Susan Fish

Susan Fish has worked with adult education in a variety of settings for 30 years. She has been a teacher, curriculum developer, trainer, local program director, state staff, and a community college administrator in Alabama, Washington State, and Oregon. She has served on numerous committees including the Governor’s Advisory Council on the Investment in Human Capitol, the Washington State Adult Education Advisory Committee, and Oregon Content Standards Investigating Committee. She has chaired both the Washington Council for Basic Skills and the Oregon Council of Adult Basic Skills Development.

She has a Master’s in Adult Education from Auburn University and a PhD in education from Oregon State University.  Her research there focused on transformational learning among adult education practitioners.

Susan is currently the director of the Oregon Professional Development System (OPDS) at the Western Center for Community College Development at Oregon State University. OPDS provides training and support for state initiatives to adult basic skills practitioners throughout Oregon.

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Bonnie Vondracek Goonen

n 1981, Bonnie Vondracek Goonen moved from teaching music to working with severely disturbed adolescents and began a career that has consistently focused on the challenges of providing quality education to students who have often experienced failure more than success. During her tenure in the Osceola County Public Schools in Florida, Bonnie moved from the classroom to administration, but never left the classroom far behind.

In 1999, Bonnie established her own consulting firm, Vondracek Enterprises, Inc. that focuses on the development and presentation of staff development and training. An avid researcher, Bonnie ties her own personal experiences from the classroom and administration to the latest research on best practices. Bonnie was selected as one of the national trainers for the implementation of the 2002 Series GED Tests by the US DOE and the GED Testing Service. Today, Bonnie develops and delivers high-quality, highly interactive training and a wide range of instructional resources for teachers and administrators in adult, alternative, and vocational education programs in a wide range of states and through government agencies, such as the Department of Labor, Job Corps programs.

Margaret Kirkpatrick

Margaret Kirkpatrick, a California adult education educator for over 25 years, has been principal of Berkeley Adult School since 1996.  She has also served as Director of the Staff Development Institute, a state wide project developing and offering staff development for teachers and administrators; principal writer of the Programs of Excellence document, a document for agencies to undergo extensive self evaluation and action plan development; principal writer of the 1999-2004 Adult Education State Plan for the California Department of Education; and instructor of the UC Berkeley Extension program for the Adult Education credential program.

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Tony Lagos

Tony’s first teaching career began at Paterson Eastside High School, the school that later became famous as “Joe Clark’s school” in the film “Lean on Me.” Tony later moved to Florida and began his career in adult education in 1986 by training volunteer tutors under an Orange County, Florida Public Schools grant from the US Department of Education.  He subsequently taught ABE, GED and ESOL at a variety of locations including four years as a teacher in the Orange County jail. In 1986 he moved to the Orange County District Office in Adult Education where over the years he served as district-wide coordinator at different times for workplace literacy, ABE, GED and ESOL. In 1993 he was given administrative responsibility for the Orange County School District’s Adult Education Program serving 28,000 adults annually.

Tony retired from Orange County Public Schools in 2001 to begin an educational consulting business. His company, Effective Training Solutions Inc, delivers staff development, strategic planning and specific planning for implementation of adult education program improvement projects nationwide.

Lennox McLendon

Lennox has over 30 years of experience in adult education and literacy.  He began as a part-time teacher and over the years has taught ABE, GED, Adult High School, and ESL.  For six years he was a local adult education program manager.  After his years at the local level, he spent a little over ten years with the Virginia Department of Education as a regional consultant for local adult education and programs.  For the next twelve years, he served as the state director of adult education in Virginia.

His professional contributions during that time included Chair of the National Coalition for Literacy, leadership roles with the National Council of State Directors, and advisory roles with partners such as the American Bar Association's Law and Literacy Initiative.

Currently, he is the Executive Director of the National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium.  In that role he has two functions:  (1) to respond to the adult education information needs of the Congress and White House staff members and (2) to facilitate professional development activities for the state directors of adult education and their staff members. 

