Monica Young, Ph.D., is the Director of the EED TA Center. At AEM Corporation, Monica provides technical assistance for states and districts as they plan and implement strategies to ensure that all students have equitable access to excellent educators. She designs and collaborates on providing technical assistance focused on collection and use of performance data, data management, and sustainability.  Additionally, she provides research and evaluation support as a member of the State Support Team of the U.S. Department of Education’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Grant Program. 

Monica previously managed the Accountability Metrics unit at the New York State Education Department, where her team was responsible for providing targeted analytics and research support to senior management in support of data-driven policy development, to improve the communication of accountability metrics to stakeholders, and to increase the efficiency of compliance-oriented accountability calculations. She is passionate about increasing opportunities for women in science and engineering career pathways and using high quality data to make informed decisions. 

Monica holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, Master of Sciences in Mechanical Engineering and Secondary Education, Physics from Syracuse University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Science Education. 

Elizabeth (Betsy) Ratliff is an EED TA Expert at the EED TA Center. Betsy brings over 20 years of experience in the PK-12 education as a classroom teacher, gifted intervention specialist, and gifted coordinator. 

In her previous roles, she worked closely with district leadership to design and deliver professional development experiences for educators, collaborate with district and community leaders to implement strategic planning initiatives, refine and deliver gifted education services to providers. Betsy also served as a certified union officer for her local teachers' association for many years, successfully collaborating with leadership to negotiate two full contracts and develop and support labor management teams across the district to strengthen communication systems. 

Betsy holds a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture and Master of Education from The Ohio State University as well as a Gifted, Creative, and Talented endorsement from the University of Cincinnati. 

Chris Lee Nicastro, Ph.D. is a subject matter expert for AEM and a facilitator for the EED TA Center. She brings decades of experience as a teacher, administrator, superintendent and chief state school officer. She has worked on several DOE programs including the Teacher-Leader Study, Co-Lead of the Central Regional Advisory Committee for the Comprehensive Center, and Co-Lead of the Region 5 Comprehensive Center serving Virginia. 

Throughout her career she has focused on developing and implementing systems to support equitable and universal access to quality teaching and programs. Her leadership has been noted for her inclusive approach to problem-solving, planning, and the use of data and data systems to monitor and improve results. She has been recognized locally, statewide and nationally as a relentless advocate for underserved populations and her unwavering insistence on quality schools and quality educators for every child. Equity and accountability were highlighted in every effort. 

She holds a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a PhD from St. Louis University. She has received numerous awards at the local, state and national levels and currently serves on several non-profit boards including the National Council for Teacher Quality. 

Lauren K. B. Matlach is an EED TA Expert at the EED TA Center. For the past decade, Lauren’s work has focused on educator talent management policies and initiatives. 

Prior to her current role, Lauren worked for five years at the Rhode Island Department of Education where she served on, and then led, the team focused on the recruitment, preparation, certification, support, and retention of educators in Rhode Island. She has experience collaborating with a variety of stakeholders, including educator preparation programs, educator unions, school and district leaders, and non-profits. Lauren lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two young kids. 

Lauren holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University in Maryland) and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Maryland. 

Antoinette Magee is an EED TA Expert and Collaboration Lead at the EED TA Center. Antoinette brings over 15 years of college access and educational equity experience in the K12, higher education and nonprofit level. She has worked throughout the state of California for most of this time and brings a deep commitment to ensure all students, especially students furthest from opportunity, have access to quality education ultimately leading to successful college and/or career pathways. 

For the past two years, she has served as a tenure-track counseling faculty member at California's first completely online community college. Prior to that role, she served the Statewide District Partnership Manager for the Foundation for California Community Colleges. In her role, she partnered with K-12 school districts to develop district-wide policies and strategies for college and career planning with district level leaders, in helping build capacity across their district to ultimately have better outcomes for students. 

Antoinette was a Presidential Scholar at San Francisco State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She also earned a Master of Arts in Multicultural Education from California State University, Dominguez Hills and a Master of Arts in Counseling from the University of Texas. 

Jason LaTurner, Ph.D. has 20 years of experience providing technical assistance, evaluation, and research support to states and districts. His primary areas of expertise are in supporting educators and leaders focused on preparation and retention. Additionally, he provides technical assistance and training to clients on how to build logic models, use state longitudinal data systems, develop efficient data collection tools, analyze data, and present results. He has previously led the Texas Comprehensive Center, supporting a broad spectrum of projects, and has supported state and local agencies in an additional 10 states. He has conducted research on several teacher development and appraisal topics. 

Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University in Sociology, a Master of Education in Higher Education administration from Bowling Green State University, and Doctorate in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin with concentrations in education and statistics. 

Carla Howe, Ph.D., is an EED TA Expert at the EED TA Center. She has over 20 years of k-12 experience ranging from school choice research assistant, to classroom teacher, to district and regional teacher consultant, to leading information and reporting initiatives at the State Education Agency. While at the West Virginia Department of Education, Carla led the state’s data governance efforts, which included collaborating across various agencies and programs such as higher education and career and technical education to make information more readily available to stakeholders. She helped build the capacity of SEA and LEA staff to understand and use information for decision-making through training, workshops, and supporting materials. Carla is committed to supporting students, teachers, families, communities, and policymakers by working to increase access to and availability of information for educational decision making. She gets up each morning with the hope of positively impacting students’ educational and career opportunities by ensuring access to information so that strategic, intentional, and impactful data-driven decisions. Currently, Carla supports the design, development, and implementation of technical assistance efforts across additional contracts and projects at AEM. She has nearly 15 years of experience in K-12 education at both the state and local levels, including time as a seventh-grade social studies teacher. 

Emily Fishkin is an EED TA provider at the EED TA Center. Emily brings varied experience including photo and video production, content writing and publication, and data storytelling and collaborative platform usage. Emily also served as a Graduate and Teaching Assistant for the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences Instructional Technology and Design department, providing planning and live support for in-person, online, and hybrid events. Throughout her career, she has enjoyed working and volunteering with middle and high school students on test preparation, college applications, and subject-specific tutoring.   

Her master’s thesis evaluated privacy concerns for reproductive healthcare seekers in Illinois, and she continues to research intersections of personal privacy and reproductive healthcare. 

Emily holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Northwestern University with degrees in Theatre and English Literature, and a Master of Science in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is also a member of Beta Phi Mu, the information sciences honor society. 

Lynette Cameron is Convening Coordinator of the EED TA Center. Lynette has 20 years of experience managing education projects and brings a strengths-based approach to providing TA to grantees. 

Lynette has managed multiple programs and coordinated technical assistance for the U.S. Department of Education, including Arts in Education, Charter Schools, Ready to Learn, School Leadership, Race to the Top-District and Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy. Lynette’s expertise also includes coordinating grant management and sustainability TA for new grantees as well as planning and effectively hosting large-scale national conferences and events. 

Lynette holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Northwood University and a Master of Business Administration from University of Maryland University College.