NY Board of Regents Appoints Dr. Billie Gastic to State Board

NEW YORK, NY – Sept. 14, 2012 – The New York State Board of Regents has announced the appointment of Dr. Billie Gastic, Relay GSE’s Director of Research, to the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching. Composed of K-12 teachers and administrators, higher education representatives, public representatives, and one teacher education student, the Board serves in an advisory capacity to the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education on matters related to teaching in New York State. Dr. Gastic will serve the remainder of a four-year term as a higher education administrator on the 28-member board.

“I am honored by the appointment and look forward to working with the other members of the Board,” Dr. Gastic said. “As a proud New York City public school alumna, and the first person in my family to attend college, I understand first-hand the critical difference that excellent teachers and schools can make on the life trajectories of young people.”

As the Director of Research at Relay GSE, Dr. Gastic leads a team of staff researchers and program faculty in investigations of effective teaching practices, promising pedagogical strategies (including technology) in teacher education, the use of video to improve teacher practice, and the role of measurements of student achievement growth in teachers’ performance evaluations.

Since earning her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2005, Dr. Gastic’s teaching, scholarship and service have focused on improving educational opportunities for young people, with a particular interest in the role of teachers and school leaders in supporting student success. As a professor at Temple University and University of Massachusetts—Boston, Dr. Gastic worked with graduate students who were also full-time teachers, or school or district administrators, and served on many dissertation committees in the areas of school quality, teacher leadership and development, and student achievement. Throughout her career, Dr. Gastic has designed and taught courses on youth risk and resilience, research methods, and educational policy. At Temple, Dr. Gastic’s teaching extended to professional development, as she was selected to design and lead a training workshop on school safety and related legal issues for career and technical educators.

Dr. Gastic holds a Ph.D. in Sociology of Education and an M.A. in Sociology from Stanford University, an Ed.M. from Harvard University, and a B.A. in Economics from Yale University.

About Relay Graduate School of Education

Relay Graduate School of Education (Relay GSE), licensed by New York State in 2011 and formerly known as Teacher U, is a new, independent graduate school with a ground-breaking master’s degree program designed specifically to respond to today’s urgent demand for effective teachers in low-income communities. Relay GSE’s Master’s Program is the first ever to require its graduate students to demonstrate proficiency and achievement while teaching in their K-12 classrooms to earn a degree. Relay GSE is positioned to bring about transformational change in teacher preparation, becoming the place where a new generation of continuously-improving, results-focused individuals can fulfill their destiny in the world’s greatest profession. For more information, please visit the Relay GSE website (www.relay.edu) or follow Relay GSE on Twitter (@RelayGSE).