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Kathi Polis

Kathi has over 30 years of experience in adult education as a former teacher, local program director, state staff member, and state director in West Virginia from 1993-2003. As the West Virginia state director, Kathi was instrumental in spearheading a comprehensive professional development system, several coordinated adult education efforts with other state agencies and stakeholders, and a statewide curriculum effort resulting in standardized competencies, performance descriptors, and benchmark tasks.

She also served as the treasurer and committee chair of the National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium (NAEPDC).  As the chair of the NAEPDC Professional Development Committee, Kathi co-authored two national publications: Going to Scale, a step-by-step guide on planning, developing, and implementing program improvement initiatives and Coordinated Funding Streams, a guide and reference tool on securing and blending alternative funding for adult education efforts.

In April, 2003, Kathi opened her own consulting firm, Strategic Training and Resources, Inc.  She is currently working with a number of state and national organizations on a variety of adult education initiatives including marketing, professional development, leadership, managed enrollment, state plan development, technology, resource development, training design, and classroom management. 

Susan Pittman-Shetler

In 1985, Susan Pittman-Shetler moved from special education to adult education and began a career that has become her passion. Her experience working with students with learning disabilities served as a strong foundation for the move to working with adult learners many of whom faced their own learning challenges. For 16 years, Susan worked first as a teacher then a district level administrator in the Palm Beach County Public Schools Adult Education Program in Florida. From GED teacher to GED Chief Examiner, Susan has had the opportunity to work in all areas of adult education and continues to be a strong advocate for increasing accountability while ensuring that the student is the number one priority.

In 1999, Susan left the school system to start her own educational consulting firm, E-Learning Connections, Inc. In 2001, she was selected as one of the national trainers for the implementation of the 2002 Series GED Tests by the US DOE and the GED Testing Service. Today, Susan works with teachers and administrators in more than 20 states including Florida, Texas, Michigan, Colorado, and New York developing and delivering high quality, interactive professional development and resources geared to meet the needs of students, teachers, and program managers.

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Stacey Wright

With a Master’s Degree in Adult and Continuing Education from VPI & SU (VA TECH), Ms. Wright has accumulated over 35 years of experience in teaching and administration of Adult Basic Education, GED preparation (GED Chief Examiner-12 years to present), Adult High School, English acquisition and civics education, and workplace education programs.  She has piloted and written curricula for various adult education programs including health care programs and service industry programs, pilot tested the GED practice test on computer for the American Council on Education, and represented the region at the national math institute. 

Ms. Wright has served on numerous state and local planning and advisory boards and has delivered many state and local staff development institutes and training opportunities including the state staff development institutes.  Some highlights of her career include  presenting at the first United Kingdom Workplace Basic Skills Conference, initiating and implementing the RACE to GED program for her region (an initiative to double the number of GED’s obtained; this initiative was adopted by the Governor of the Commonwealth of VA  for the entire state), developing the first workplace teacher training in VA, being awarded the Outstanding Adult Education Leadership award by VAACE (professional association),  Outstanding Service Award from the  Region 17 Workforce Investment Board, and presenting at the national GED Administrators Conference and the National Workforce Investment Board Conference.   Ms. Wright currently serves as a Regional Program Manager in Southside VA.

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Carol Wynne

Carol Wynne has more than 15 years of experience in adult education as a teacher, administrator, trainer, and facilitator. She is currently consulting with the Maine Department of Education to provide professional development and to revise the state’s adult education professional development system, and as a Community Collaboration Coach for the state’s pre-K initiative. For nine years, she was a professional development specialist at the University of Maine, focusing primarily on statewide initiatives related to family literacy and college transitions.

While an administrator at Waterville Adult Education, Carol shepherded the program through the pilot phase of the state’s managed information system and co-developed the state’s first Welfare to Work program, used by the Department of Human Services ASPIRE program. She believes in the power of groups and has worked with a variety of groups in social service and education settings, ranging from mental health and substance abuse to healthcare education. Her entrepreneurial tendencies led her to create a children’s book and toy store, still in business 20 years later.

National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium

Dr. Lennox McLendon, Executive Director

44 North Capitol Street, NW; Suite 422;

Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-624-5250; Fax: 202-624-1497

ProLiteracy

Dr. Peter Waite, Vice-President

1320 Jamesville Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13210
Phone: (315) 422-9121 Fax: (315) 422-6369