Discovery workshops, is located about 30 miles northwest of Chicago. It serves a diverse group of about 7,500 students in grades K­8, nine elementary schools and three middle schools, including the two featured in The Missing Link: Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School and Jack London Middle School. The middle schools average over 800 students in grades 6 through 8. The district's enrollment is 72 percent white, 3 percent black, 18 percent Hispanic and 7 percent Asian/Pacific Islander. About 17 percent of the families are classified as low income, with 15 percent of the population identified as Limited English Proficient students, representing at least 25 languages.

[Top of Page] We extend sincere thanks to the Learner Teachers who took part in The Missing Link:
Anne Arundel County, Maryland     Georgene Stephens     Han Yi Arlington, Virginia     Jay Missal   Beachwood, Ohio     Amy Hazelton     Michelle Keys   Brook Park, Ohio     Kathy Mog   Cambridge, Massachusetts     Erin Rosenberg   Cincinnati, Ohio     Gary Combs     David Gray     Shirley Jackson     Suzanne Voos   Euclid, Ohio     Florence Masella Falls Church, Virginia     Melissa Kavanaugh     Sallie Mohr Frederick County, Maryland     Laura Gray     Melanie Meadows Stuart Mentor, Ohio     John Kaminski     Jodi Morris		Montgomery County, Maryland     Marcia Rosenblum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania     Arlene Brown     Romeo Cochrane     Ervin Goldberger     Janet Middleton     Ethel Taylor Prince George's County, Maryland     Millie Brown     Andrea Wells     Karla Wells Rochester, New York     Laura Aldridge     Luanna Andrews     Joann Bell     Nicolle Crocker     Margaret Crowley     Patrick Fink     Josh Mack     Kimberley Malta     Jean Malvaso-Zingaro     John Nicholson     Tracey O'Brien     Colleen O'Mara     Makeisha Phillips     John Rowe     Corinthia Sims     Charles Smith     Chuck Smith     Takisha Times-Cromartie     Diane Wells Washington, D.C.     Samuel Kamara

Oliver Wendell Holmes and Jack London Middle Schools in School District #21 in Wheeling, Illinois, graciously allowed us to film in their classrooms.