TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS - WHO'S WHO

Sandy Davis

Sandy Davis is a Technical Assistant for Reading First of Pennsylvania.  She currently serves the Harrisburg School District.  She received a Master’s degree from Shippensburg University in Elementary Education, as well as a reading specialist certificate.  Sandy spent thirty-five years in public education as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, Title I reading teacher, and literacy coach and facilitator.  She helped design and implement an Extended Day Kindergarten program for the Central Dauphin School District.  Sandy recently co-authored an article for the Pennsylvania Administrator on improving student reading performance using a data-driven approach.  She has led district-wide in-service programs and presented at various events throughout the state with PaTTAN Harrisburg.  As a representative of the Central Dauphin School District, she presented at the 2006 Governor’s Institute.  She is a member of the Special Education Advisory Board of York College of Pennsylvania.


E-mail: sk_davis@yahoo.com
Phone: 717-439-6699
Schools: Harrisburg

Regina Katz

Regina Katz is a Pennsylvania Department of Education Reading First Technical Assistant working with the School District of Philadelphia. Prior to becoming a Technical Assistant, Regina was Elementary Language Arts Coordinator for the School District of Haverford Township. She spent 33 years working for the School District of Philadelphia as an elementary teacher, Reading Specialist, Literacy Facilitator, and Teacher on Special Assignment to the Office of Assessment.  Regina also taught graduate courses in literacy for the Penn Literacy Network at the University of Pennsylvania.  Regina received a B. S. in Elementary Education from Penn Sate University, an M. Ed. in English Education from Temple University, Pennsylvania Reading Specialist Certification from the University of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania Supervisory Certification in Reading and Curriculum and Instruction from Widener University.  Regina was a member of the Pennsylvania Department of Education Classroom Assessment Advisory Committee and the Pennsylvania Department of Education Grade 3 Reading Assessment Committee.  She has presented at the Ethnography Forum at the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Title I Assessment Conference, Keystone State Reading Association Conference, and International Reading Association Convention.  Regina is a member of the Philadelphia Writing Project, International Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, and Reading Recovery Council of North America.  Regina’s professional passion is the alignment of literacy standards, assessment, instruction, and professional development.  Her personal passions include reading, travel, theater, and Phillies’ baseball.

E-mail: rkatzr1@aol.com

215-239-5019
Schools - Philadelphia

Nancy Mast

Nancy Mast is a Reading First Technical Assistant in Pennsylvania.  She received her Bachelor's degree in English education from the University of Virginia and a Master's of Education degree in Early Childhood Education from James Madison University.  Nancy completed additional graduate work in English, reading, and educational leadership at James Madison University and the University of Virginia, resulting in supervision/administration and reading specialist endorsements.  Prior to her current assignment, she spent over 30 years in public education in Rockingham County, Virginia.  In Rockingham, she taught kindergarten and first grade. After 15 years of classroom teaching, she served in various administrative assignments:  Title I coordinator, ESL supervisor, Remedial Education Supervisor, Preschool Supervisor, Director of English, Language Arts, and Foreign Language. She served as adjunct faculty at Eastern Mennonite University, where she taught courses in early literacy and children's literature.  Over the years, she was a presenter at state and national early childhood conferences  (VAECE and NAEYC) and reading conferences (VSRA and IRA). Nancy and her husband, Joe, have two adult sons and four grandchildren.   Her personal interests include reading, theatre, travel, needlework, biking and the outdoors.

E-mail: nmast3@comcast.net
Phone: 717-725-2143

Dr. Beth Puschak

Dr. Beth Puschak is a Technical Assistant and educational consultant. Beth has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, reading supervisor and literacy coach. Beth attended Penn State for her undergraduate degree in Elementary and Special Education. She received her Masters in Reading from Kutztown University and her Reading Supervisor from Millersville University. Beth recently graduated from Widener University with a Doctorate in Reading and Language Arts. As a life-long learner, she enjoys the challenges of keeping up with the research and expanding those intellectual horizons. Family is important to this TA, and she is lucky to have a great support system in place. Beth will spend the summer preparing to send her youngest daughter, Christine, off to college. She also hopes to get her house back in order as much of this past year was spent writing her dissertation.

E-mail: bethpuschak@yahoo.com
Phone: 484-955-2652

Georgette Siedlecki

Georgette Siedlecki is currently a Reading First Technical Assistant in the state of Pennsylvania.  She received a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education from College Misercordia and a Master’s of Reading degree from Bloomsburg College.  She did additional graduate work at Wilkes University and St. Joseph’s University in reading and writing.  Previously, she spent over 30 years in the field of education at Pemberton School District in New Jersey and Hanover Area School District in Pennsylvania.  She has worked as an elementary and secondary reading teacher, Title I reading teacher, Instructional Support Teacher and Elementary Curriculum Coordinator.  She has coordinated and presented professional development in reading and writing. Travel, music, theater, and reading are her favorite pastimes.  She resides in Hanover Township, PA.

E-mail:gasied@hotmail.com
Phone: 484-955-2651

Gladys Valcourt

Dr. Gladys Valcourt currently serves as Reading First Technical Assistant for 28 schools in the School District of Philadelphia. Additionally, she serves as RF resource. Statewide, for schools with issues and concerns related to English Language Learners. Dr. Valcourt received a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in English from the University of Puerto Rico, an M.E. in Secondary Education from Temple University and an Ed.D. from Lehigh University. Prior to becoming a Teaching Assistant, she served as Advisor to the Proposal Unit of the Office of Federal Affairs of the Puerto Rico Department of Education. Most of her professional career, however, has centered on her role as Professor of Language Education in the College of Education of Temple University and as English high school teacher. During her tenure at Temple, she served as professor of language education in Temple’s ESL Masters program in Temple Japan, in Temple’s ESL program in Hwachong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and in Temple’s European Army Mission based in Frankfurt, Germany. At Temple, under a Title VII program, she also served as bilingual specialist for thirteen states and as Director of the Multilingual/Multicultural Education Resource, Information, and Training Center (MERIT CENTER.). At Central Bucks East High School, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, she served as teacher of elective English courses including Man’s Search for Utopia, Shakespeare’s England and TheRebel in American Literature. Dr. Valcourt is the co-author of two readers designed to introduce foreign university students to the University Word List. The two textbooks, written in 1999 and 2001, were published by the University  of Michigan Press.

E-mail: gvalcourt1@comcast.net
Phone: 484-955-1141
Schools - Philadelphia

Barbara Warden

Barbara Warden retired in 2005 from the Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District, after a 35 year teaching career, 30 at A-C Valley, where she served (at various times) as a learning support, Title I, second grade, and IST teacher, and as Title I Coordinator and Reading First Coach/Coordinator.  Barb graduated from high school in California (the state, not the city in Pennsylvania), attended and graduated from colleges in Missouri and Mississippi, earned her M.Ed. from the University of Mississippi, and obtained certifications as a reading specialist and reading supervisor from Slippery Rock University.  Barb was one of twelve finalists for Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year in 1995-96, and represented the state of Pennsylvania at the National Teacher Forum in Washington DC.  She has held several local and county offices in the Pennsylvania State Education Association, including president, and has served as president of the Seneca Reading Council and chair of the Exemplary Reading Committee for the Keystone State Reading Association.  She is also a member of the International Reading Association.  Barb and her husband, Bob, have three adult children and two grandchildren.  In her spare time, she loves to sew, quilt, knit, and read.

E-mail: barbarawarden@embarqmail.com
Phone: 814-609-6216