Education: Faculty

Margie Arnzen, MS/ED, is a special education teacher and guidance counselor with a Bachelor's Degree in Special Education and Psychology and a Master's Degree in Guidance Counseling. Ms. Arnzen has 16 years of combined experience in self-contained special education classrooms, resource rooms, and regular secondary education. She has developed and overseen exceptional education, behavioral intervention and reading remediation programs at the K-12 level. Ms. Arnzen is currently the lead teacher and assistant principal at the Bancroft Center in Spokane, Washington, overseeing a program of 10 staff and 50 exceptional education students. Currently, her TAG course is being offered through distance education at over 65 sites both nationally and internationally.

Terrie Ashby-Scott is currently the Director of the Spokane MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) Program at Washington State University-Spokane. The program serves traditionally underrepresented students, students of color and girls, in broadening their knowledge and increasing their numbers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professions and careers. The program serves approximately 400 students in the Spokane Public Schools. Also at WSU-Spokane, she serves as the Assistant to the Chancellor for Human Relations. Ms. Ashby-Scott also teaches in the School of Social Work for Eastern Washington University. She holds a B.A. in Speech Pathology, a Master's in Social Work and is currently finishing her Ph.D. in Education Leadership at Gonzaga University. Ms. Ashby-Scott currently serves on the Second Harvest Food Bank's Board of Directors and the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. She has served on the boards and committees of Women Helping Women, Diversity Child Protection Team, YMCA, and the Inland Empire Girl Scouts Council.

Joan Halverstadt has been a school counselor since 1994, working with at-risk preschool and elementary aged students. Ms. Halverstadt has over thirty years of experience working in early childhood education with children and families, including working with children affected by family issues, abuse or trauma. She also teaches graduate education counseling and special education courses for teachers and counselors. She received her School Counseling Educational Staff Associate Degree from City University, her Masters in Education Degree from George Mason University, and her B.A. in Psychology and Elementary Education from Whitman College.

Casey Jackson developed Drugs & Alcohol in Schools: Understanding Substance Use and Abuse. Mr. Jackson is a masters-level clinician with state and national certification in clinical social work and a Chemical Dependency Counselor designation in Washington state. He has over 18 years of experience between the mental health and chemical dependency fields. His experience includes working in juvenile justice and child welfare, as well as in chemical dependency treatment for adolescents and their families and with adults incarcerated in both state and federal prisons. He has consulted with school districts, presented on panels, presented to classrooms, and organized addicted teen speaking panels. He is currently on faculty at the Washington Institute for Mental Illness Research and Training through Washington State University.

Mick Jackson is an Intervention Specialist with a Master's Degree in Special Education and Theory. Mr. Jackson has 15 years of combined experience in self-contained special education classrooms, resource rooms and hospital day treatment. He has developed and overseen mental health and intervention programs and directed staff in four different states. Mr. Jackson has conducted oral seminars on Behavior is Language, presenting to school districts, teacher groups, and at educational conferences. Currently, his courses are being offered through distance education at over 100 sites in the United States and Canada.

Joseph Kaplan, Ph.D., has over 40 years of experience in education as a special education teacher, school psychologist, and teacher trainer at both the pre- and in-service levels. Dr. Kaplan recently retired from Portland State University, where he taught graduate students in the Department of Special and Counselor Education for the past twenty-five years. His areas of expertise are behavior management and teaching children and youth with emotional and behavioral disorders. His textbook, Beyond Behavior Modification: A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to Behavior Management in the School, is widely used in the field of special education and will soon be available in its fourth edition.

Karen Lea has over 12 years of experience teaching in culturally diverse settings in classrooms that reflect every area of diversity. She has experience as a high school private math/computer instructor, a high school inner-city math instructor, a junior high inner-city math/science instructor, and a college instructor. Currently, Karen is the Dean of the School of Education at Olivet Nazarene University.

Florah Luseno, Ph.D., an associate professor at Chicago State University, developed Inclusion: Working with Special Needs Students in Mainstream Classrooms. She received her Ph.D. in administration and supervision of special education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Her background experience is in the area of special education, with specific interest in emotional and behavioral disorders, mental retardation and inclusion. Dr. Luseno has conducted research on inclusion, and presented at several workshops and conferences on strategies for assessing and teaching students with disabilities.

A.N. (Bob) Pillay, Ph.D., is a doctoral-level instructor who has been teaching in the field of Special Education for the past 30 years. Dr. Pillay has received numerous national and international awards for his research in the field. He has headed boards and committees in more than five countries to develop and strengthen special services for Australia, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia. Dr. Pillay has extensive knowledge of special education issues in the USA due to his doctoral studies at the University of Louisville. He is currently a Senior Fellow in Special Education at the University of Melbourne.

Michael Sedler, Ph.D., has presented seminars and classes throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Dr. Sedler has worked as an administrator, behavior specialist, teacher and social worker within the public school setting. Dr. Sedler is an adjunct professor for two universities in the state of Washington and has been a professor for a college in Georgia. He has been a consultant for governmental agencies and worked for a state correctional facility for juveniles and for a community mental health agency. His 15 years of public education experience combined with business experience increases his knowledge base for course delivery. He has presented in schools, hospitals, residential settings and for businesses in the public and private sectors.

Marrea Winnega, Ph.D., co-authored Autism and Asperger's Disorders: Information & Effective Intervention Strategies with Mary Coughlin, CCC-SLP. Dr. Marrea Winnega, the instructor of record, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with over 15 years of experience in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago and directs a clinic that has as its main function the diagnosis of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. She consults for school and agencies serving individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders including Asperger's Disorder. She has facilitated numerous parent groups for parents of children with autism in her position at the University of Illinois at Chicago Institute on Disability and Human Development (UAP). She has also conducted numerous workshops, in-services and trainings throughout the United States. Six years ago, Dr. Winnega developed the Autism Dynamic Beginnings classroom, an intensive, multimodal classroom for three to six-year-olds with autism.