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Co-Owner and
President
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Dr. Bertha M. Gorham has more than 33 years
of experience in educational research and program evaluation.
Dr. Gorham has a broad background in early childhood intervention,
literacy issues, longitudinal studies of young children, education
research, qualitative analyses, and project management. She
has experiences providing oversight and direction for multi-site
educational studies related to the prevention of educational
and social failure among disadvantaged populations.
For more than 10 years, Dr. Gorham has been employed part-time
as a national family literacy trainer/evaluator for Motheread,
Inc., a family literacy program based in North Carolina. In
this role, she has traveled extensively to more than 15 states
and U.S. territories instrucitng teahcers and librarians on the
use of storybooks as a way to teach literacy to adults and children.
In her role as trainer, Dr. Gorham has developed literacy round
tables for professionals workwith with Even Start and Head Start
programs, a training sessions employing books and toys as tools
for language development in young children. Her expertise
includes the development of strategic plans for long-range
professional development of early childhood educators. Dr.
Gorham has served as consultant to numberous local organizations
responsible for administration of Smart Start, Noth Carolina's
early childhood initiative.
Dr. Gorham has extensive technical knowledge in large- and
small-scale assessments and survey administration. She has worked
collaboratively with officials in Maine, South Dakota, and Kentucky
to develop a statewide reporting system to meet federal requirements
under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act and
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
For 10
years, Dr. Gorham was employed by RTI International, a contract
research firm located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina,
first as a research psychologist, then a program area
director, and Interim Director of the Center for Research in
Education. During her employment, Dr. Gorham directed large-scale early
childhood longitudinal studies for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Education's
National Center for Education Statistics. She served as
interim director of the Center for Research in Education and
supervised more than 50 personnel, including junior and
senior-level researchers. During this time, Dr. Gorham successfully
lead proposals valued at more than $30 million dollars
and managed an annual budget of $10 million dollars.
Dr. Gorham conceptualized and established the Early Childhood
and Family Research Program Area, which she directed for more
than two years. Under her leadership,the Program Area won and
managed contracts valued at a total of $60 million dollars.
Before joining RTI, Dr. Gorham conducted educational research
at the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) in the
Planning, Research, and Information Management Office, as a
senior researcher. While employed there, Dr. Gorham served
as Executive Secretary of the Council for Statewide Planning
of Educational Information Systems.
Dr. Gorham holds a Ph.D. in Educational Research and Policy
Analysis from North Carolina State University, a Master of
Science (M.S) degree in Educational Measurement, Research
and Statistics from Johns Hopkins University, and an undergraduate
degree in business from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
She is a member of the American Educational Research Association,
the American Evaluation Association. Dr. Gorham was one of
the first recipients of the American Educational Research
Association Spencer Foundation Doctoral Dissertation
Fellowship in 1994. She received the Top African-American
Graduate Student Scholarship Achievement Award from the North
Carolina State University College of Education and Psychology.
Dr. Gorham has been honored for her work in the Raleigh,
North Carolina Correctional Center for Women as a literacy
instructor and by the Governor of the State of Maryland for
her outstanding contributions as a volunteer.
{Select to view professional biography for:}
SHEILA D. THOMPSON, Ph.D., CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
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